Moscow, Camden and San Augustine Railroad

The Moscow, Camden & San Augustine Railroad Company is a Class III short line railroad headquartered in Camden, Texas. It is a subsidiary of Georgia-Pacific.
The MCSA operates a 6.9 mi (11.1 km) line from Camden to an interchange with the Union Pacific Railroad in Moscow, Texas. Although it is legally a common carrier, the line’s traffic consists entirely of outbound plywood, lumber, and other forest products originating from a single industry, the Georgia-Pacific mill in Camden.
Despite its diminutive length, the MCSA holds several Texas historical distinctions. It is the oldest railroad in Texas still operating under its original charter. It was among the last railroads in Texas to operate regular revenue trains using steam locomotives and to operate regularly scheduled passenger train service.
History.
The MCSA was chartered in June 1898 to build a line from Moscow to San Augustine, Texas by way of Camden, primarily to move products from a new W.T. Carter & Brother Lumber Company sawmill in Camden to the Houston East & West Texas Railway main line in Moscow. The lumber company’s owners provided the financing and owned most of the new railroad’s stock. The line from Moscow to Camden was completed on November 19, 1898 and was never extended to San Augustine.
At Camden, the MCSA connected to an extensive network of private W.T. Carter Company rail lines that were used to transport freshly cut timber from remote logging camps to the sawmill. Starting in the 1940s, these rail lines were gradually phased out as the lumber company made increasing use of trucks for timber extraction. Since the lumber company owned both rail operations, this process made plenty of surplus W.T. Carter steam locomotives available for use by the MCSA, delaying the onset of dieselization. The MCSA would not obtain its first diesel-electric locomotive until 1960 and still used steam power until 1965, one of the last common-carrier railroads in Texas to do so.
In 1968, the W.T. Carter & Bro. Lumber Company and the MCSA were purchased by Champion International. In 2000, both companies were acquired by International Paper. Georgia Pacific acquired all assets from International Paper (Mill and Railroad) in April 2007 and is the current owner.
Passenger train service.
When MCSA operations began in 1898, Texas law required railroads to operate passenger service in order to claim common carrier status. In 1927, the railroad's original passenger car was replaced by a wood combine car built in 1898 for the Long Island Rail Road. It would be the last passenger car ever owned by the MCSA.
In its early years, the railroad provided a vital link to the outside world for the residents of Camden. Ridership declined sharply in the 1930s as highways were constructed in the area and automobiles and buses became more popular. However, passenger service remained profitable enough to justify its continuation. In the 1950s, its popularity increased as tourists and railfans became attracted to the pleasant East Texas forest scenery, the old-fashioned wood combine, the rustic wooden train station at Camden, and the steam locomotives. Other attractions in Camden included the quaint, old-fashioned company store and the “Locomotive Graveyard”, a portion of the railroad yard where a number of old MCSA and W.T. Carter steam locomotives had been left to decay in the elements.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, passenger service remained popular despite dieselization of the MCSA and discontinuation of regular connecting passenger service by the Southern Pacific Railroad at Moscow. After the line was purchased by Champion International, the new owners became concerned about the possibility of civil liability in the event of an accident, especially given the age of the railroad’s 1898 wood combine. Passenger service was finally discontinued in July 1973.


Frederick W. Henninger

Frederick William "Pa" Henninger (February 2, 1873 – May 30, 1919) was an American businessman and football player and coach. He played football for the University of Michigan from 1893 to 1896 and was the captain of the 1895 team that outscored their opponents by a combined score of 266 to 14. After receiving his degree, he was an assistant football coach at Michigan from 1897 to 1899 and 1902. He worked as an engineer for the Detroit United Railway and later had a successful career as a manufacturer in Detroit, Michigan.
Biography.
Early years.
Henninger was born in Cleveland, Ohio and educated in that city's public schools. He attended Ann Arbor High School for his college preparatory studies.
Michigan.
