Retirement Party

It has been 15 days since I retired from BNSF so I thought I better get my blog updated with pictures from my Retirement Party. First a little background about my railroad career. I started working for Burlington Northern Railroad on February 13, 1989 at the North Yard Office in FW, TX. I worked on the guaranteed rotating extra board training and qualifying on several jobs including "Pickle Clerk" and "Mud Hop". Being on the extra board meant that I was on call 24/7 with no set rest days. I did this for 16 months before I was awarded a job at the North Richland Hills office in Intermodal Billing working days, 7 am to 3 pm with Thursday and Friday off as rest days. I stayed on this job for 7 months until I was awarded a job in Interline Received working 7 am to 3 pm Monday thru Friday with Saturday and Sunday off. On January 2, 1992 the Interline Received Department moved to the new offices on Western Center which is currently the Corporate Headquarters for BNSF Railway. Also, on January 2, 1992 I was promoted to a Partial Exempt position of Supervisor in the Interline Department. This meant that I was no longer eligible to be bumped off of my job. Sometime in 1993 or 1994 the Interline Department was relocated to the office building in downtown FW. On May 16, 1995 I was awarded a job in the Price Management Department also located in the downtown office building. This was a lateral move for me but I was no longer in a Supervisor position. (Yeah!) In the Fall of 1996 the Price Management Department moved to the Western Center offices. The good thing about being back in the Western Center location is that it is only 2 miles from my home. July, 1998 I was promoted to an exempt Analyst position in Price Management. Then in February, 2002 I was promoted to Senior Analyst still in Price Management. This is the job I stayed on until my recent retirement.

I think I worked in a great department and really appreciate the great send off they gave me. First they took me and my husband and the entire department to lunch and then had a reception for me afterwards. Both my daughter, son, daughter in law and all 3 grandsons were able to be there for the reception. Below are a few pictures.

They had a yummy chocolate cake and chocolate covered strawberries.

I tried to say a few words but got choked up and shedded a few tears.

Poppy, Brody and Nana

Nana, Ben and Andy

I was quite surprised when my boss presented me with a gold Seiko watch from BNSF Railway.

My co-workers all chipped in and got me a $125.00 gift card to JoAnn's.

I know that I am going to miss all of my co-workers and that is the hardest thing about retiring. However, they are only 2 miles away if I want to go for a visit.