Railroad Person of the Year 2012

James Vandendries

A seasoned railroader will be featured in the Durand Railroad Days Festival parade in May: James Vandendries, who recently was chosen as the 2012 Railroad Person of the Year.

 

Vandendries, 61, said he felt honored to be named for the award, sponsored by Durand Union Station in conjunction with Railroad Days, set for May 18-20 in downtown Durand.

 

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“I was a little amazed,” he said Monday. “I never thought they’d remember anyone as shy and quiet as I was.”

 

The Durand native is kidding, naturally. He’s been known for pulling pranks ever since he started working for Canadian National Railroad (formerly Grand Trunk Western) in 1969. Alas, most of the pranks can’t be described in a family newspaper.

 

“When it came to pranks, I was usually the first one (management) thought of,” Vandendries said with a laugh. “They figured I had a hand in a lot of things. They were generally right.”

 

But he also found the time to get the job done — as a clerk, yardmaster and trainmaster — during his “41 years, two months and 27 days” at the railroad.

 

Vandendries became an enthusiastic retiree Oct. 1, 2010.

 

“The people I’ve met, the places I went, the things I’ve seen and done — I’ve had a good time,” he said Monday. “I’ve known some of the greatest people over the years.

 

“But I’ve had enough.”

 

After graduating from Durand High School in 1968, Vandendries hired on at General Motors only to get laid off. His mother, Jean Vandendries, suggested he apply for a job at Grand Trunk.

 

Two days later, James Vandendries was working for the railroad as a clerk, making lists of the numbers on the train cars in the yard in sequence for the yardmaster.

 

By 1973, he was promoted to yardmaster, “the guy who directed all train operations in and around the yard,” he said. “It was a lot more interesting work.”

 

Vandendries moved up again in 1979 to trainmaster, overseeing the yardmaster and the rest of the terminal, but that lasted only until 1981, when he returned to his old yardmaster job.

 

“I loved being a yardmaster,” he said. “I liked having the direct control over the operation.”

 

Over the years, Vandendries has worked a variety of positions, if briefly, including switchman, brakeman and fill-in superintendent. Jobs have taken him to Flint, Port Huron, Hamtramck, Flat Rock, Lansing, Toledo, Ohio, and Battle Creek, where he moved in 1996.

 

“He certainly was a well-rounded employee,” said Jean Fuja, co-chair of the committee of 12 people, including seven past Railroad Persons of the Year, that selected Vandendries. “I feel the committee chose him because of his 42 years of service. Also the fact that he started as a clerk, worked his way up to yardmaster and then trainmaster. Another factor was the number of locations he worked.”

 

Now that Vandendries is retired, he’s back in the Durand area with his wife, Debbie, living in a farmouse they bought last spring. Their adult married children — sons Jim and Joe Vandendries, both Canadian National engineers, and daughter Chris Leamy — and six grandchildren all live nearby.

 

Retirement has been easy to get used to, James Vandendries said. A fishing boat he purchased five years ago finally made it into the water, and he likes helping his older son on his farm.

 

A nice life — and no regrets about working on the railroad.

 

“Where else can a kid go with a high school education and make upwards of $100,000?” he said.

 

(Article courtesy of Sally York and the Argus Press)