Robert Roscoe 128 pages softcover
For over eighty years, the Northern Pacific Railroad Shops was the
largest employer in the Brainerd area. After the Depression, the NP
provided steady jobs for Brainerd railroad workers, whose paychecks
contributed to the growth of Brainerd. The NP Shops built freight cars
and conducted maintenance and disassembly of the NP's rolling stock. The
workforce of several trades called themselves "shop dogs." Shop dogs
built a workplace culture with its own jokes, stories, ethics, and
nicknames - an unintended circumstance could result in a nickname, such
as Scoop Swanson or the Soo Line Bull, that stuck to a shop dog for the
rest of his life. After shop dogs retired and the NP shops closed, their
nicknames and stories live on. Author Bob Roscoe gathers the stories
from this vital piece of Brainerd history.
