by Tracie VanBecelaereManaging Editor

The weather may have been dreary, but spirits were high as Watco's Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad (DREI) began operations on Septem-ber 8, 2018. The Team began their first move by bringing nine locomotives online from Terra Haute, Indiana, with the MOW Team leading the way via hi-rail. The Team made their first inter-change that same day and also spotted their first Customer, Cargill. The DREI's first unit grain train completed a full first day by coming in right before midnight.

The 126.7 mile line operates two intersecting routes; the former Decatur Subdivision runs be-tween Montezuma, Indiana, and Decatur, Illinois, and the former Danville Secondary Subdivision, which runs between Terre Haute, Ind., and Olivet, Ill. It interchanges traffic with Class I's CSX, the Norfolk Southern Railway, the Canadian National Railway, the Union Pacific Railroad, and the Eastern Illinois short line railroad.

On hand for the start-up were two mechan-ics, six MOW Team Members, nine T&E crew members as well as Go Teamers from all over the Watco network. In addition, there are four Team Members who were in Birmingham, Alabama, finishing up training at the STAT Center. The railroad was also supported by Team Members from IT, People Services, Safety, and Commer-cial divisions.

Vice President of Operations Jimmy Patterson said, “It is really amazing to see so many people jump in with their sleeves rolled up to kick off this railroad. Every person, both new and veter-ans of Watco, pulled together as a team.”

He added, "Our new Customers were excited to see us as we pulled into town for the first time. This line has tremendous potential and I know our Commercial Team is working hard to find ways to help our Customers grow and the future in Eastern Illinois is promising.”

Denon Green, DREI general manager said, “There are always a few hiccups when you start something new, especially with an operation like this, but at the end of the day, all of our Custom-ers were served, and everyone performed safely. That's our number one priority, staying focused on safety. That's the true measure of success and ultimately, what matters the most.”

The newsletter for Watco Companies October 2018, Volume 19, Issue 10

A few of the Team Members at the Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad on their first day of operations are (top l-r): Elvin Rivera, Nick Guinn, and Brandon Heckler. On the bottom row (l-r) are Adam Johnson, Greg Tellier, and Jermaine Wood.

Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad begins operations

A Decatur & Eastern Illinois locomotive crossing the Decatur River. Photo by Caleb Luka

2 • The Dispatch • October 2018

by Tracie VanBecelaereManaging Editor

The last week of September was designated as Rail Safety Week by Operation Lifesaver in an effort to stop tragedies on railroad tracks. As part of this event, Watco's Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (KO) hosted an Officer on a Train event on September 25 in Wichita, Kansas.

The event was organized by Kansas Operation Lifesaver President Sergeant Matt Vogt from the Valley Center Police Department and KO train-master Chadd Timesch.

Conductor Aaron Morris and engineer Billy King rode with a Wichita Police officer while other officers followed the train. The officers wrote 12 railroad crossing violations and three pedestrians were also contacted.

Not to be out done, another KO location, Great Bend, hosted an Officer on a Train event as well.

There were four crossing citations written and 10 pedestrians contacted. Of those 10 pedestrians, four were educated on trespassing and six were contacted as part of the positive enforcement campaign and rewarded with Sonic drink cou-pons.

The Great Bend event was organized by KO trainmasters Travis Schnelle and Chadd Thi-mesch and Kansas Operation Lifesaver's Sgt. Vogt.

The goal of the Officer on a Train events is never to see how many violations can be handed out, but to educate both officers and the public on rail and crossing safety. Many of the officers involved in the events are surprised at the number of violations that occur.

Last year there were approximately 2,105 vehicle-train collisions in the U.S. resulting in 274 deaths and 807 injuries.

Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad hosts Officer on a Train events

Officers and Team Members in the Wichita, Kansas, Officer on a Train event were (l-r): Officers Crafton, Wash, Scholl, conductor Aaron Morris, engineer Billy King, Officer Taylor, and Sgt. Matt Vogt.

Great Bend PD Officers Joshua Suss, Lt. Sgt. Bill Paden, Officer Joel Hamlin and Lt. Jason Settle. K&O Team Members are engineers Luke Lohrmeyer, and Ryan Girard, and conductor Evan Edwards.

AMERICAN SHORT LINE AND REGIONAL RAILROADASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES SAFETY AWARD RECIPIENTS

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) is recognizing safety award winners at their regional meetings during the fall.

This year, 20 Watco railroads won Jake with Distinction Awards. This award is given to the short lines with zero RPI's for the year. These railroads were: Ala-bama Warrior Railway, Arkansas Southern Railroad, Austin Western Railroad, Baton Rouge Southern Railroad, Bogalusa Bayou Railroad, Boise Valley Rail-road, Cicero Central Railroad, Great Northwest Railroad, Kaw River Railroad, Mission Mountain Railroad, Mississippi Southern Railroad, Pacific Sun Rail-road, Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad, Pecos Valley Southern Railway, Pennsylvania Southwestern Railroad, San Antonio Central Railroad, Swan Ranch Railroad, Timber Rock Railroad, and the Vicksburg Southern Railroad.

