Rising Stars 2024: Brenton MacDonald

Brenton MacDonald, 33
Vice president and COO
Sierra Northern Railroad

Nominator’s quote: “Brenton's leadership and vision has positioned Sierra Northern at the forefront of green innovation in California and nationally.” — Ken Beard, president, Sierra Northern Railroad

Education: Bachelor of science, electrical engineering, University of California Davis. Associate degrees in science, physical science/mathematics, American River College.

Job responsibilities: Oversee the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the company to ensure that the annual budget and business plan are being adhered to as closely as possible. Work with the team to foster new business growth and provide top-notch rail service, which has led to an increase in rail-car volume and revenue of 20% year over year for the last three years.

Career path: I started in the rail industry working for Sierra Northern Railway in 2013 as a conductor and then quickly became an engineer and worked in these two capacities while going to college.

After graduating college in 2015, I hired on with Union Pacific Railroad and went through their operations management training program and became a shift manager for a locomotive shop in Hinkle, Oregon. After working in that capacity for more than a year, I did not care for the Class I lifestyle and came back to Sierra Northern Railway with my new skill set. I was hired as the company’s manager of safety and training. After a few years in that role, I was promoted to the general manager of the company. I held that position until being promoted to vice president and COO at the beginning of 2024.

Why did you get into the rail industry? I grew up in Sacramento, not too far away from Union Pacific’s Roseville hump yard. Having grown up seeing and hearing trains all the time, I figured I would give it a try as a career path. When I got exposure to operating trains on various switch jobs, I caught the bug and have never looked back. I have really enjoyed the transition from operating trains to now operating the company.

What’s the best advice that you’ve received in your career? The biggest take away that I have gotten from Sierra Northern President Ken Beard is that strong relationships built on trust and respect are essential for success not only in this industry, but in life. The whole management team at Sierra Northern Railway operates as well as it does due to the strong working relationships that we have with each other, built on the trust and respect that we have for each other.

What advice would you share with someone just starting out in their railroad industry career? Keep an open mind and be willing and ready to learn something new every day. Although most days follow a similar routine or pattern, there is always a moment every day when something different or out of the ordinary comes up where a new lesson can be learned. Folks who come into industry that quickly develop the “I know it” mentality do not tend to last long.

What was your first job? Working as a baseball umpire, starting with Little League and then working my way up to college baseball.

Share a fun fact about yourself. I have a beautiful wife and two wonderful children that are my world. This career has been very good to me as well as providing for my family. I am thankful every day that they support me in the decision to work in the railroad industry as this job can be challenging at times with the work-life balance.

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why? Warren Buffet. He is a financial genius that happens to also own BNSF Railway. If I had the fortune to sit with him over dinner, I feel like I could gain a lot of financial advice and knowledge on how to run an organization more successfully.

Who has had the most influence on your career? Kennan Beard III, who has been in the industry for almost 30 years and is currently the president and CEO of Sierra Northern Railway. I have learned many things from him over the years and he has helped get me to where I am in my career today.

Ken is also the president of the California Short line Railroad Association (CSLRA), and he has included me in almost every state and national event. At these various CSLRA and American Short Line and Railroad Association meetings, I have made many industry connections and relationships that will continue to be fruitful for many more years to come.

Describe a major obstacle in your career and how you surmounted it. The biggest obstacle I have had to face over the last decade of working in this industry has been working as a young manager. It was very hard to overcome with my first job as a shift manager at Union Pacific and continued into the various management roles at Sierra Northern.

The best way I found to overcome the tension between myself and the workforce, who were often older than I, was to work side by side with them. When working with the various crafts, I could truly understand what employees’ day-to-day tasks were, and where possible, ultimately prove that I was not a “young and dumb kid” as the label would typically go.

In my current role, I can say I have participated in almost all aspects of railroad work between railroad operations, track construction and mechanical activities. I will not pretend that I am an expert in any one specific craft or task, but I have wide enough knowledge to be able to make well informed business decisions when driving larger company goals and objectives.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the rail industry today?? Because Sierra Northern is a California-based company, the biggest challenge that not only our company, but the rest of the rail industry will likely soon face is the regulations on in-use Locomotives. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has mandated that any new switching locomotives built after 2030 (2035 for line haul locomotives) need to be zero emission – technology that currently is not proven.

Sierra Northern is leading the industry in building several prototype hydrogen-battery powered locomotives in an effort to meet these new standards. But with a fleet of more than 30 locomotives, there is a long way for our company to go. Locomotives in use today that do not meet current emission standards are subject to a penalty which, in most cases, will put many short lines out of business in the state and likely throughout the country if the EPA adopts CARB’s new proposed regulations.