BNSF fourth-generation railroader continues family’s legacy
By JEREMIAH VALENTINE
Staff Writer
For Kimberly Dunn, the railroad has been a part of her family’s lives for almost a century. From working in a car shop to serving as union leaders, her parents and grandparents have railroading in their blood.
Dunn is the fourth generation of railroaders from the Stanley family. She currently works as a laborer hostler at our Northtown mechanical facility in Minneapolis. Her passion for railroading is matched only by her passion for her family members who preceded her on the railroad.
Her great-grandfather, Cromwell A. Stanley, started his railroad career building boxcars in the car shop in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Her grandfather, Gerald W. Stanley, started his career in Brainerd at the car shop as well. In 1960, he moved his family to Laurel, Montana, where he served as a general foreman. He worked his way up to mechanical supervisor and eventually became the car shop foreman in Havre, Montana, before retiring in 1978.
Mark Stanley is Dunn’s father. He was with BNSF for more than 42 years.
His father suggested railroading as a career when he was in high school, and he took that advice. Three months before earning his high school diploma, he started with BNSF predecessor Burlington Northern (BN) in the transport offices and moved to the Amtrak depot doing janitorial work in 1973.
“When I got my foot in the door, the rest was history,” said Stanley, who continued his career in Butte, Montana, working as a clerk in the transport office, loading semi-trucks for BN.
Next, he moved to Livingston, Montana, working as a laborer, before settling in Galesburg, Illinois. He eventually worked his way up to machinist.
He also had a chance to work with his wife, who started as a hostler helper before spending about three years as a machinist helper. He finished his career working as a rapid responder on locomotives from 2005 to 2015.
Ten years after his retirement, Stanley fondly recalls his years working on the railroad. “I was happy to have had a very nice career there,” he said. “I miss the people I used to work with.”
He credits his father and grandfather's careers as one of the main reasons he joined the railroad. His daughter, too, has many childhood memories of hanging out in the office while her father was working.
She fondly remembers Railroad Days in Galesburg. Sponsored by BN, there was a parade at the mall with floats, a train and a boxcar.
Every year, her father would help plan it, and the best part was that she and her brother got to ride in the floats during the parades.
Dunn attended college but followed her calling to the railroad, where she had a chance to work with her father for four years until he retired. When she decided to work as a laborer hostler in Galesburg, many who worked with her father were still there and called her “Little Stanley.” That gave her father comfort.
“She had quite a few surrogate fathers on the railroad,” he said. “I knew that she would be taken good care of and there were other people in the shop having her do things right.”
Similar to her father’s experience, in 2018, Dunn met her spouse Matt Dunn at BNSF.
These days, Dunn's connection with her father remains strong. She leans on him and his many years of experience. “I can call him, and he has a pretty good idea of what I am talking about,” she explained. “If I called my best friend, she would have no idea.”
Said her dad: “I am basically her sounding board, and I try to help her through things.”
The Stanley family members have demonstrated pride through hard work and dedication. Their legacy has become intertwined with BNSF generation after generation.