Railroads who were named Jake Award winners were railroads that fell below

the ASLRRA Group RPI Ratio. Jake Award winners were: Birmingham Terminal Railway, Eastern Idaho

Railroad, Grand Elk Railroad, Lubbock and Western Railway, Texas and New Mexico Railway, and the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. Although not a short line, the Watco Switching Division also was recognized for being below the ASLRRA average RPI.

The Jake with Distinction Award and the Jake Award were named for Lowell S. "Jake" Jacobson, a long-time advocate and leader in railroad safety. Jacobson serves as president and chief operating officer of the Copper Basin Railway in Arizona. He was the recipient of the Railway Age Railroader of the Year in 1994.

Travis Herod, Watco senior vice president safety and training, said, "It's excit-ing to see these railroads being recognized for their safety records."

The Canal Point (Florida) Mechanical Team re-cently had the opportunity to paint this Sun Rail locomotive that had front-end damage repaired.

Watco primarily works with freight rail but our mechanical shop in Canal Point, Florida, re-cently got to work on a passen-ger locomotive. The Sun Rail locomotive had some front-end damage which was repaired and then the Canal Point Team repainted it.

Dupont Imron paint was applied from the cab forward featuring a white base, four

stripes, and a clear coat on top for protection.

The locomotive normally travels on a path following Florida’s I-4 corridor but to get to the shop, the locomotive rode the rails of CSX, Florida East Coast, and South Central Florida Express. The unit spent less than 30 days at the location before being sent back home with a fresh new look.

Charlie Sigley, shop manager, said a former Customer, Drum-mac, had contacted him to see if the shop would be interested in bidding out the job.

“It’s always a great show of faith in our Team when a former Customer reaches out to us. I think they lived up to that trust and did a remarkable job painting the locomotive,” said Sigley.

Mechanical Team gives Sun Rail locomotive a fresh look

The Dispatch • October 2018 • 3

#WHY WATCOby Jay Benedict Digital Communication & Social Media Specialist

Mitchell Alred is listed in the Watco directory as a marine opera-tor, but, like many Team Members, that doesn’t capture the full scope of his responsibilities. Mitchell works at the Amory, Mississippi Bulk Terminal. He was there for about a year while it was still a Kinder Morgan Terminal, and joined the Watco Team in Decem-ber 2016 when the terminal was acquired.

“I’m pretty much a float. I can do pretty much everything here and fill in where I’m needed,” said Mitchell.

Born in Panama City, Florida, Mitchell’s dad traveled a lot for Walmart when he was young. They eventually settled down in Smith-ville, Miss., and he grew up seven miles up the road from the Amory Terminal. He played drums and at-tended college on a music scholar-ship. After earning his Associate’s degree, Mitchell worked building boats, but was looking something more career-oriented.

“I got my degree, but I didn’t feel like I was really using it at all. So I started looking for where to start a career,” Mitchell said. “This seemed like a place where there’s room to grow. So that’s what I’m trying to do right now. I’m trying to learn everything and hopefully, at some point, move up to a different position with more of a leadership role.”

Mitchell’s already made some progress on that goal. He started out pushing the inside of barges with a skid steer, so the material handlers can get all the product. It’s hot, dirty work, especially consid-ering two of their largest commodi-ties are petroleum coke and tita-nium ore. His willingness to learn earned him more responsibilities.

“I started out at the very bottom. I couldn’t have been any lower,” Mitchell said. “I want to know how to do it all. I don’t want to be in a place where I’m not an asset.”

Now, he still spends some time in the barges, but he also runs the excavator digging the barges out,

loads railcars, and even mows the grass if needed. Mitchell talked with supervisors and started learn-ing some of the administrative du-ties at the terminal. He knows the financials and learned about Safety Data Sheets. He was recently put in charge of the terminal’s monthly inspections too.

“I really want to get into the operations part of it next,” he said. “I really want to be able to run this place if need be.”

His initiative has paid off and his supervisors have noticed. Mitch-ell is scheduled to attend Watco University’s Team Safety and Improvement Committee training this December in Birmingham, Alabama, where he’ll learn more leadership skills and initiatives that he can take back to Amory.

“Mitchell can do nearly anything that is asked of him and does a great job at any task that is thrown his way,” said operations supervi-sor Cameron Ginther. “He has a good understanding of the Watco Team Member mentality that has been established and emits that mentality every day he comes to work.”

