Susan Lynne "Susie" Gaglia

1953 - 2026

Susan L. Gaglia

ATHOL, MA - Susan Lynne "Susie" Gaglia passed away at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield on March 1. She was born in Lackawanna, NY on July 4, 1953. A 4th of July baby, she was pleased to fly the U.S. flag at her home.

She graduated from Orchard Park High School in Orchard Park, NY in 1971. Always interested in trains, she hired out on Consolidated Rail Corporation, Conrail, on May 26, 1978. Upon successful completion of Conrail's Engineman Training Program and serving as an apprentice engineer, she was promoted to engineer on October 2, 1979, the proudest moment in her life.

A true trailblazer, Susie was one of the first women to break into what was previously a man's world and fulfilled her dream of becoming an engineer along the Northeast Corridor, one of America's busiest sections of railroad. Besides hauling heavy freight trains, she also worked high-speed passenger service for Amtrak between Washington and New York City.

After she left the railroad, she worked for twenty-two years at Loomis Communities Applewood Senior Independent Living in Amherst until her retirement in 2023. Residents at Applewood encouraged Susie to write a memoir of her life on the railroad, An American Railroad Dream, published by Haley's of Athol in 2018.

Susie was an invited speaker at the 21st Annual Member's Day at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 2018. She enjoyed telling people that she had made history in the museum, as at the collection there are eight locomotives she ran and pulled trains with. An exhibit visitors see every day at the museum includes her image standing on a Conrail diesel.

Susie loved to chase trains, explore back roads, and see new places. Visits to Hoosac Tunnel in Florida, Massachusetts, driving around Vermont and trips to the Maine coast were among her favorites.

She leaves her best friend Christopher Coyle and sisters Lori Flynn of Athol and Jennifer MacKenzie of Hamburg, NY. She was predeceased by her parents and older sister Bonnie Smistek.

A Celebration of Life is planned in the spring at the Cathedral of the Pines in Jaffrey, NH.

Contributions may be made to a charity of one's choice or to Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, P.O. Box 125, Strasburg, PA 17579.

Witty's Funeral Home, 158 South Main Street, Orange, is assisting the family.

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