拉斐尔•古铁雷斯

了解拉斐尔·古铁雷斯就是了解他的智慧, skills and life lessons imparted by dozens of people over his decades-long career in railroading. 研究一张26年前他第一支球队的照片, Gutierrez looks at each face and delivers his recollections in a staccato rhythm.

这是灵魂男, 谁教他铺路的, 如何阅读图表, 如何跨越关卡, 如何制作曲线. 奥斯卡菲力克斯, David Gonzalez and John Pimentel explained the logistics of the tracks, 如何使用电脑, 移动汽车, 给谁打电话, 该怎么做. The late Gary Milner, the blue-eyed chief, taught him integrity. 肯尼•奥尼尔, 现在退休了, 还有肖恩·卡恩斯, 修建了控制点、新轨道和拆除的隧道. 还有李·塔瓦雷斯和卢·阿德勒，他们教他焊接. Track inspector Mark Suarez, now an assistant roadmaster for BNSF Railway in Texas. 史蒂夫•席尔瓦. 罗德里格斯. 约翰尼. 迈克. 艾伦·莱克, 谁因为喜欢我就把我揍得屁滚尿流,古铁雷斯说, who likens the teamwork he encounters in 铁路roads to that which he knew in the Marine Corps. Gutierrez recalls the staff sergeant there who saw potential in him – the first time anyone had displayed such interest while he was a young adult.

这张照片捕捉到了古铁雷斯多年未见的朋友. 他把它放在手边, 在维克托维尔的一个售票员给他的剪贴板旁边, 加州, 他在工作了30多年后退休的那一天. “It’s beat up, it’s a little tore up, but I haven’t got rid of it,” 古铁雷斯说. “我有我的朋友. 我很幸运.”

在RTD, Gutierrez is senior instructor and track supervisor for the agency’s newest commuter rail line, N线, 去年9月开业. Gutierrez and the team of 16 he supervises are responsible for maintaining 22.6英里的轨道, 包括13英里多的北线, 符合联邦铁路管理局的标准.

“我修建铁路。. 我维护铁路. 我训练那些想要学习的人。. “这就是我们的谋生之道. 我尊重他们的手艺.他开玩笑说，虽然他可能脾气暴躁, “we have one of the best relationships as a work group because of what we’ve experienced in the past. 我告诉大家我们是中坚力量.”

Gutierrez followed family to Colorado from Southern 加州, where he worked for 13 years as a contractor for that region’s commuter rail system, 辆. Having helped maintain a system that included several hundred miles of rail over seven territories, 古铁雷斯说, “这里太悠闲了, 我不习惯. 我习惯每小时跑100英里. 在这里，你可以喘口气.” He now has time to develop a training program for his team, 在院子里给他们看铝热焊点, 火炬削减, 如何使用重型设备.

Gutierrez notes that every lesson he teaches is one that he learned. “I’ll never tell somebody to do something first that I haven’t done,他说. “你不能在课桌后面教书.”

Gutierrez continued: “I know the strength of every guy on my team. I know what they can do, what they are capable of and what they cannot do.他说，他们的工作“是团队合作的结果”. 这就是为什么我不想谈论我自己. 是你周围的人让你看起来很好. 不是前面的那个人.”

古铁雷斯加入了艾奇逊, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) – which later became BNSF Railway – in 1992 as an assistant welder and welder helper, 运用他在军队里学到的技能. Welding for railroads differs from the tasks he completed with the Marine Corps or in a regular welding shop, 古铁雷斯说. 在这里, 焊工组装青蛙, 也被称为两条铁轨的交叉点, 用铝热剂把铁轨焊接在一起.

当他在BNSF磨练技艺时, 古铁雷斯和一个叫吉米·卡普斯的焊工密切合作, 谁后来成为了总经理助理. 他说，他“从不放过身后的人”. “He always saw the potential in others and went out of his way to help them. 他帮了我很多忙.当古铁雷斯成为培训经理的时候, Capps’ son Kevin called Gutierrez in the middle of the night while doing rail track maintenance, 对着他不懂的东西说话.

“我就像，你在哪里?” Gutierrez recalled, telling Kevin, “I’m right down the street. 来我家吧. 我给你倒杯咖啡.两个人在几个星期的奇怪时间见面, 凯文问古铁雷斯为什么愿意这么做. “Because your dad did the same thing for me,” Gutierrez told him.

而数字在他的脑海里挥之不去, Gutierrez keeps detailed notes for everything he needs to recall at a moment’s notice. The worn notebook shares space in his bag with another item Gutierrez has carried for more than 20 years: a collection of letters, 他八个孩子的诗和回忆, 谁的年龄在15到32岁之间.

For several months during his first year with RTD – well before N线 was in service – Gutierrez walked the tracks multiple times, 记录开关的尺寸和测量. 这是他第一次处理架空电力. 他问了一些关于盘子的问题, alignment and structure and dug into literature to understand the basics. 这有什么吓人的吗? “除非你顺其自然.”

The nature of his work requires Gutierrez to “see everything from the ground up, 从排水污垢, 到压舱物, 到领带, 板块, 铁路, 的片段,他说. “在我的脑海里，我已经把大部分照片都拍下来了.” Surface observations – like a dip, the approach, mud – can reveal deeper problems. Gutierrez learned that lesson on his very first project at ATSF, when he proposed a repair that would fix only the obvious problem. 他回忆起同事们对他说:“看, 年轻人, we’ve been here long enough to know that we’re going to come back out. So, 我们可以按你的方式去做, 我们可以回来再做一次，然后被骂, 或者我们可以按照我们应该做的方式去做.”

Thinking back on that experience, 古铁雷斯说: “It doesn’t matter what hat or title you wear. 如果我不知道，我还是会问，而且我希望他们会问. 我不期望每个人都知道所有的事情. 我不是什么都知道.”

在加州, Gutierrez fixed track as fire jumped above his head and while waist-deep in water amid flash flooding. The blizzard we all experienced earlier this year was his first – and he was out in it with his crew, 在狂风呼啸时评估冻结开关, 能见度恶化, 工作人员努力将铁轨上的雪吹走. In that instance, RTD ultimately halted train activity due to safety concerns.

Gutierrez acknowledges that most people don’t know about or understand the work that his team does every day, 一周七天, 不管天气如何. The public doesn’t think about how the team walks the track looking for misalignments, 确保乘客安全. They don’t know that his people are picking up trash and broken glass and cleaning up stations. “As long as everything is running, they don’t want to know about us,他说. “但我们是幕后的人.”

Gutierrez speaks with pride about every member of his family and their adventures: hiking, 钓鱼, 野营, 园艺, 和孙子们在一起的时光. He says he could not do this work without the support of his wife, 朱迪思伊内兹, 谁“忍受了长时间的工作?, 从白天到黑夜.” And he quickly notes the other group he is most proud of: his team. “If the guys call in the middle of the night, I answer,他说. 这种情况经常发生吗?? “够了. 但这是件好事，我喜欢. 你必须. 我关心的是男生. 他们是帮我最多的人.”