When he’s not at the terminal, Mitchell keeps busy at home with his wife, April, and two sons, one of which is just a month old. He’s also a worship leader and plays in the band at their church. He ap-proaches music the same way he does work. In addition to drums, he primarily plays guitar now, but can also play piano and ukulele.

by Tracie VanBecelaereManaging Editor

Two new engines were recently added to Watco's roster of school themed locomotives. WAMX 3942 and WAMX 3946 were painted to represent two of the schools in towns that Watco's Mission Moun-tain Railroad (MMT) railroad oper-ates.

The 3942 was painted in an or-ange and black color scheme with the Eureka Lions mascot and GO LIONS! painted on the side. The 3946 sports the Columbia Falls' red and blue colors along with the wildcat logo and GO WILDCATS! on the sides.

MMT general manager Kyle Jeschke said, "We work and live in these communities and we wanted to give something back and show

our support for them.""We've had a great response from

the schools," said Jeschke. "They really appreciate the fact that they have something pretty unique out there showing the school pride."

Columbia Falls High School prin-cipal Scott Gaiser said it is some-thing the school appreciated.

"We were excited about it because we bleed blue around here,” said Gaiser. “We are pretty proud of our kids and this school and our com-munity."

"We talked about the locomotive at our homecoming rally," added Gaiser. "We were able to reference the big strong engine, which is just like Columbia Falls and our kids."

Watco now has 10 locomotives on the rails sporting the school colors of six universities and four high schools.

MISSION MOUNTAIN RAILROAD SHOWS SCHOOL SPIRIT

Students from Columbia Falls High School representing the various sports were excited to get their photo taken on the Wildcat locomotive along with Mission Mountain Railroad (MMT) trainmaster Jonathan Roquet, MMT general manager Kyle Jeschke and James Hoffman, with Signs Now, who did the decals on the locomotives.

Athletes from Lincoln County High School proudly pose with the black and orange Eureka Lions locomotive.

Mitchell Alred, Marine OperatorAmory, Mississippi, Bulk Terminal

watcocompanies.com

by Jay Benedict Digital Communication & Social Media Specialist

During the afternoon of Monday, August 20, rain started falling across South Central Wiscon-sin. The storms gained intensity through the night and by Tuesday morning, nearly a foot of rain had fallen in and around Madison, Wisc. The riv-ers and creeks rose quickly, causing flash floods and flooding at levels that hadn’t been seen in years.

“We saw flooding in 2013 at Boscobel and in 2008 in Reedsburg, but nothing involving this many feet of track being gone, it was a lot more than we’ve ever seen,” said Wisconsin & South-ern Railroad (WSOR) roadmaster Chris Jacob-son.

First thing Tuesday morning, while many were surveying the damage to their homes and busi-nesses, Team Members with the WSOR were out in hi-rail trucks counting washouts and formulat-ing a plan to get the track repaired and back in service. In total, there were 85 washouts totaling 6,000 feet of track on the WSOR’s Prairie Sub, mostly between Middleton and Mazomanie, including several bridge structures. All together it exceeded more than $1.5 million in damages.

“Some work we were able to start immediately and then in a couple locations, we had to wait a good seven days before the water receded enough so we could start,” said WSOR general manager Preston Nelson.

The Team prioritized what could be ad-dressed first and set a timetable to reach certain benchmarks. The first was the restore service to Customers in the Middleton Industrial Park by September 1. Next, was restoring service to all Customers in Mazomanie, by September 8. The final goal was to have all track completed be-

tween Madison and Prairie du Chien by Septem-ber 22. While most of the Team was working on restoring service, the Commercial Team was working with Customers and Class I’s to keep our Customers served. The WSOR has an interchange in Crawford they were able to reroute some rail-cars through.

“We got started immediately on the morning of the (August) 21st,” said WSOR superintendent of MOW Roger Schaalma. “The Team really came together and got started as soon as it was safe. They rose to the challenge and worked day and night in constant communication.”

To help their efforts, six contractors were brought in to assist. Kraemer North America as-sisted with some of the largest repairs, using their large bulldozers and backhoes to clear debris and rebuild the rail bed. The others, Holubar, E80 Plus, Knapp Railroad, Volkmann Railroad Build-ers, and Diversified Track, assisted WSOR Team Members on other projects across the affected area. Aside from the local Team, others from the Northern Division and Southern Division joined the cause, working around the clock to get the job done.

“It was phenomenal Team effort. It highlights the resilience that our Team Members have when they’re tasked with a challenge. It was amazing that this wasn’t just our MOW Team, we had Team Members from Janesville and Horicon vol-unteering to come in on weekends and do what-ever they could to help out,” said Nelson.

