(The following story appeared on the Chicago Daily Herald website on May 5. Eugene Picchiotti is a member of BLET Division 96 in Chicago. For a more indepth video presentation of this article, visit the Daily Herald website.)
CHICAGO — You may have seen him through the years on the train to work.
After 47 years of service, Union Pacific engineer Eugene “Gene” Picchiotti has called it quits for retirement.
“The railroad is a lot like the military. It engulfs your life. You spend more time with the people you work with than you do with your family,” says the Palatine resident.
Picchiotti was hired in 1961 by Chicago & Northwestern, which was taken over by UP in 1995. The company runs Metra trains on three former C&NW lines from Chicago to the suburbs.
At age 65, Picchiotti retired on April 25, making his last run on Metra train 640 from Harvard to Chicago.