BNSF conductor honors women’s history in railroad industry

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - As International Women’s History Month comes to an end, one female conductor is sharing how women impacted the industry and how she is continuing to pave the way for women to come.

Mandy Lockaby, a BNSF conductor in Slaton says, “It is not a man’s job because I do it every day, but it is a man’s world.”

Lockaby does the job every day by throwing switches and bending the rails as a train conductor.

“It’s challenging, and they often wonder if we could do it,’ Lockaby said.

When you think of women in the railroad industry you may think of maids cleaning passenger cars, or The Harvey Girls. But, you might not know the impact women had on how railroads function today. From the safety features, “Mary Riggins developed the crossing gate,” Lockaby said.

All the way to food transportation.

“We have women who updated and improved the refrigerated car so that we can transport frozen goods and foods across America safely,” Lockaby said.

All of which helped pave the way for conductors like Lockaby to thrive in a male-dominated field.

“We have a job to do and that’s what we do if a train comes apart, breaks in two when we are running down the track. which does happen, it’s our job to go back and fix it,” Lockaby said.

When Lockaby is not directing a train, she spends her time sharing her knowledge with the next generation of railroaders.

“I think it is easy for little girls to be out into a box sometimes and think that they are supposed to go a certain way but if they like working on the car with their dads on the weekend or if they like trains. If there is something you are passionate about you do it,” Lockaby said.

Lockaby gave two presentations about women’s history in the railroad Tuesday at Slaton’s Harvey House.

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