Those efforts paid off. They hit both of the first two benchmarks, and the first train from Madison to Mazomanie ran earlier than anticipated, on September 19. To restore all 6,000 feet, it took 22,000 tons of rock, or 1,100 dump trucks of material, 8,500 tons of ballast, 11 culverts were installed, and 1,200 new ties.

“They worked long hours and weekends all the way through. The guys are pretty good when something like this happens. They understand that we need to get together, team up, and pitch in. I don’t think there’s anyone who didn’t have a hand in this,” Schaalma said. “We were able to do it all and keep everyone safe, with no injuries or damage to equipment, which something we were concerned about, especially with the unsure foot-ing after the flooding.”

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker recognized the Team’s quick actions in restoring service and congratulated them mid-September. The Wis-consin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) worked with the WSOR and will allow them to seek reimbursement for 80 percent of eligible costs, up to $750,000, which they are eligible for since they met all their deadlines.

“Leaving companies stranded without the abil-ity to get products to and from market efficiently was not an option,” said WisDOT Secretary Dave Ross. “Congratulations to WSOR for their immediate mobilization of staff and contractors. By working around the clock, they made the necessary repairs to ensure the needs of industries located along this rail line are met.”

The bulk of the work is done, but there’s still more to do. The track still needs surfacing

work and ballast in some areas and as trains roll through, the new track is going to settle. There is plenty of debris to clean up too. That’s expected to be done in the coming weeks.

4 • The Dispatch • October 2018

Wisconsin governor recognizes WSOR's flood recovery

Before and after photos of the track west of Mazomanie, Wisconsin.

Top photo: Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Team Members work to repair washed out track near Black Earth, Wisconisn.Bottom photo: The same view of the com-pleted track.

In the top photo you can see where the ground was washed away from under the rail. The bottom photo shows the large amount of dirt and rock that had to be brought in to build the area back up.

The Dispatch • October 2018 • 5

#WATCO MOVESby Jay Benedict Digital Communication & Social Media Specialist

Customer: Loup LogisticsCommodity: Rubberized PipeLocation: Oklahoma Transload Services – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

These days, it’s not very often you get the opportunity to be the first to ship a product by rail, but when that opportunity was brought to commercial manager Laura Schmidt she jumped at the chance to find the solution.

Loup Logistics, a subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad (UP), approached Schmidt with a project they were working on for one of their customers. They needed to stage large rubber irrigation pipe at the Oklahoma Transload Services (OTS) yard before ship-ping by rail. The pipe was being stored at three different locations about an hour from OTS near Kingfisher, Oklahoma. The leases at these locations were expiring, and the product needed to be moved by August 31. So, the first challenge was getting the pipe to OTS.

“Loup came to us and asked if we could store the pipe on our yard,” Schmidt said. “So we came up with a trucking solution for that. We utilized two trucks from Pittsburg (Kansas) and the one truck we had in Okla-homa City. We got all the pipe trucked to our location and we’re providing the storage as well.”

The Team made the deadline and filled the OTS yard with around 1,700 pieces of pipe in about a six week time period. Each pipe is about 52 feet long and its outside diameter is 38 inches. They weigh anywhere between 5,500 and 11,500 pounds apiece depending on wall thickness, which ranges from one and a half inches to seven inches thick.

The pipe is traveling by rail to the Bakers-field, California, area, so after getting the pipe on the ground, the next challenge was figuring out how to load the pipe on railcars since it had never been done before.

“Our Operations Team and our support group worked with Union Pacific to put together the loading diagram, figure out the dunnage and the strapping that would be required,” Schmidt said. “They all worked together to come up with the solution for that.”

In all, it will require about 140 railcars to ship all the pipe to its final destination. The OTS Team’s goal is have the project completed in 16 to 18 weeks. After getting used to the new loading process, the Team is averaging two rail cars each day.

“Anything new comes with its challenges, but our Team hit the ground running,” said OTS yard supervisor Dylan Skeen. “We went from being able to load one car in a couple days to loading two cars in a 10-hour shift.”

The terminal is located next to the Stillwa-ter Central Railroad (SLWC) depot, so the pipe starts out on the SLWC before being interchanged to UP for the rest of its journey. If everything keeps going according to plan, the Team hopes to meet their goal to have all the pipe loaded and shipped in time.

"It was definitely a Team effort, and on the operations side, it was a big learning curve, but we provided the solution that helped Loup gain this business,” Schmidt said.

The Watco Teams involved in putting this solution together included Watco Terminal and Port Services, OTS, Commercial, Pric-ing, operations support, and the SLWC.

“Laura was wonderful in working with the Customer. (AVP of operations) Adam Hanson and (WTPS director of transportation) Ed Di-emert helped us out a lot. It was a real Team effort,” Skeen said. “Nobody had gotten to do it before, so it was definitely a challenge, but it’s a blast being involved in it."

