Transport: Remembering Reed Jackson

Union Pacific conductor Reed Jackson was in his element--talking with passengers in the theater car "Idaho" during the "Puget Sound Steam Special" excursion at Orillia, Washington on 19-May-2007

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The railroad and railfan community is mourning the loss of Union Pacific conductor Reed Jackson, who died on 11-August-2009 after surgery to remove a brain tumor. In the past two decades, Jackson had become the public face of the Union Pacific Steam Program, one of the railroad's major public relations efforts. He was 55.

According to Hal Lewis, who served as Train Manager for Pacific Limited, a consortium of railroad historical groups that operated trains in conjunction with the Union Pacific steam program, Jackson was added to the team in the early 1990's by program head Steve Lee to reduce Lewis' workload. Indeed, it was on a Pacific Limited trip, the "Portland Rose" excursion from Denver, Colorado to the Pacific Northwest, that I first met Jackson in 1995. That train was more than 2500 feet long, so he tended to be in the theater car at the end of the train in case a reverse move were necessary. I had the pleasure of relieving the normal car host in that car during some of her breaks, and thus I had the privilege of watching Jackson interact with ease with the passengers on the train, a number of whom were from foreign countries.


It's an obscure scan, but conductor Reed Jackson was at left in this view of the "Fox River" theater car during the "Portland Rose" Pacific Limited trip as it passed Shoshone, Idaho on 17-September-1995. I was about to relieve veteran car host Anita Kratville, at center, for her lunch break.

Jackson was a perfect choice for the Steam Program Conductor--his easy-going manner and ease in speaking with the public made him popular with everyone from Union Pacific's partner organizations to the press to members of the general public surprised to find a steam locomotive stopping in their home town. The impression that he made in his meticulously-prepared uniform created memories for thousands of people that never learned his name, as well as those of us who came to view him as an integral part of seeing a Union Pacific steam train.

According to the blog of former Union Pacific colleague Jim Burrill, Jackson started with the Union Pacific as a brakeman out of Denver, Colorado in the 1970's and later served as conductor on Amtrak's "San Francisco Zephyr" which then ran on the Union Pacific between Denver and Ogden, Utah. He was thus a passenger service veteran when appointed to the Steam Program.

Indeed, Jackson was known for his professionalism. One of my favorite Reed Jackson stories occurred during the "Puget Sound Steam Special" in May 2007. The train made a stop for engine servicing in Everett, Washington and the engineer of the lead locomotive wanted to "highball" or depart. Jackson was heard on the radio saying, "Just as a reminder, I'm the conductor of this train and for safety reasons I'm the one that determines when we can leave." It wasn't long after the acknowledgment from the engine that Jackson gave the official "highball."


In what turned out to be my last picture of him, Union Pacific conductor Reed Jackson (at left) rode a vestibule with Ed Dickens as the Western Heritage Express moved to a spot in Portola, California on 5-May-2009

It is said that there is a "great railway in the sky" where railroaders go after their deaths. Reed Jackson must surely have marked up as a conductor on that railroad now. This world has certainly lost a great ambassador with his passing.