Born in Melrose, world's oldest man honored

Walter Breuning
Walter Breuning, 113, has became an honorary member of the Minneapolis-based Great Northern Railway Historical Society. He received a certificate recognizing him as the longest-living retired employee of the railway.
Ryan Hall/The Great Falls Tribune via AP

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.

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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.

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Information from: Great Falls Tribune