After being trucked in and stored in the Oklahoma Transload Services yard in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, rubber irrigation pipe was then loaded to rail (top picture) and shipped to the Bakersfield, California, area.

Peabody Team sets recordby Jay Benedict Digital Communication & Social Media Specialist

In their first month switching railcars at the Peabody loca-tion in Wright, Wyoming, the Switching Team at the North Antelope Rochelle Mine – North location broke the record for most tons of coal loaded in a month.

From startup on August 1 to the end of the month, they loaded 2.37 million tons, which was 200,000 tons more than the previous record. That is roughly 12 more trains, bringing their monthly total to 147.

Location Manager Todd Hamilton said, "This is a huge accomplishment considering the Peabody Team was short staffed and not at full strength at startup. We did have some talented Watco Go Teamers who were on location and helped us accomplish this feat."

Across all four Peabody locations, the Team loaded 690 trains in August.

Three of the Switching Team members that are breaking records in Wyoming are (l-r): Kayla Lepine, Dalan Le Blanc, and Julie Ortiz.

The number of railcars being loaded at the mine during the first month of operations set new records.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the following Team Members who recently passed away.

Richard Ernest PolkJune 20, 1967 - August 19, 2018

Richard Ernest Polk was born on June 20, 1967, in Lufkin, Texas, to Janice Marie and Er-nest Polk and died on August 19, 2018.

Earnest was raised by his grandmother, Ernestine Merle Bradford Anderson. He attended the

Lufkin Independent School District and had been employed by the Timber Rock Railroad and then by the Vicksburg Southern Railroad. He was a member of Triumph Church in Vicksburg, Mis-sissippi. His livelihood included: video games, especially Dragon Ball Z and he was an avid video game player. He also loved his job and was very family oriented and spent quality time with them. Ernests' second home was at Game Stop where he purchased video games that he enjoyed. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Survivors include his fiance, Wendy Jones, of Vicksburg, Mississippi; son Teyard Polk of Beau-month, Texas; sisters Stephanie R. Wilson, Taresa Coutee Wilson, and Rena Alexander (Michael) all of Lufkin. Niece Kirsten Fahy (Anthony); neph-ews Denzel Wilson, Jermaine Alexander, Darrius Williams, and Tyrell Williams. He also leaves behind a wealth of cousins and other relatives and friends.

William Scott GrayJanuary 13, 1962 - September 6, 2018

William Scott Gray

of Pittsburg, Kansas, passed away Septem-ber 6th with his lov-ing and devoted wife by his side. Scott was born on January 13, 1962, in Oakridge, Tennessee, to Wil-liam Arden Gray and Janice Carleen Gray (nee Garrett). Within

a few years, the family moved to Pittsburg, Kan., and this is where Scott grew up attending Horace Mann Elementary School, George E Nettles El-ementary School, Lakeside Junior High School, then Pittsburg High School.

Scott played football for PHS and graduated from PHS in 1980, then attended Pittsburg State University for studies in the Plastics program.

On November 16th, 1985, Scott was joined in marriage to Lisa Gayle Platt at the University Timmons Chapel. Over their 33 years of marriage they lived in Kansas City, Kan., and Phoenix, Arizona, eventually returning to Pittsburg.

Lisa was the love of his life, and Scott was the love of her life. They enjoyed watching the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals Baseball. His sense of humor will be missed by all his friends and family.

Scott worked at Watco for the past seven years, enthusiastically planning, setting up, and cook-ing for the Watco tailgate parties at the Pitt State Gorilla football games. He was a key Team Mem-ber of the warehouse and facilities team and was involved in many of the community activities on behalf of the company. He loved his job and loved his Watco family.

Scott is survived by his wife Lisa Gray, parents William Arden Gray and Collen O. Gray, his sister Rebecca (Gray) Ash (Jeffrey), and brother Ed McKechnie, mother in-law-Charlotte Platt, his aunt Susan Lloyd, sister-in law Kelly Collver, brother-in-law Whitney Platt and partner Nick Typaldos. He is also survived by five nephews; James Collver (Amy), Nick Ash, William Ash, Austin McKechnie, and Jackson McKechnie.

He was preceded in death by his mother Janice Siebuhr and father-in-law Harry Platt, grandpar-ents Ruth and Karl Garrett, Wilbur and Elta Gray, and Bill and Elizabeth Lane, as well as his dear friend Dave Walker.

Kelly KingApril 2, 1967 - September 9, 2018

Kelly King, 51, of Sylvan Springs, was born on April 2, 1967, and passed away September 9, 2018.

Kelly graduated from Hueytown High School in 1985. He was employed by Watco Companies

for 23 years. He loved fishing, hunting, golf-ing, yard selling, and spending time with his family. He attended Heritage Christian Center, Hueytown. He was a volunteer fire-man at Sylvan Springs Volunteer Fire Depart-ment.

