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Christine GonzalezChristine Gonzalez Aldeis (born 1952/1953)[1] is an American train engineer. She became the first woman to work as an engineer on a Class 1 railroad.[2] Aldeis was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, where she came from a family that had strong ties to the railroad industry.[3] Her grandmother was a Harvey Girl, her grandfather worked as a Pullman conductor, her father worked as a train conductor and her mother was a secretary to the Santa Fe trainmaster in El Paso.[4][5] Her family was supportive of her announcement to become an engineer and she began training as a hostler in May of 1973.[1][3] After graduating from simulator school in Topeka, she then started work as the first woman train engineer for the Santa Fe Railway system in February of 1974.[1][5] She was first assigned to Socorro, New Mexico.[3] Aldeis was featured on the cover of Redbook in March of 1975.[6] In 1980, she met Robert Aldeis and they were married and had two children.[3] Aldeis took some time off to be with her children, but returned to the railroad as part of the reserve board.[1] In 1989, she became a volunteer for Operation Lifesaver.[3] After the BNSF merger, Aldeis became a field safety support manager and later the regional manager.[3] In 2012, she retired from BNSF.[3] References
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