Lee Cooper
Author Bio
Lee Cooper was born, raised and educated near Danville, Ill. After graduation from high school, he worked at the General Motors plant there before beginning his railroad career as a laborer with the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI).
After a year-and-a-half with the C&EI, he joined Illinois Central Railroad as a brakeman, working out of Champaign, Illinois. He put in four years as a brakeman and a year as a conductor before being accepted as an engineer trainee (a.k.a. fireman). After learning the engineering ropes through the training program, he was an engineer with Illinois Central for the remainder of his railroading career. By the time of his retirement in 2006, Cooper put in 40-plus years in railroading, with over 12,000 trips and roughly three million miles.
Today, he lives in Mount Vernon, Illinois, with his wife Dorothy. He enjoys spending time with family, creating mailboxes featuring miniature train cabooses, and volunteering in Bible educational work.