Kelly was preceded in death by his mother

Margaret Louise McCombs, and his father Wil-liam Cameron King.

He is survived by his wife of nine years Mel-ony King; children Kayley Garza (Larry), Cody King (Tiffany), Katie Black, and Dalton King; grandchildren Abigail Garza, Conner Cameron King, Olivia Garza, Barrett Nolan King, and Ella Cameron Garza; sisters Tammy Clements (Gary), and Kimberly Miller; step-sister Terri Davis (Steve); mother-in-law Carrie Smith; step-father John McCombs; and many special aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

6 • The Dispatch • October 2018

Our Deepest Sympathies Everett (Rhett) Wayne Booth

Jeff and Mindy VanBu-ren are proud to announce the birth of their grandson Everett (Rhett)Wayne Booth. Rhett is the son of Dakota and Emily Booth. He was born on August 18, 2018, and weighed 8 lbs., 4 oz., and was 21.5 inches long.

Rhett was welcomed home by his sister McKyn-lee, 2.

Jeff is an engineer for the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL) and Mindy is the administrative assistant for the SKOL. They office out of the Cherryvale, Kansas, depot.

Everett (Rhett) Wayne Booth

Births

Louis Franklin James

Jessica and Ben James are proud to announce the birth of a son, Louis Franklin. Louis was born on July 2, 2018, and weighed 7 lbs., 7 oz., and was 21 inches long.

Louis was welcomed home by his brother Jack-son, 2.

Jessica is a customer ser-vice representative and works from the Pittsburg, Kansas, office.

Louis Franklin James

Clayton and Michaela Brown are proud to announce the birth of a daughter, Ella Grace. Ella was born on June 21, 2018, and weighed 8 lbs., 13 oz., and was 21 inches long.

Clayton is a switchman at the El Dorado, Arkan-sas, facility.

Ella Grace Brown

Ella Grace Brown

Michael (Trip) Harris III

Michael and Jasmine Harris are proud to announce the birth of a son, Michael (Trip) Har-ris III. Trip was born on August 7, 2018, and weighed 7 lbs., 5 oz., and was 20 inches long.

Trip was welcomed home by his brothers Elisha and Jerry and his sisters Bryonna and Michaella.

Michael is a switchman at the El Dorado, Arkan-sas, facility.

Michael (Trip) Harris III

Congratulations to the following Team Members celebrating anniversaries this month.

1 Year: Jonathan Anderson, Brad Barnhart, Robert Beasley, Robert Beauchemin, Brayton Beck, DeCarlo Bell, Christopher Bernelis, Ellis Bollinger, Joseph Bomgaars, Keith Bowman, Paul Brixey, Joe Burkett, Joshua Burkhardt, Justin Burnette, Zachery Bussie, David Call, Elic Camp, Steve Campbell, Bradly Candi-racci, Oscar Carrillo, Aidan Carter, Richard Collier, Wil-liam Crane, Kyle Crocker, Casey Deutsch, Amy DeWild, Juan Escutia, Bradley Faught, Jordon Fisher, Andrew Fleming, Jeffrey Franke, Kelli Frazier, Brian Gaida, Jason Gutjahr, Garnell Hall, John Hatch, Kally Hatcher, Steven Haygood, Logan Helms, Eric Henderson, Ray-mond Hill, Kyle Hoge, Joseph Hudson, Nicholas Hyatt, Curtis Jackson, Heather Jackson, Isaiah Jackson, Trae Jones, Ryan Kimball, Patrick Kraft, Jacob Langbecker, Jacob Lemonds, Jamie Leonard, Devon Lindquist, Jenifer Malnar, Tyler Mason, Jamison Mathews, Cory McCready, Kareem Meawad, Nathan Melton, Karen Mentzer, Pedro Moreno Varela, Daniel Munoz, Kevin Neihaus, Kimani Parker, Emiliano Perez, Alvis Perry, Kyle Petersen, Eric Poore, Sara Printy, Robert Ramirez, Chad Reeder, Riley Richmond, Gary Ridenour, Gary Rucks, Jacob Salter, Joel Santana, Aloysius Schmuck-er, Robert Scoggin, Glenn Scott, Richard Scott, Caleb Scrivner, Mark Sellers, Casey Sink, Brannon Smith, Shawn Smithson, Kyle Stewart, Shawn Storseth, Cj Stremick, Braxton Thompson, Salomon Torres, Luis Trevino, Juan Vazquez, Paul Voss, Jade Wertz, Jimmy White, Daniel Willoughby, Jason Worthey2 Years: Kimberly Berry, Daniel Casey, Jennifer Fore, Jake Gandy, Calvin Jonas, Vance Kirkpatrick, Robert Lawrence, Margaret Miles, Brian Mills, Joe Percival, Samuel Radzak, Pete Reyes, Joseph Riley, Ethan Sailor, Tanner Tate, Carlos Torrez, Joshua Walker, Kenneth Womble, Tyler Workman, Mitch Wortman, Michael Zimmerli3 Years: Jerald Ballard, Omar Barrera, Joshua Book, Joshua Davis, Gary Dudenbostel, Francisco Garcia, Aleesha Gibson, Nathaniel Huish, Cornelius Johnson, Jorden Johnson, Robert Johnson, Brandon Layton, Mark Lightcap, Preston Nelson, Benito Nickles, Raul Orta, Teri Phillips, Cesar Robles, John Slager, Steven Sowers, Anthony Starrett, Brian Thierauf, Leroy Wil-liams Jr4 Years: Alexandra Banks, Richard Bost, William Cammack, Emmitt Carter, Joseph Casey, Reta Duran, Wesley Edouard, Thomas Frey, Joshua Garrett, Don Goff, Loretta Gonzales, Harry Graham, Kody Gray, Brandon Harris, Whitney Harris, Torrance Hendrix, Christopher Hill, John Leuzinger, Jackie Lowry, Chad-wick McHenry, Keegan Mitchell, Matthew Nash, Tyler Pirelli, Andrew Prochazka, Susan Quanstrom, Andrew Ross, Jered Ruback, Charles Staley, Lee Thomas, Rod-ney VonBehren, Jermaine Woods5 Years: Clint Allen, Amber Brown, Nicholas Burn-ham, James Burris, David Charters, Kyle Clutter, Wil-liam Coleman, Rosalio Collazo, Kylie Collier, Vanessa Espitia, Rebecca Garza, Credrick Gray, Virgilio Ibarra, Daniel Lester, Robert Llewelyn, Eduardo Morales, Mi-

