RAILROAD TRACK LABORER
LOCATION: Joliet, IL
STORY TOLD BY RYAN SINGLETON, AURELIANO'S SON-IN-LAW.
"Monday: 7 hours OT. Tuesday: 6.5 hours OT. Wednesday: 5.5 hours OT. Thursday: 5 hours OT. Friday: 3 hours OT, take kids to Star Wars. Saturday: 11.5 hours OT.
My father-in-law Aureliano Reyes understood hard work, and the above is proof. It's from his overtime-tracking calendar for June 2005, when he was wrapping up his 30-year career as a track maintenance laborer with BNSF Railway.
Aureliano immigrated to the United States from central Mexico to give his family a better life, and he knew that hard work was the only way he could do it. For years he harvested crops in Kansas and California, before moving to Illinois where he decided to lay down roots — and railroad ties. In 1978, then-Santa Fe Railway hired Aureliano to cut rail, manually compress ballast, remove and install ties, adjust rails and fit bolts.
He operated a combination of mostly non-powered hand tools on the job — shovels, picks, sledgehammers and axes. The other tool the company issued him was a pair of Red Wing boots, which became part of his signature look. Whether paired with fleece-lined jeans in subzero temperatures or a cotton t-shirt in July, he always wore his Red Wings.
On jobs far away from home, Aureliano would often sleep in his car after a shift ended, so that he could wake up early the next day and get back at it. At times he would literally live at work for weeks on end.
He retired from BNSF in 2008. I met him two years later when I was about to propose to his youngest daughter, Felipa. I remember his hands being the size of bear claws — and just as strong.
He was a man of few words. That first time we met, Aureliano pulled me aside and simply told me, 'If you're good to my daughter, we can be friends.' He would shake my hand with his right hand while pushing me away with his left. But over time, the shake got warmer and the push got lighter.
As I learned more about this man and grew close to him, I saw that two things were central to his character: first, a willingness to sacrifice; and second, taking control of his life despite being born into a system of poverty.
Aureliano's brother-in-law Hector likes to tell the story about the time the extended family got together for dinner one bitterly cold evening in the middle of winter. Hector remembers running from the car to the front door of the house to get out of the dangerous weather.
Aureliano worked late that night and was last to show up, but he finally came inside and took off his boots. Five minutes later, he got a call that something back at work had broken, and he didn't hesitate. Aureliano bundled back up, put on his boots and was out the door without complaint.
My father-in-law passed away in April 2020. But he is still present through the sweat and dedication he left at the jobsite. I feel close to him whenever I see a BNSF train, his hard hats or anyone wearing Red Wing boots."
THERE'S A STORY WORN INTO EVERY PAIR OF RED WINGS.
WE WANT TO HEAR YOURS.
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