Bob Rogers

For nearly three decades, Bob Rogers has built his career around the Belt’s signal systems and hump operations, developing significant hands-on knowledge.

He joined the Belt in October 1997 as a hostler helper in the diesel shop. A few months later, he moved to the Signal Department as an assistant signalman before becoming a technician. He also served six years as a hump foreman. Today, he is the lead technician for the Signal Department.

That progression has given Rogers a broad understanding of how the hump operates and how its many components work together. Assistant Chief Engineer of Signal and Hump Systems Mark Ferguson said Rogers’ experience makes him a key resource.

“Bob’s long-term knowledge and understanding of the BRC’s hump and yard signal infrastructure make him a valuable ‘Railroader to Know,’” Ferguson said.

Rogers’ years on the hump also helped prepare him for the responsibility of serving as a foreman. He credits former Hump Foreman Jeff Jane, who retired after more than 30 years with the Belt, as an important mentor who taught him the value of attention to detail and organization.

“You have to be very aware of your surroundings,” Rogers said.

That mindset continues to shape his work. From the tower, Rogers monitors the system, helps troubleshoot issues and communicates with maintainers when work is needed. He also handles system updates and helps verify that equipment is functioning properly.

Good communication is essential, he said, noting, “There has to be good communication with the maintainers. Make sure you᾿re sending them in the right direction to the right switch to do the job.”

After so many years working around the hump, Rogers has developed an instinct for how the operation is performing.

“You get a feel for it,” he said. 

Away from work, Rogers enjoys golfing and traveling, particularly trips to Las Vegas. He also looks forward each year to Golftoberfest, an informal golf gathering that has grown to include about two dozen friends, including several current and former Belt team members.

Bob’s long-term knowledge and understanding of the BRC’s hump and yard signal infrastructure make him a valuable ‘Railroader to Know.’

— Assistant Chief Engineer of Signal and Hump Systems Mark Ferguson

Karl DoyleMachinist

Karl Doyle says his fascination with machinery started long before he ever set foot on the railroad.

Growing up in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, he lived a few doors down from a mechanic shop. He would spend his afternoons watching the mechanics work, taking in the process as they diagnosed problems, disassembled parts and brought broken things back to life.

“I just found it interesting how they would take things that were broken and fix them,” Doyle said. 

By the time he was about 6, he already had decided what he wanted to do.

“One day, standing on a corner with my mom, I said, ‘Hey, Ma. I know what I want to do. I want to be a mechanic,’” Doyle said.

After high school, he enrolled at Lincoln Tech to study automotive and diesel mechanics. He went to work at a Chrysler dealership while continuing to develop his skills, eventually working alongside journeymen and gaining experience as a mechanic.

In 1993, Doyle started at the Belt as a laborer and later entered the machinist apprenticeship program in 1999. 

“I honestly didn’t know anything about locomotives or railroads,” he said. “So, this was all new to me. Eventually, this place gave me my whole livelihood.”

Assistant Chief Mechanical Officer Nate Smith said Doyle is a great example of the experience, dedication and craftsmanship that keep the Belt moving. Through his guidance and mentorship, the next generation of locomotive machinists will build the knowledge, confidence and technical expertise needed to maintain the fleet to the highest standards.

“His knowledge and commitment to his craft also strengthen our team’s ability to perform complex mechanical repairs in-house, helping maximize locomotive availability and ensure reliable operations,” Smith said.

Doyle also is invested in the Belt’s history. He has accumulated roughly 1,400 photographs documenting the railroad over the years, including images taken by employees from decades ago and photographs he has captured himself.

“There’s just some things that I miss the way this place used to be,” he said. “You know, service tracks, different buildings are gone. The old ice house is gone, the old green building across the way is gone.”

His appreciation for history also runs deep in his personal life.

Doyle᾿s parents, Rafael and Dorothea, owned a neighborhood tavern while he was growing up. The establishment, which Dorothea named after her son, was a classic neighborhood gathering place filled with regulars, many of them blue-collar workers from the surrounding area. Doyle remembers a community where families knew one another and neighbors looked out for each other᾿s children.

“It was a big family atmosphere,” he said.

His mother also left him another connection to the past: a collection of coins and silver pieces she accumulated during the years she owned the tavern. Among them is a 1899 Morgan silver dollar from Carson City, Nevada, that Doyle treasures not because of its market value but because it belonged to his mother.

“Everything that she had in her collection, I still have,” he said.

That instinct to preserve old things has become part of Doyle᾿s own personality. In addition to coins, he collects die-cast cars, antiques, vintage items, knives and typewriters.

“If it’s old, I’ll buy it,” he said.

His most hands-on project is a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am, a white hardtop with a red interior that he has owned for 25 years. He maintains it himself and takes it out for cruise nights, car shows and charity events during the summer.

The car requires the same kind of patience and mechanical attention that first captivated him as a child.

“Basically, you’re its caregiver,” Doyle said.

Jaye Beasley

After 19 years in Transportation, Track Laborer Jaye Beasley has spent the past two years seeing the Belt from a different perspective.

“It gave me a new sight on how Transportation and Track work together,” he said.

Beasley also appreciates how his schedule gives him work-life balance to spend time with his wife, Keisha, and their two adult daughters, Jada and Jordan.

Family has played an important role throughout his railroad career. His father-in-law, Samuel Brown, worked more than three decades with Union Pacific and encouraged Beasley to consider railroading after college. Beasley initially pursued a career in advertising; but when his employer announced plans to move its operations out of Chicago, he looked toward railroad opportunities.

“I’m forever grateful to the Belt for giving me my railroad career,” Beasley said. “I work with a great group of people.”

Brown was especially proud when Beasley joined the Belt, and the two remained close. Beasley described his father-in-law as a second father who continued to take an interest in his railroad experiences. Brown passed away in 2018.

Beasley and Keisha, who met in college and have been married since 1995, built their family while navigating the demands of railroad life. Keisha, a psychotherapist with a master’s degree in psychology, stayed home with their daughters for 14 years. Both daughters went on to attend college on full academic scholarships.

Beasley credits his wife’s dedication and guidance with helping shape their family and their successes.

Away from the railroad, Beasley stays busy with sports, cooking and a podcast he hosts with four college friends that was recently added to iHeartRadio. A longtime Chicago Bears fan and season-ticket holder, he also has two books in development, including a collection of quotes and affirmations.

I’m forever grateful to the Belt for giving me my railroad career. I work with a great group of people.

— Track Laborer
Jaye Beasley