ROADS • RAILS • RUNWAYS
The journey counts.
Interstate routes, rail trips, airports and the stories collected between destinations. Yes, highway signs are part of the collection.
Follow the mileage →ABOUT STEVE
Getting there is part of the story.
Illinois roots. North Carolina home. A life measured in more than mileage.
HI, I’M STEVE
Steven R. Beck
I’m a transit leader, Eagle Scout and Western Illinois University alumnus. I grew up in Rochelle, Illinois, and now call Wilson, North Carolina home.
Transportation is both my career and something I enjoy off the clock. Give me an interesting interchange, an Amtrak trip or an airport terminal, and I’ll probably have questions. And opinions.
At home, there are dogs, LEGO projects and usually something else I’m trying to improve. The goal is the same one I learned in Scouting: leave it better than you found it.
Explore my career →
BEHIND THE NAME
Steve, Ike, Tucker & Wilson.
That’s where SITW began. The name carries the dogs who have been part of my life, including Ike, whose memory stays with me. Today, Tucker, Wilson and Winnie—better known as Pooh Bear—keep things interesting at home.
Roads, Rails & Runways brings the other part of the story together: the places I’ve been, how I got there, and the details I can’t help noticing along the way.
LIFE AT HOME
The dogs run the place.
Tucker, Wilson and Pooh Bear each bring their own personality. Pooh Bear has already discovered that a water bowl can double as entertainment.
Meet the dogs →LEGO & PHOTOGRAPHY
Build it. Notice it.
I enjoy building with LEGO and photographing the things that catch my attention. Both reward taking a closer look at the details.
See the LEGO collection →SCOUTING
Leave it better.
From earning Eagle Scout to serving as Scoutmaster, Scouting helped shape how I approach responsibility, service and leadership.
My Scouting story →How I got here Illinois roots, Scouting and the start of my transit career.
ILLINOIS ROOTS
Scouting, college, and an unexpected turn toward transit.
I was born in 1975 to Robert and Deborah Beck in Rochelle, Illinois. I attended Lincoln School, Rochelle Junior High and Rochelle Township High School, graduating in 1993.
Scouting became a major part of my life beginning in first grade with Pack 552. In 1987 I joined Troop 312, where I earned Eagle Scout. I later returned as the final Scoutmaster of Troop 312 and helped two young men earn Eagle Scout.
I graduated from Kishwaukee College in 1998 and Western Illinois University in 2000, then returned for my master’s degree, finally finishing in 2011 after a transportation internship. During college I was recognized in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges and inducted into Rho Phi Lambda.
My first career began with the Boy Scouts of America in 2001. After leaving professional Scouting and spending a few years figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up, I returned to graduate school.
Then transportation found me.
I began driving a bus for Laidlaw in 2007, became a transit supervisor with First Student in 2009, and became a General Manager with Durham School Services in 2012. From there came transit systems, startups, moves, executive roles and considerably more mileage than any sensible career path should require.
SITW is personal too: Steve, Ike, Tucker & Wilson. It is the professional side of my life and the guy who can spend entirely too much time studying an interchange, airport terminal, transit map or highway sign.
STATES I’VE LIVED IN & VISITED
A life with a lot of mileage.
Purple marks the states I’ve lived in. Yellow marks the states I’ve visited.
The map is probably the fastest way to explain why I have opinions about so many highways, airports and places that nobody asked for.
COUNTRIES & TERRITORIES I’VE VISITED
The passport has mileage too.
Gold marks countries visited. Purple dots mark Caribbean territories and islands that are too small to show cleanly on a world map.
United States • Mexico • Bahamas • Haiti • Jamaica • Dominican Republic • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands • Sint Maarten • Aruba • Curaçao • Bonaire
And yes, Curaçao counts: I landed there. Getting off the plane was apparently optional.
MEMORIES FROM WORK
A couple of things that followed me to the office.
Not everything in the office is there because it belongs on a desk. Some of it is there because it tells part of the story.
FAMILY HISTORY
Roots & surprises
Genealogy, family stories and the chapter that included finding an older sister at 46.
Explore the family tree →
TRAVEL
Planes, trains & automobiles
Trips are better when getting there becomes part of the story.
HOME
The collection problem
Some people decorate. Steve acquires things with route numbers, airport codes, Scout history or several thousand plastic bricks.
FAMILY ROOTS
Where I come from.
Family, ancestry, and the people who made me the luckiest boy alive.
Before the roads, rails and runways, there were the people who made my world what it was. My family roots reach across Europe, but the part I treasure most is the family I was fortunate enough to know.
Apparently Europe was a group project. DNA estimates offer a snapshot of where some of those roots began; the stories are what make them matter.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BRANCHES
The Luckiest Boy Alive
I have always considered myself one of the luckiest boys alive when it came to family.
Growing up, I had something pretty special: three grandmothers. Grandma June, Grandma Dorothy, and Grandma Chris.
And if that wasn't enough, I was fortunate enough to meet six of my great-grandparents:
- Great Grandpa Schuler
- Great Grandma Schuler
- Great Grandpa Copeland
- Great Grandpa Henry Beck
- Great Grandma Lena Beck
- Great Grandma Bonnie Soden
Not everyone gets the opportunity to know so many generations of their family. I was fortunate enough to have those connections, even if I was too young to fully appreciate just how special they were at the time.
Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was. My childhood wasn't just filled with parents and grandparents, but with connections to generations of family who came before me.
Three grandmothers. Six great-grandparents. And more family love than one little boy could ever ask for.
I really was the luckiest boy alive.
SEPTEMBER 19, 1975
My Grand Entrance
I was born on Friday, September 19, 1975, the first child of Robert and Deborah Beck.
My arrival was anything but uneventful. Mom experienced serious complications during childbirth, and while thankfully we both made it through, a rather important message never reached Dad.
Apparently, I was about eight hours old before he learned that I had arrived alive and healthy. The doctor had forgotten to tell him he was the proud father of a bouncing baby boy.
Eight hours old, and I had already caused a medical emergency and a communications breakdown. Not exactly a quiet entrance into the world.
