Memorandum of Understanding

between

The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe

Railroad

and

 The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers

(Former GN, NP, CB&Q and SP&S).

1 On November 17, 1986 Burlington Northern and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers entered into an agreement which allowed locomotive engineers to request a leave of absence to work for Amtrak. Under the terms of that agreement, a locomotive engineer who was granted a leave of absence could return to Burlington Northern if,

(a) He is unable to hold a regularly assigned or extra board position with Amtrak (except for disciplinary reasons), The November 17 Agreement went on to state that,

"If the employee does not stand for service with Amtrak as outlined in paragraph (a) above and is furloughed, he may return to Burlington Northern and exercise his rights on his seniority district in accordance with the working agreement. When the employee is recalled by Amtrak, he will be given a leave of absence by Burlington Northern upon request." The following paragraphs govern the application of the November 17, 1986 Agreement.

2. Effective on the date of this Understanding and thereafter, a locomotive engineer who was granted a leave of absence to work for Amtrak under the terms of the November 17, 1986 Agreement and is subsequently furloughed from Amtrak due to being unable to hold an engineers' position un his Amtrak Zone, as defined in the BLE/Amtrak Agreement, may return to Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) provided that he continues to maintain an employment relationship with Amtrak. It is understood that an engineer who is furloughed on his Amtrak home district (crew base) will not be eligible to return to BNSF under the terms of this Understanding, unless he cannot hold an engineers' position on his Amtrak zone.

3 Any locomotive engineer who was granted a leave of absence under the terms of the November 17, 1986 Amtrak Leave of Absence Agreement who is subsequently furloughed from Amtrak and returns to BNSF will forfeit any and all seniority with BNSF if he subsequently returns to Amtrak.

4. Any locomotive engineer who is granted a leave of absence under the terms of the November 17, 1996 Amtrak Leave of Absence Agreement who is subsequently furloughed from Amtrak and returns to BNSF will neither be entitled to any protective benefits from BNSF resulting from Amtrak's assumption of passenger service nor will any protective period be extended due to or for the period during which the engineer was employed by Amtrak.

5. This Understanding is entered into without prejudice to either party's position with respect to when a locomotive engineer may return to BNSF from Amtrak, and this agreement may be canceled by either party serving fifteen days' written notice on the other party.

Signed this 22 day of  October, 1998,