Moffett appeared wistful for a moment, as the engine crew returned his wave and he stood watching the train's baggage cars, sleepers, coaches and dining car slip below the windows of K Tower.
"Five or six times a day, I'd get on the radio and tell and engine crew to have a safe trip," he said.
It's a while before Moffett and his crew are able to pause and have dinner, however; there is still work to do, but it is not as hectic as it was earlier in the day.
"After the commuter rush is over, the yard stays busy, as diesel engines and electric motors are inspected and serviced," Moffett said. "Cars are relocated for servicing, new trains configured and wyed [turned around] for the morning schedule."
Moffett was born into railroading.
His father, Frederick Moffett, a 92-year-old decorated World War II veteran, spent his career as a division supervisor of government accounts for the old Railway Express Agency.
Danny Moffett, a 1965 Oxon Hill School graduate, attended Prince George's Community College before joining the Air Force, where he attained the rank of staff sergeant as a transportation specialist.
He began his 41-year railroad career with Railway Express in 1967, and after it went out of business in 1975, took a job with the Washington Terminal Co.
He worked as a crew dispatcher and later was promoted to traffic chief, worked at A Tower in Washington, and then K Tower.
"No one has looked forward to my retirement more than myself. I have three granddaughters, one in Denver, and two here, who my wife, a retired schoolteacher, and I have taken care of since birth," Moffett said.
"I want to be a bigger part of their lives in my retirement," he said.
fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com
