National train day celebration -- Training first responders -- The four "T's" -- Intermodel rail and transportation logistics -- Mentoring in the associate development program -- Working at the 19th street "Rip" track -- Seniority means everything -- Explaining a union contract -- Riding in the West Virginia coal fields -- We are Marshall! -- Railroading in Huntington, West Virginia -- The Chesapeake & Ohio railway -- Staff meetings and travel -- Overweight coal cars, dust and freeze proofing -- Shining floors and career advancement -- Yardmaster training in Jacksonville, Florida -- Railroad culture and terminology -- Huntington and Russell locomotive repair shops -- The Raceland car repair shop -- Railroad dispatchers -- The Russell, Kentucky YMCA -- It's difficult to stop a train -- Rail yard switching operations -- Stay away from railroad rights of way -- Active warning devices at a railroad crossing -- Installing a railroad crossing surface -- Tie and rail gangs -- Rail operations in the Danville, West Virginia district -- Traveling in wild, wonderful West Virginia -- Section two: crossties and coal dust - introduction -- Epiphany -- Marrowbone development: the Cadillac of coal companies -- Surface coal mining methodology -- Riding trains at Sprouse Creek processing -- Rotary dumping and flood loading coal trains -- Coal sampling, preparation, and anaylsis -- Pillaring, old works, and a missed opportunity.