•May 1, 2019•
By Jerry L. Ginther
NP Guest Columnist

At 14 years old, his job, his personality and his car favorably impressed me. At first meeting, it was the job of telegraph operator and freight agent for the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI) that caught my interest.
Enter Bert Benjamin Condo. Bert was a tall, lean gentleman probably in his early 60s when we first met. Actually, I would later learn that this wasn’t our first meeting. I was just too young to remember the first, which had occurred when I was about three years old. From that second meeting Bert would become very important to my future. Bert became one of the best friends and mentors that a young boy could have. My long railroad career as a telegraph operator and train dispatcher was the product of this second meeting and resulting friendship.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.