What was your first byline in Trains?
Michael Sawyer: A photo featured as the cover of the September 1980 issue. It was a silhouette of the train order signal at 
Blaine, Wash., on Burlington Northern’s Bellingham Subdivision at the Canadian border. I was a member of the crew that had arrived by taxi to dog catch a southbound train. While waiting, I noticed the sun lining up behind the train order signal.
What’s your favorite locomotive and why?
Michael Sawyer: That is a two-part question. As a railfan, I will take a Geep 7 or Geep 9. I grew up in downtown Puyallup, three blocks from the Burlington Northern (former NP) main line. I spent hours upon hours hanging out along the tracks. Most of the locals that ran between Seattle and Tacoma in my youth used GP7s or GP9s (F units in the mix too). My absolute favorite were the former Northern Pacific’s passenger service Geeps, with the Main Reservoir air tanks mounted on top of the units. I liked them so much a friend of mine called them “Sawyer Geeps.” They had the best sound EMD ever made.
As a professional railroader of 42 years, and 30 of that as a locomotive engineer, it was the EMD SD40-2. They were a rugged and reliable utilitarian locomotive. If they were in the consist, I knew I could depend on them. I am sure I had breakdowns, but none stand out. The best thing EMD ever built.
Describe your love of railroading in six words or less.
Michael Sawyer: Northern Pacific. Family. Entertainment Value. 401K.
What’s your fondest memory as a Trains contributor?
Michael Sawyer: Bruce Kelly wrote a wonderful article for Trains Magazine about Stampede Pass (November 1997 issue). In the back of that issue, I did a writeup about working over the pass. The thing that struck me was “Oh my gosh,” they printed it like I wrote it, in railroad talk. I heard from a lot of folks that they liked it because they could tell I was in fact out there in the field.
What article received the biggest reader reaction?
Michael Sawyer: That is hard to gauge. Until a year ago I was a very infrequent contributor, until I started writing stories from a locomotive engineer’s point of view. The first story (May 15, 2023) on how I got the nickname of “Mad Dog,” was passed around yard office. It is a “Railroader” thing to tell stories. It is how we learn to do our job and not be “that guy.”
What advice would you give a new contributor?
Michael Sawyer: Try. I really like showing trains and the railroad in the environment they run through. Trains are big up close but get tiny when you stand back. I enjoy looking at how they fit and shape the world we live in. Be true to yourself, take photos and write what you like. Have a passion for your subject. Most of all enjoy the process.
“My absolute favorite were the former Northern Pacific’s passenger service Geeps, with the Main Reservoir air tanks mounted on top of the units.”
I remember, as a child, this same type of locomotive in the late 50’s and early 60’s on Canadian Pacific’s main line between Golden and Revelstoke BC. I thought the air tanks on the roof were “super-chargers” for the mountain passes. They looked “super” locomotives as they were coming into service to replace steam.