The Dispatch • October 2018 • 7

chael Onuskanych, Clint Pavlicek, Rocio Perez, Marcell Salmond, David Shertel, Brian Spiller, Tommy Terrell, Ricky Vidrine6 Years: Peter Christy, Tyler Crawford, Javon Exum, Michael Galligan, Jesus Garcia, John Harrigan, David Lawson, Larkland Linton, Carlneil Maxie, Brian Mor-gan, Rodney Pickett, Richard Wheeler, John White7 Years: Peter Bercier, Jeffrey Buck, Lonnie Evans, Douglas Frazier, Gabriel Grad, Milton Gray, McKenzie Green, Joseph Hartley, Travis Ivy, Trenton Jones, Brian Manning, Erik Mitchell, Marilyn Moore, Arturo Perez, Leonel Ruiz, Salvador Sanchez, Michael Sepulvado, Michael Tucker, Jeremy Veley, Derrick Williams8 Years: Corey Black, Timothy Dykes, Mark Maddox, William Sorensen9 Years: Merlin Bridge, William Hill, Elvis Johns, Todd Johnson, Erik Krebel, Brian Pitt, Jeremy Sepulvado, Michael Toler, Dion Weichel10 Years: Sherrie Baykowski, Mark Bowen, Lucas Con-rad, James Culbertson, Troy Forbis, Cleveland Garth, Michael Harris, Albert Perez, Justin Ray, James Shoop11 Years: Russell Antonucci, Jana Austerman, Billy Barton, Donald Byrd, Gumaro Castillo, Ryan Gordon, Roger Howard, Elizabeth Newberry, Amanda San-tana, Misael Santos, Jason Seger, Sterling Teague12 Years: Gregory Baker, Robert Graham, Teri Kinyon, Karl Meyer, Matthew Stover13 Years: Jeffery Hoagland, Scotty Presley, Pedro Ra-mos, Jose Saavedra, Diana Scheffel, Thomas Scherzer, Delia Winegarner14 Years: Sheri Escobar, Bo Fox, Travis Herod, Myron Kilburn, Efren Llanas, Phyllis Wyatt15 Years: Marvin Albritton, Jeffrey Baum, David Ham-brick, Kyle Kozman, Charles McGinn16 Years: William Czapla17 Years: Scott Lynas, Michael Sturm, James Wren19 Years: Randy Hartley20 Years: Scott King, Daniel Lewandowski, Norman Neal21 Years: Donald Brau, Heath Morgan22 Years: Ivan Ferrin, Silvio Gomez, Raymond Hig-gins, Phillip Lee, Edward Moore23 Years: Rodney Daugherty, Steven Korell, Roos-evelt Robinson24 Years: Matthew Davis, Shannon Downen, Marcus Kuhlman, Lori Magee, Clay Quillman, Kevin Smith25 Years: Cirilo Bueno, Carl McCartney26 Years: Brian Daentl, Bruce Huerter, Craig Stans-bury27 Years: Anthony Clark, Jamie Swaynos29 Years: Eddie Bennatt, Kelvin Matthews30 Years: Michael Allen, Robin Doom31 Years: Ralph Ferrebee, Earl Holt, Michael Noss, Michael Tappy32 Years: James Moore33 Years: Keith Lacaze34 Years: Clarence Parrie, Mark Turner35 Years: Phillip Penner37 Years: Lonnie Joyce38 Years: Kimberly Bourgeois41 Years: Mario Marghella42 Years: Medric Hayes

