What got me interested in the MP/T&P was that my Father, two uncles and my Grandfather all worked for the Missouri Pacific or MOP as my Dad and Uncles called it.  My Grandfather, father and one Uncle were conductor/brakeman while the other uncle started out as a clerk, but as he put it "When I saw the first Remington Teletype machine, I knew the days for clerks were numbered and became a switchman."