Ceres: What brought you to this job?
Kathy: My family has a railroad history. My grandfather used to work for the Santa Fe railroad, fixing the ties on the tracks. Unfortunately, he died on the railroad, too. One day, though he had pneumonia, he went to fix something that was wrong with the track. That day, there was a big storm, and he went missing. When they found him, he was dead.
Also, my mother and her 12 siblings grew up at the Pasadena Depot that the Santa Fe railroad gave my grandfather and his family to live in. How I came about… I was actually in the right place, at the right time, when I got out of the Navy. The veteran representative was a friend of the railroad
representative. At the appointment office, we talked and talked, and the railroad representative couldn't believe I was a jet mechanic on the F-18’s. I was young then, 24 years old. The railroad representative asked me if I’d ever considered working for the railroad. I said that I'd pondered the idea. He gave me a description of the job and how much I would be making, and I said I’d consider it. About two weeks later, I got hired up with the Santa Fe railroad.
Ceres: How long have you been with Metrolink?
Kathy: Since July 2005.
Ceres: How do you like being a train engineer?
Kathy: I love it, LOVE it. I've been doing this for almost 22 years, and, every day, I have to say that, without a doubt, I thank my lucky stars that I have this wonderful job. I always tell everyone that I meet and who ask me the same question, that I love it because I have a corner office with a moving view.
Ceres: Have you ever had any accidents?
Kathy: Unfortunately, I've had accidents. You know the railroad. There are a lot of suicides, trespassers, cars that go around the gates, and I've hit both vehicles, and unfortunately, I’ve hit human beings, too.
Ceres: How do you feel when it happens?
Kathy: Obviously, you're shaken up. Your adrenaline goes through the roof. But, we've been trained enough that we know exactly what to do when it happens, when it comes to applying all the emergency procedures. But, it stays with you whether it's a vehicle or a person. It replays in your head over
"I love it because I have a corner office with a moving view."
Photos by Lands of Void
Kathy Vasquez
is from Pasadena, California, where she grew up and went to school. In 1990, after graduating from Pasadena High, she joined the United States Navy as an F-18 jet mechanic, working on flight decks. She was, then, one of the sixty-five women sta-tioned on aircraft carriers as a test group. She left the Navy in February of 1994, and in June of 1994, she was hired by the Santa Fe railroad before they merged with Burlington Northern. There, she drove freight trains before finally joining Metro-link, as a locomotive engineer.
14 - Ceres Magazine - Winter 2016