BNSF locomotive engineer carries on family’s century-long legacy

By JEREMIAH VALENTINE 
Staff Writer 

Few things resonate sweeter than a solid father-son relationship. That’s especially true when sons proudly follow in their father’s footsteps. For locomotive engineer Robert Burkhardt, that generational journey has run along the rails.  

Burkhardt, a third-generation railroader based out of Fairchild, Washington, continues a nearly century-long legacy of railroading in his family. His story is more than a career. It’s a tribute to fathers and sons, and the tracks they lay for each other. 

Robert Burkhardt’s grandfather, William Burkhardt Sr., worked as a section foreman for BNSF predecessor Northern Pacific (NP) in Cleveland, North Dakota. In 1922, after about 12 years of railroading, he bought 400 acres of land and transitioned to full-time farmer.  

But his work as a railroader had a lasting impact on his son, William Burkhardt Jr., who was fascinated by steam engines and began his railroading career in 1938 in Billings, Montana.

William Burkhardt Jr. found work at a Billings roundhouse, where he repaired and maintained steam engines. Son Robert Burkhardt recalls that as a kid, his father shared deep insights and knowledge of steam engines, claiming that all of them sound different.  

Later in his railroading career, William Burkhardt Jr. served as a fireman, keeping the fire hot on the steam locomotive, and as an engineer. But his fondness for his roundhouse days never wavered. During family vacations, Robert Burkhardt said his dad always planned a stop to see a roundhouse for a moment of nostalgia. 

Through the transition from steam to diesel, William Burkhardt Jr. remained an engineer, evolving with emerging technology. His son would often take train rides with him as a kid.  

When his father retired in June 1977, Robert Burkhardt followed a natural calling to railroading. In 1978, he was hired by BNSF predecessor Burlington Northern (BN) as a carman apprentice in Seattle repairing boxcars.

Robert Burkhardt also worked as a trainman before relocating to St. Paul, Minnesota, for training in 1980. It was the start of him replicating his father’s railroading experiences, and he vividly remembers the first day he became an engineer.  

“On my first solo ride, my dad saw me off,” he said. 

Today, Robert Burkhardt travels the same route from Everett to Auburn, Washington, that his father did all those years ago.

He also met his wife Debbie in 1988 while she was working as a clerk on the crew desk in Seattle.   

Today, his routes take him past the neighborhood beach he played on as a kid, where he watched many trains pass by.  

“The area has changed from when I grew up, but the tracks are the same,” he admits.

After 47 years, he is the No. 1 fireman and engineer on the roster and is the last engineer with fireman seniority. He also holds the highest seniority as a conductor in BNSF’s Northwest Division.

“I still enjoy going to work,” he shared. “At this point in my career, I just have fun looking back at the mile-long train behind me.”