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Walter Breuning went to work for the
Great Northern Railway in 1913 when he was just 16.


      Now the world's oldest man at age 113, Breuning has became an
honorary member of the Minneapolis-based Great Northern Railway
Historical Society.


      "The Great Northern was a real good railroad for a long time,"
said Breuning, who was born on Sept. 21, 1896, in Melrose, Minn.


      On Saturday, he received a certificate recognizing him as the
longest-living retired Great Northern Railway employee and for
sharing recollections of his five decades of experiences with the
railway.


      The ceremony was held at the Rainbow Retirement and Assisted
Living Community in Great Falls, where Breuning lives.


      Breuning says his career with the railway would likely have been
derailed his first year of employment if he had met James J. Hill
of St. Paul, Minn., the "empire builder" who built the railway
from St. Paul to Seattle through Montana.


      Breuning insists he would have been fired for being too young, but Breuning said he only ever saw Hill from a distance.


      "I saw him get off the train many times," Breuning said.


      Hill finished the 1,700-mile transcontinental Great Northern
Railway in 1893. He's considered a pivotal force in the
transformation of the Northwest, according to the Minnesota
Historical Society, with his railroad helping increase settlement,
agricultural development and commercial expansion.


      Breuning's career with the railway spanned 50 years, until he
retired in 1963 in Great Falls.


      He said he started as a "call boy," calling train crews to
work. In 1918 he transferred to Great Falls and became a yard clerk
earning $90 a month. Except for a short stint in Butte, he spent
his career in Great Falls.


      In Great Falls he was responsible for coordinating train
schedules. He said Great Northern's depot was the hub for four
train lines carrying hundreds of passengers and goods.


      "Walter was the human computer," said Whitefish resident Jack
Dykstra, a member of the Great Northern Railway Historical Society.


      But the heyday of passenger trains had passed by the early
1960s, and in 1970 the Great Northern Railway merged with three
other railroads.

Gallery

Walter Breuning went to work for the
Great Northern Railway in 1913 when he was just 16.


Born in Melrose, world's oldest man honored

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