Maylin Michelle PetersonRachael and Sean

Peterson are proud to an-nounce the birth of their daughter, Maylin Mi-chelle. Maylin was born on August 25, 2018. She weighed 7 lbs., 2 oz., and was 19.5 inches long.

Rachael serves as Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer and works out of the Over-land Park, Kansas, office.

Maylin Michelle Peterson

Births

OCTOBER ANNIVERSARIESanniversaries

Colt Lee and Kash Vance Gomez Chanc and Jen

Gomez are proud to announce the birth of twin sons, Colt Lee and Kash Vance. The boys were born on Au-gust 17, 2018.

Colt weighed 6 lbs., 11 oz., and was 20 inches long and Kash was 6 lbs., 10 oz., and was 19 inches long.

The boys were welcomed home by siblings Me-lina, 19, Micah Jo, 8, and Ryder Kross, 4.

Chanc is a real estate property manager working out of the Pittsburg, Kansas, office.

Colt Lee GomezKash Vance Gomez

Zara Samira Carnes

Danyale and Cheryl Norman are proud to announce the birth of a granddaughter Zara Samira Carnes. Zara is the daughter of Trentavi-ous Carnes and Tamara Brown. She was born on August 13, 2018, and weighed 5 lbs., and was 18 inches long.

Zara was welcomed home by her siblings Dalen and Ivyanna.

Danyale is the location manager at the El Dorado Arkansas, switching facility.

Zara Samira Carnes

Wisconsin and Southern Railroad's Conductor Jake Maloney married his firefighter bride Jessica

Pick on September 29, 2018.

Mr & Mrs Jake Maloney

315 W. Third StreetPittsburg, KS 66762www.watcocompanies.com

PRST STDUS POSTAGE

PAIDPRADMAR CORP

The newsletter for Watco Companies

Watco's Terminal Team in Amory, Mississippi, recently hit an impressive safety milestone; eight years injury free! A cookout was held for the Team to celebrate their continued focus on safety.

Mechanic Andy Carter and leadman Mitchell Hood manned the grill and provided steaks and brats.

Terminal manager Jim Strawn said the biggest factor in hitting the eight-year milestone was communication.

"The Team communicates well and they always are watching out for each other. They take their time to get the job done safety and efficiently."

"Longevity also plays a part in the location's safety record. Most of Team has at least 10-11 years at this location," said Strawn. "That longev-ity helps with the communication because they've had more time to get to know each other and how they operate."

Above left: Amory Team Members who celebrated 8 years injury free are: Susan Blake, Jerry Morris, Cleveland Garth, Andy Carter, Leslie Kissel, Brian Mills, Mitchell Alred, Ronnie Miller, Blake Allen, John Dozier, Mike Colburn, Floyd Schrock, and Cameron Ginther. Not Pictured: Jim Strawn, Zach Eaton, Nathan Kuykendall, Corey Davis and Robert Gray.

AMORY CELEBRATES SAFETY

by Tracie VanBecelaereManaging Editor

Watco was recently presented with a resolution from the Public Utilities Commission commending Watco Companies for its dedication to Rail Safety in Alabama. The resolution was part of the celebra-tion of National Rail Safety Month.

It was presented during the meeting of the Ala-bama Public Utilities Commission on September 11, 2018, which was presided over by PUC Presi-dent Twinkle Cavanaugh, (who is also a Republican candidate for Lt. Governor of Alabama).

The certificate stated that it was commending Watco for recognizing the need for updated, cen-tralized, and standardized railroad training methods such as what is being taught at the STAT Center in Birmingham, Alabama.

Alabama recognizes Watco safety efforts

Pictured L-R: Janice Hamilton, Utility Enforcement Di-vision Director and State Rail Safety Program Manager with the Alabama PUC, Waymon Benefield, Safety Administrator, Alabama Department of Transporta-tion, Carmen Patricia, FRA Region 3 Administrator, Elizabeth Lawler, VP Government Relations for Norfolk Southern and Board Member for Operation Lifesaver, and Travis Herod, Watco SVP of Safety and Training.

Below: Andy Carter (blue) and Mitchell Hood served as grill masters for the Armory Terminal's safety cookout.