He enrolled at the University of Michigan where he played football from 1893 to 1896. He was captain of the 1895 Michigan team that compiled an 8–1 record, won seven of their games by shutouts, and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 266 to 14. The sole loss of the 1895 season was a 4–0 setback against the Harvard Crimson, then one of the three great football powers. Michigan finished the season with a 12–0 win over Western rival, Amos Alonzo Stagg's Chicago Maroons. A newspaper profile of Henninger in November 1895 said:"The University of Michigan team, captained by F. W. Henninger, is one of the strongest football elevens in the west. Henninger is a veteran of last year's eleven, is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds. He is an excellent field general, plays right guard and is said to be the strongest man on the team."
In his review of the 1895 season, Edwin Denby praised the team's four leaders, head coach William McCauley, trainer Keene Fitzpatrick, manager Charles A. Baird, and Henninger as the team captain, for their "excellent support" of the team: "They have all won the high regard of the entire university and the sincere liking of those who have come in personal contact with them." Henninger was also a director of the University of Michigan athletic association for three years while he was a student.
Henninger studied electrical engineering at Michigan and received his bachelor's degree in 1897. After graduating, Henninger served as an assistant football coach at Michigan from 1897 to 1899, including the 1898 Michigan team that won the school's first Western Conference championship. He also returned in 1902 as an assistant coach under Fielding H. Yost.
In November 1902, "The Michigan Alumnus" chose an All-Michigan Team consisting of the greatest football players ever to play for the Michigan Wolverines football team. Henninger was selected as the right tackle on the All-Michigan team. In selecting Henninger, the author wrote:"His method of charging into the line, either to break interference or to open up holes for the man with the ball was characteristic, and to his ability in the latter direction was due much of the success of his old team mate, Villa, a most persistent ground-gainer. For years 'Pa' Henninger was a mainstay of the Michigan team, a familiar figure on every western gridiron, and a member of every All-Michigan team by the process of natural selection."
Henninger was also selected by the student magazine, "The Inlander", for its all-time "All-Michigan Team" in November 1904.
Business career.
After graduating from Michigan, Henninger worked for the Detroit United Railway for six years from 1897 to 1903. He was in charge of the Motor Testing Department from 1897 to 1898, was made chief draftsman in 1898, and Superintendent of Car Inspectors from 1899 to 1903. He retired from the railway in 1903 to go into business for himself. At the time of his retirement from the railway, the 45 motor inspectors of the Detroit United Railway gave "a trolley party" in his honor. The party rode the trolley to Birmingham, Michigan where "supper was partaken at the Colonial Hotel." The inspectors presented Henninger with a solid diamond ring in a heavy gold setting with the Masonic emblem enameled on one side and the Elk's emblem on the other side.
After leaving the Detroit Urban Railway, Henninger formed his own company which he called the Bellevue Manufacturing Company in 1903 with offices at 343 Bellevue Avenue in Detroit. He was also an inventor of a machine called a wire insulating machine. He also served as the treasurer and eventually president of the Sheet Steel Stamping Company, vice president of Riverbank Corporation and treasurer of Seminoe Mining Company. At the time of the 1910 United States Census, he was living in Detroit, and his occupation was listed as the manager of a machine factory.
In July 1914, Henninger applied for a U.S. passport. He indicated in the application that he was a resident of Detroit engaged in the occupation of a manufacturer. In September 1914, he sailed from Liverpool, England to New York on the S.S. Celtic.
In a Draft Registration Card completed in September 1918, Heninger indicated that he was a self-employed mechanical engineer working and living at 34 Westminster in Detroit, Michigan.
Family and death.
In January 1912, Henninger married Lorena Ketchum of Detroit. He was a Democrat, Protestant, Mason, Shriner and Elk. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and other outdoor sports. Henninger died in May 1919 at age 46. He was buried at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.


Western Maryland Railway

The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation.
The WM became a property of the Chessie System holding company in 1973, although it continued independent operations until May 1975 after which time many of its lines were abandoned in favor of parallel Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lines. In 1983 it was fully merged into the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which later was also merged with the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad into the Chessie System in 1987, which is now renamed as CSX Transportation.
