Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

Hey, FMB, Uke, Wes, tu, you're all quitters:

America's oldest dispatcher retires after 64 years with Erie, NJ

Transit

Published: August 13, 2013

NEWARK, N.J. When Frank Bookie Bookstaver hired out on

the railroad, Erie K­1 4­6­2 Pacifics were still roaming the rails

and Alco FA1s were the flashiest, most modern diesels on the

railroad. This week, Bookstaver, 85, retires from NJ Transit as

the oldest railroad dispatcher in America following a career that

spanned eight decades.

Bookstaver will be honored at NJ Transit's monthly board

meeting on Wednesday at the agency's headquarters near

Newark's Penn Station, the Newark Star­Ledger reports.

Although Bookstaver's career started in 1948, when he began

working at an Erie interlocking tower, he first worked for the railroad at age 15 as a clerk in the Rutherford

passenger station. In 1950, he moved on to train dispatching, where he worked under the Erie, Erie

Lackawanna, and NJ Transit heralds. He had become a legend at NJ Transit, where the next oldest employee

was 24­years his junior. Frank has a very old­fashioned work ethic just incredibly head­working. He

thinks different than a lot of the newer generation. Twelve­ and 14­hour days were the norm, says NJ

Transit senior director of rail operations Jimmy Sincaglia. Nobody expected him ever to leave.

In fact, Bookstaver didn't plan on leaving either, hoping to work to 91­years­old, just like his father.

However, treatment for cancer has left his right leg numb, making it difficult to get around the office. Earlier

this year, he typed up his letter of resignation on a typewriter and turned in his notice. The letter will be put on

display