Leipzig, Germany, 1910. Family patriarch Otto Gartner, a steel mill worker struggling to feed an ever-growing family during a time of economic strife, casts his eyes and hopes to America.

Fate pointed the way to the town of Brainerd, a bustling northern Minnesota community thriving on timber and the shipment of ore, from nearby iron range country.

Otto quickly found work with the Northern Pacific Railroad, repairing and installing locomotive steam injectors while moonlighting as a locksmith. Sons Art, Hance, Kurt, Al, Fritz, Walt, George, and Herb followed in Otto ‘s footsteps, working in the railyards upon reaching their teens. Innate mechanical skills were honed early on, in Northern Pacific’s machining and maintenance shops.