Bonnie Gay Leake

First Union Pacific female engineer loved animals

In 1974, Bonnie Gay Leake made history by becoming the Union Pacific’s first female locomotive engineer. It is noteworthy that as of 2022, the U.S. workforce of locomotive engineers and operators was 43,793 people, with 4.3% women and 95.7% men.

Born in Long Beach, California on April 24, 1945, to Gabriel O. and Eleanor Mussell Leake. She had three siblings, Lee H., Beverly F., and Gene. Bonnie Gay Leake and her family moved to Nevada in 1955 when they relocated to Blue Diamond. The family later moved into the Las Vegas Valley where Bonnie grew up in a rural setting with many pets and access to the countryside by horseback. She was a Girl Scout, 4-H member, and successfully participated in equestrian gymkhanas and rodeo events such as barrel racing, winning many ribbons. After graduating from Las Vegas High School in 1963, Bonnie worked in low-paying office jobs at the Dunes and Hacienda Hotels. She left these positions in 1966 to join Union Pacific as an on-call railroad clerk. She is quoted as saying, “I earned $350 a month at the hotel, and working five and a half days a week at the railroad, I could earn $480 a month.” She thought it was better to work six months out of the year for good money rather than the whole year for poor money.

After eight years and becoming bored with the clerical work, Bonnie expressed her frustration at her limited options and lesser pay as a woman and wished that in her next life to be a man because the pay was so much better. Leo Love, then a road foreman, suggested Bonnie put in an application to become an engineer herself. He noted that times were changing, and the railroad was being pressured into hiring women in jobs that were traditionally men’s positions. He encouraged Bonnie to become an engineer. So, she applied and a few months later she was told to report for training as a “fireman,” the first step in becoming an engineer. She went on to become the first female locomotive engineer at Union Pacific. As a single mother who thought that with the right attitude and ambition, you can make a good wage, she eventually earned between $50,000 and $100,000 annually.

Not unexpectedly there was resistance to her becoming an engineer. She was shunned by many male conductors and brakemen who wouldn’t socialize with her. During the 1970s and early 1980s, she usually ate meals alone in restaurants while male coworkers sat in a booth several feet away. She stated,

“There’s always a few guys who think you can’t do the job because you’re a woman, and if you do the job well, it’s because you were lucky. But I didn’t need a pal or to be a chum on the job. I just wanted to do the job and get paid.”

It wasn’t unusual that some men tried to rattle her into returning to so-called women’s work. And there were those who tried to intimidate her by reminding her that she had the responsibility for millions of dollars of railroad equipment and for lives. Apparently, the inference was that as a woman she would not be able to handle the responsibility. There were even passengers who wouldn’t ride on a train with a female engineer. She remembered one occasion when a man balked at the idea of a woman running the show. “If she’s the engineer, I’m not going,” Bonnie recalled the man saying. “And he went up and got the ticket exchanged.”

The lifestyle of an engineer was to be always on call, rarely spending two nights a week at home. Many engineers quit after a few years. But to Bonnie it was like being on vacation and getting to do and see things at different times of the day in her views from her cab. Bonnie operated trains from Las Vegas to Milford, Utah, and to California’s Mojave Desert, often making 30 10-to-12-hour trips per month. In later years, the number of trips decreased to about eight.

Over the years, Bonnie worked not only for Union Pacific hauling coal and other goods to Utah and California, but also for Amtrak, carrying passengers. One article writes that she had her hand on the throttle of a 4,000 horsepower, 200-ton diesel locomotive.  The General Motors built locomotive she controlled, pulled as many as 100 cars that stretched behind her for a mile and a half. To haul coal loads of up 12,000 tons, she was in control of three locomotive engines. She took the 70 mph “hot shot” run of priority goods but also 15 mph “drags” that required her to pull her slow-moving train off to the sidetracks to let the hot shots scream by.

Bonnie said she adjusted to many of the demands and traditions of her job, but she refused to wear the traditional bib overalls of a train engineer. Instead, “I’m a cowgirl, so I loved to have a job where I could wear jeans.”

While the money was great, fatigue was the enemy of railway engineers. The jobs would keep rolling in, so you might go to bed at midnight only to be called out at 1:30 a.m.

Steve Slaght who was Bonnie’s supervisor said, “She never looked at herself as a role model, even though others view her that way … she thought of herself as an engineer … and respected the equipment and power she controlled. I’ll miss her leadership. When she was out on the road, I (knew) the job would be done right.” He also said that she didn’t let anyone, or anything stand in her way to bring her trains in on time and safely.

Bonnie’s success as an engineer wasn’t just symbolic. It was a testament to technical prowess and her ability to excel in a challenging and demanding profession. She was responsible for operating large and complex trains, a role requiring a deep understanding of mechanics, an unflinching attention to safety and the ability to make critical decisions under pressure. She proved that gender was not a barrier to succeeding in one of the most pivotal roles in the railroad industry. By stepping into the cab of a locomotive, she challenged stereotypes and opened doors for other women to pursue careers as locomotive engineers. She demonstrated that women can excel in any aspect of public transportation.

While renowned as a locomotive engineer, Bonnie was well known by friends and family for her love of animals and her support of animal care organizations. She said, “I will miss the sun rise over the mountains, deer and wild horses running along the route and the changing of the colors of the leaves in the fall” but after a nearly 40-year Union Pacific career from clerk to engineer, Bonnie retired in 2005. As she described it, “I’m retiring because I’m being paid to stay home.”

It was time to stay home in Las Vegas and appreciate what she had, which included rental property to manage and a 2½-acre mini “dude” ranch full of animals to care for including six dogs, seven potbellied pigs, five horses and cats and chickens. Bonnie was well known for her love of animals and her support of many animal care organizations over the years.

She is one of only about a dozen women featured in an exhibit at Union Pacific’s Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa entitled, “Move Over Sir! Women Working on the Railroad.”

YouTube has a video of an interview with Bonnie from May 5, 2017, “Union Pacific’s First Female Locomotive Engineer.”  Take the time to enjoy this interview. So often most of our information comes from diaries, letters, news clippings or stories from family or friends. Technology has given us the rare opportunity to hear Bonnie’s voice on the interview.

Bonnie passed away January 13, 2021, leaving a big hole in the hearts of many, including her daughter Bonnie Lee Horsley, her brothers Lee and Gene and her long-term companion Ira Happe.

Researched and written by Grace Davis, 2025. Posted December 11, 2025