"Johnny Goodluck"

Railroading is serious business ,no matter how small or large an operation .It is disturbing that after many years of an excellent safety record ,there have been more injuries and fatalities of involving riders and employees on tourist roads in the last decade .The tragic death of an experienced conductor in Skagway last year is
sobering . There is a dark statistic among railroad employees : Most fatalities happen to men who have less than six months or more than twenty years on the job.
Without making light of this dark side of railroading ,I have a favorite story . I have told it so m any times ,I hope you will bear wwith me if you heard it before . The ATSF line through the Navajo Reservation has lots of fatalities due to trespassers .Despite the apparent desolation of the district , this reservation has lots of residents , and a lot of them use the right-of-way as a trail . I have h eard that it is not unusual for an engineer to have had killed several trespassers in his career .One summer afternoon an eastbound freight rounded a curve just east of the Arizona l ine .A passed-out Native American was between the rails .The engineer put the train into emergency . The conductor radioped the engine ,asking what was wrong .The engineman said he ran someone over .The door was open on the caboose ,and the conductor stated he could see the "victim" three car lengths back .Him and the brakeman went back with the clipboard ,ready to fill out a report .A close look revealed that the man was dead drunk ,but not dead. In fact ,he had no scratches on him .The brakeman produced a wallet and an i.d. His name really was "Johnny Goodluck" .