Team Member Spotlight: Matt Heeren

Matt with his dad and grandfather in front of the WSOR 101 locomotive.

Railroading is in Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR) Conductor/Engineer Matt Heeren’s blood. He comes from a long line of railroaders. His grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather all worked on the Milwaukee Road, which later became part of the Soo Line. Now, he’s operating trains in the same region that his family has for generations. “Ever since I was little, it’s what I wanted to do. As my parents can always remember, I wanted to work for the railroad,” Heeren said.

It wasn’t his initial career path, though. He started out working for a window furnishings producer in northern Illinois. He was unsure of his future there, and then the factory closed. But Heeren didn’t make his move into railroading until he met a girl.

“It was a girl,” Heeren laughed. “She lived up in Wisconsin and went to school with my sister. Next thing I know, I was like ‘There’s a job in Janesville, Wisconsin. You live in Whitewater. Let’s give this a shot.’ Now 16 years and two kids later, we have a happy marriage.”

Heeren hired on in 2005 as a conductor, before the WSOR became part of Watco. He became an engineer in 2007. A position he’s held ever since, and is still based out of Janesville.

Heeren’s days start early, or late, depending on how you look at it. Most days, he catches a ride to Madison, Wisc., and collects all the traffic from that area. Railcars coming from customers on the Reedsburg, Prairie, Cottage Grove, and Watertown subs, and the Canadian Pacific interchange are built into a train and moved by Heeren and his crew down to Janesville.

“The majority of my train is empties. A lot of our customers bring goods like metal for canned foods, aggregates, corn, lumber, salt, and scrap metal. We gather up all the Madison area traffic and take it to Janesville for the return trip back to the originator,” Heeren said.

There’s no aspect of the job Heeren dislikes. His set schedule, railroad retirement, compensation, vacation, benefits, team members, safety focus, and more are the the reason he’s more than happy to stick around.

“It’s just pride. It’s an amazing job to have. When I mention to people that I’m a railroader, the first thing out of their mouth is, ‘That must be a great job!’ I make friends with customers while we’re spotting cars. I’ve got a mile, mile-and-a-half of train behind me. That’s my baby, and it’s great,” Heeren said. “Another big part of me staying is because the camaraderie between us team members is so strong. I work with an amazing team.”

The personal and family connection is another aspect of the WSOR that Heeren, unfortunately, became more familiar with recently. His father’s health quickly declined, and he passed away last December.

“I am forever grateful that the company worked with me so I could help and visit him. When he passed away, the company was extremely helpful giving me the time off I needed during this a very difficult time,” Heeren said.

Heeren enjoys his weekends gardening, raising chickens, visiting family with his wife, Jennifer, 9-year-old son Jacob, and 4-year-old daughter Charlotte. The family inherited land following his dad’s recent passing and are working on a pumpkin patch there. He also likes watching trains and helps document worker art.

“If you watch railroad cars go by, and you ever see the chalk drawings on a car, all these little markings are from railroad workers. It’s not the graffiti, it’s these small markings, usually from carmen. It’s got a long history, almost 100 years, and I like looking into the history of it. It’s kind of a secret society that knows about it,” Heeren said.