History.
Main line: Baltimore to Hagerstown.
The original main line began with the chartering of the Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick Railroad in 1852, with the intent of building a rail line from Baltimore west to Washington County, Maryland. The Maryland General Assembly changed the name of the company to the Western Maryland Rail Road Company in 1853, and construction began from Owings Mills in 1857. An existing Northern Central Railway branch line terminating at Owings Mills was used to connect into Baltimore. The railroad was completed to Westminster in 1861 and Union Bridge in 1862. Further expansion was delayed because of the Civil War. Westward construction resumed in 1868 under Chief Engineer Joseph S. Gitt, and the line was completed to Hagerstown in 1872. This section became the East Subdivision. The company's first major car shops were established at Union Bridge.
In 1873 the WM built its own line from Owings Mills to Fulton Junction in Baltimore, and obtained trackage rights from the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) for the remaining two miles of the route eastward to Union Station (later called Penn Station). It built a branch east of Union Station to Hillen Station, which opened in 1876 and became the company headquarters. The WM built a connection from Hagerstown to Williamsport, in order to access coal traffic from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
Extensions in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Under the leadership of company president John Mifflin Hood, the railway made its first extension into Pennsylvania by leasing a line from Edgemont, Maryland, to Waynesboro and Shippensburg. This line became the Lurgan Subdivision and was leased from the Baltimore and Cumberland Valley Railroad in 1881, and was connected to the Harrisburg and Potomac Railroad in 1886.
A second route into Pennsylvania, the Hanover Subdivision, was acquired by the WM when it gained control of the Baltimore and Hanover Railroad, and the Gettysburg Railroad, in late 1886. This line connected to the WM main at Emory Grove, proceeded north to Hanover and Gettysburg, then southwest to connect again to the WM at Highfield, Maryland, near the Pennsylvania border. A branch from Porters to York, Pennsylvania was completed in 1893; this became the York Subdivision.
The WM established a connection with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1892 with the opening of the Potomac Valley Rail Road (controlled by WM) between Williamsport and Big Pool, Maryland. This connection brought a major increase in through-freight traffic. Construction of an extension from Hagerstown to Cumberland began in 1903 and completed in 1906. This became the West Subdivision. To service the expanded system, the WM built a major shop complex at Hagerstown in 1909, with a roundhouse, machine shops and related facilities. Rail yards at Hagerstown were also expanded.
Expansion plans.
The Fuller Syndicate, led by George Gould, purchased a controlling interest in the WM in 1902 and made plans for westward expansion of the system.
In 1904 the WM completed construction of a large marine terminal at Port Covington, on the Patapsco River in Baltimore, to support the Gould organization's expansion plans. The terminal facilities included coal, grain and merchandise piers, overhead cranes, 11 rail yards, warehouses, a roundhouse, a turntable and a machine shop. In the 1920s rotary dumpers for coal and coke were installed, and a large grain elevator.
In 1907 the syndicate acquired several railroad companies, including the George's Creek and Cumberland Railroad (GC&C), which had built a line west through the Cumberland Narrows, and then south to Lonaconing, Maryland. Using the portion of the line through the Narrows, the Connellsville Extension was built west from Cumberland to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, beginning in 1910, and it was completed in 1912. At Connellsville the WM connected with the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE). In 1915 the WM obtained trackage rights on a B&O line from Bowest Junction (2 miles south of Connellsville) to Chiefton, West Virginia, which provided access to coal mines in the area west of Fairmont, West Virginia.
The GC&C line provided the WM with access to mines in the Georges Creek Valley. In 1927 the WM abandoned some of the GC&C track and accessed additional mines in the area through trackage rights on the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad (C&P). In 1944 the WM purchased the C&P, and formally merged the operations in 1953.
Although never a giant, the Connellsville subdivision of WM handled through midwest fast freight traffic and coal from company-owned mines near Fairmont and Somerset, Pennsylvania.
