A little Bio,

 

I have an Associates of Arts degree in agronomy and have taken other courses in my quest to get my bachelors degree. If I live long enough and God willing maybe it will happen.

 

I'm 55 years old and started with the Southern Pacific Railroad full time in April 1977. I was boomer for awhile as I had to chase my job to stay employed and never be cut-off. I have worked out of Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield, Fresno, Indio, West Colton, City of Industry, and Mojave. I've been lucky enough to work every  month since I hired out. 

 

I have been with the railroad  for 33 plus years. I started as a switchman and moved over to the road as a brakeman on the pools in 1977. I became a hostler in November 1977 to keep working. I became a fireman in  March 1980 then took promotion to Engineer on July 15, 1981. I became a member of The Brotherhood of Locomtive Enginners in 1982 and have held several positions within Division 126 including Sec/Tres.while International  VP E.L.Pruitt was our Local Chairman for 8 years,  Vice Pres.,Vice Local chairman, Alt. Sec. Tres, and presently I am Local Chairman for Div.126. I have worked for some truly gifted, intelligent people and it is an honor to belong to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.  

 

I have been married for 29 years to my wife Kathi and we have a daughter who graduated from Cal Poly S.L.O. and is now self employed as an event planner. She is married, has 2 children and lives on the central coast. My daughters husband is a winemaker on the central coast and has been named winemaker of the year on the central coast a few times. He was the winemaker at Wild Horse Winery for several years. He now has his own label called Drake Wines. His Pinot Noir has made the World of Pinos several times. This is a great achievement for winemakers. We are very proud of him.

We also have a son who also lives at the beach and has a full plate. He is a Medic on a hellicopter for the U.S. Forrest Service. This is his 3rd year. He is also still going to school in his little bit of spare time and has been a ocean lifeguard at the coast for 8 years and is a member the ocean air rescue team . He is married and his wife just graduated from Cal Poly S.L.O. She is now starting graduate school and plans to be a dietitian.

We also have a son who we were blessed with between our son and daughter. He was named Joseph. Joey died in an accident when he was 1 and a half and is now with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in heaven.

We also have 2 grandsons. We have a blast when we are around them. Charley is the oldest and is 3 1/2 and he loves to go sailing with his Dad. Angus is the youngest  and is 1 1/2 and just enjoys  being his age.  We hope to have more grandchildren in the future. We have truly been blessed.

 

 

Bennie Loudermilk