This photo ran in Neighbors earlier this year with a story about Leonard Olson, left, a veteran brakeman for the Northern Pacific Railway. The names of the other two men were unknown.
Now, those two have been identified, thanks to Anita Alokolaro, Seattle. That's because the man in the black hat is her father, John F. "Jack" Norberg.
Anita also identifies the man in the middle as Les Miller, a conductor.
She says she was "so excited" to see this photo, because "My father died in 1996, and I felt like he was here again."
Neighbors asked Anita to provide more information about her dad, as some people, no doubt, are around who remember him. She obliged, reporting that her father worked for the railroad for more than 40 years before retiring early due to Parkinson's disease.
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She also reports he was a good athlete in college; so good, he once outpitched a superstar.
Army, Navy
Jack started working for the NP in the early 1940s, then joined the Army during World War II. He later switched to the Navy and became a first lieutenant.
Upon discharge, he rejoined the NP and then Burlington Northern after the railroad merger, working as a conductor and, occasionally, as a brakeman.
"My dad did not want the merger," Anita writes. "He used to stay up late typing a lot of letters, and I remember going to the post office with those large bunches of letters.
"The railroad was very important to my dad. He had poems and pictures of trains. I think my dad loved the railroad after God and his family.
"His dad worked on the railroad, too. He was an engineer.
"I also remember going places with my family, such as shopping or to restaurants, and we would have to leave (as) my dad was always calling the yard office on the pay phone to see if he was called to work.
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"He went to work and came home all hours of the night. That must have been hard."
Railroad family
Anita's family lived in Dilworth. Anita's mother, Helen Norberg, 89, still lives there, as do her brothers Brian and Pat Norberg. Her sister Adele Brennan lives in Fargo, and another sister, Molly Elwell, lives in San Diego.
Anita says the train is her favorite way to travel, while her brother Brian (whose birthday is Monday, incidentally), when taking a group of Boy Scouts to New Mexico in 1992, insisted on taking the train.
But then, this is the family of Jack Norberg, a railroad man through and through.
As to his athleticism: When he was attending St. Thomas College, St. Paul, he participated in all sports, including baseball.
He once was pitching when his team won a 1-0 game. The pitcher for the other team was future baseball Hall of Famer Satchel Paige.
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