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(The following story by Tom Dochat appeared on The Patriot-News website on October 26.)

BOSTON — Dan Cupper has loved trains since he was 3.

When he was a reporter at The Patriot-News, he covered transportation issues that often allowed him to explore his passion for trains.

Later, after leaving the newspaper, he was self-employed in public relations work and had railroad companies as clients.

He’s also written 10 books, half of them on railroads.

Now he’s part of the story. At age 56, Cupper abandoned his business — health insurance costs were “just going through the roof,” he said — and he started working as a conductor for Norfolk Southern Corp. He’s been there two years.

“There’s a lot to like about it,” Cupper said during a stopover in the Philadelphia area. He said the job offers a “lot of responsibility” and “freedom within limits.”

The problem is that there aren’t enough Dan Cuppers in the Harrisburg area. Norfolk Southern has always said the region is the most difficult place for it to hire employees.

A rising unemployment rate hasn’t made the situation any easier. “It’s still a huge challenge,” said Rudy Husband, a Norfolk Southern spokesman.

Husband admits that railroad work is a “lifestyle that is not for everybody.” He said there is a lot of outside work, there are odd hours and employees have to report to work on two hours of notice.

Still, the pay and benefits are among the best in all industries, he said. After four or five years, a Norfolk Southern worker can make $60,000 to $70,000 annually. And more with overtime.

Norfolk Southern needs more than 30 workers in Harrisburg. Husband expects more will be needed.

Husband said about half of Norfolk Southern’s 30,000 employees will be eligible for retirement within five years. The same ratio applies to the 800 who work in Harrisburg on both the labor and management sides.

Jack Garner, 53, was an optometrist for nearly 20 years, first with his own practice and then at commercial establishments where “I really hated it.”

In 2004, he started searching for other jobs and explored Norfolk Southern. After about a half-dozen attempts over a two-year period, he was finally hired.

“I was pretty sure it was a job I wanted to try,” he said. “I was at a stage of my life where I didn’t have to be home every night.”

He admitted it’s a job “that’s not always fun,” but for every day of miserable weather outside, there are 10 that are “absolutely beautiful.”

“The people that last at the railroad are those that go with the flow,” he said.

Cupper said, “It’s not so much of a job as a lifestyle.”

Cupper said those seeking jobs at Norfolk Southern fall into three groups: those fresh out of high school; those who have been downsized from other jobs and are middle age; and those who decided late in life to try new jobs, such as retired military personnel.

“They’ve hired people older than me,” Cupper said. They also hire young ones.

Jacob Gardner, 21, is a 2006 graduate of Trinity High School who began working at Norfolk Southern this year. “I was always interested in railroading,” he said. College didn’t interest him that much, he added.

“It’s a good paying job for not having gone to college,” he said.

Plus, “it’s a very diverse job,” he said. “Each job is completely different, there are so many places you can go. It’s different every day. It really keeps you on your toes.”

Husband said Norfolk Southern has formed an outreach program to recruit employees. The Harrisburg Workforce Recruitment Team meets monthly, with the next session planned for Nov. 12.

Harrisburg is a critical component of Norfolk Southern’s railroad network. The Enola Yards is a classification area that sorts cars for routing. It has intermodal facilities in Harrisburg and Rutherford. Its northern regional division, where dispatching is conducted, is in Susquehanna Twp.

If Harrisburg continues as a troublesome area to find employees, Norfolk Southern might have to re-evaluate its plans for growth opportunities here, Husband said. “Sooner or later, we would have to relocate that work to areas where we have more readily available people,” he said.

Unlike most stocks this year, Norfolk Southern has held its own in market performance. Cupper said it’s a “momentous time” in the railroad industry with the most hiring since the World War II era. He said more companies are looking to ship by railroad to offset rising energy prices, and the railroads need to replace workers hired in the 1970s.

Asked if there’s a book coming from his railroad experience, Cupper said, “I take notes on every trip.”

And when he talks to the old-timers, “I scribble furiously.”