Railroaders Bring Major Improvements to Worksite
JANUARY 2023 — Eric Slimp and Dalton Fischer do more than repair locomotives at the Kaw River Railroad (KAW). These jacks of all trades go out of their way to make upgrades around the work site.
Slimp, a chief mechanical officer, reached out to KAW General Manager Brandon Craddock after steps leading up to an office building started deteriorating. Craddock gave the go-ahead to purchase materials, and Slimp and Fischer got to work leading reconstruction efforts.
“They’re eager to help and improve the KAW,” said Craddock. “Eric’s a great leader. Since Dalton joined the team as a locomotive mechanic last year, Eric’s taken him under his wing and shown him the right way to do things.”
Trainmaster Matt Hayes also speaks highly of his teammates. “A lot of us have been talking about repairing the stairs for months. But Eric and Dalton went out and did it. They push the team to take pride in where we work every day.”
After they finished building new stairs and adding new lighting to a walkway, Slimp started on a new project. This time it was fixing an office wall after noticing issues caused by a leaky window. Slimp worked weekends and after-hours to make the repairs.
And Slimp and Fischer have more projects they want to complete in the future, like laying a new floor in the office bathroom and adding a bench to the locker room. Craddock is all-in for making these improvements.
He said, “Eric and Dalton take initiative. If they see something, they say something. They not only take pride in their work on locomotives, but in making the KAW a great place to work for everyone.”