Female engineer inducted into Railroad Hall of Fame

When Ramona Dockter was a senior in high school, her brother asked her what she wanted to be. She told him that she wanted to work on the railroad like her father, and she did.

For several months, 18-year-old Dockter worked as a brakeman alongside engineers who helped her understand railroading, including Ray Schlosser, Franky Hoffman and Bill Stumpf. They encouraged her to become an engineer as well.

“As Bill said, ‘Opportunity only knocks once,'” Dockter said. “So I decided yes.”

Read more from The Bismarck Tribune.

Ramona Dockter was a member of UTU Local 1344 (Mandan, N.D.) during her time as an engineer, before she left the industry. Franky Hoffman was also a member of Local 1344 before his retirement.