WM opened a passenger station in Cumberland and one in Hagerstown in 1913. The Cumberland station contained the offices for the Western Division. Today the building is called Canal Place, a facility operated by the National Park Service, and includes the station for the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and a visitors center for the C&O Canal National Historic Park. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The Hagerstown station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
West Virginia coal country.
The West Virginia Central and Pittsburg Railway (WVC&P) began as a narrow gauge line in 1880, its name and gauge changed in 1881 and in the ensuing years it opened a huge swath of timber and coal territory in the Allegheny Highlands of West Virginia. The railroad was directly responsible for the creation of such towns as Davis, Thomas, and Parsons.
In the large valley near the mouth of Leading Creek and the Tygart Valley River, the WVC&P constructed the city of Elkins (named after investor Stephen Benton Elkins). Elkins was home to a large rail yard for the railroad and served as the hub of Western Maryland and Chessie System operations in the region well into the 1980s.
The WVC&P was sold to the Fuller Syndicate in 1902 and was merged into the Western Maryland in 1905. Known as the Thomas Subdivision, the line connected to the Western Maryland mainline at Maryland Junction, south of Cumberland. This line, famous for its Black Water Grade in Blackwater Canyon, became an important part of the Western Maryland's success until its eventual abandonment in the 1970s.
The WVC&P established the Coal and Iron Railway (C&I) in 1899 to reach logging operations and a connection with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). The route left Elkins and the Tygart Valley River drainage by way of a tunnel under Cheat Mountain, followed the Shavers Fork river upstream and then the West Fork Greenbrier River down from its headwaters to Durbin in Pocahontas County, where it connected with the C&O Greenbrier Division. Construction to Durbin was complete by 1903. With the acquisition of the WVC&P in 1905, the C&I became part of WM and this line became the Durbin Subdivision.
In 1927 the WM purchased the Greenbrier, Cheat and Elk Railroad, which ran from Cheat Junction, on the Durbin sub, to Bergoo. This line became the GC&E Subdivision. In 1929, WM's purchase of a line from the West Virginia Midland Railway extended the GC&E sub southward to Webster Springs. While these lines were originally built as logging railroads, the WM also used them for coal operations.
Twentieth century operations.
The Fuller Syndicate attempted to assemble its own transcontinental railroad system beginning around 1902, by acquiring various rail lines. It faced stiff competition from the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), the B&O and others, and became financially overextended in its expansion plans. As a result, the WM entered receivership in 1908. A new corporation, the Western Maryland Railway Company, was formed and purchased the WM assets in 1909, and the receivership ended in 1910.
In 1931, the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway (P&WV) reached Connellsville to connect with the WM. The connection enabled the formation of the Alphabet Route, a partnership involving the WM, P&WV and six other railroads that provided competition with larger railroads including the PRR. Today the P&WV is leased by the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway.
The major rail yards on the WM were Jamison Yard at Hagerstown, capacity 3,000 cars, mainly for west-bound traffic; and Knobmount Yard, capacity 1,600 cars, south of Ridgely, West Virginia, mainly for east-bound traffic.
The WM began using diesel locomotives in 1941 for yard operations, and for regular line use in 1949. It discontinued use of steam locomotives in 1954.
Dissolution.
Passenger service on the WM began in 1859. The WM's original Hillen Street Station in downtown Baltimore "(pictured)" was demolished in 1954. A smaller replacement Baltimore station was briefly used between 1954-1957.
Revenue passenger-miles declined from 26 million in 1925 to 2 million in 1956. The WM ended its passenger service on its Baltimore-Owings Mills-Thurmont-Hagerstown mainline route between 1956 and 1957. Service on its Cumberland, Maryland to Elkins, West Virginia ended between 1957 and 1958. Passenger service on its final remaining line, a three day a week mixed train between Elkins and Durbin, West Virginia, ended in 1959.
In 1964, the C&O and the B&O jointly filed for permission to acquire control of the Western Maryland Railway with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The ICC approved the acquisition in 1968. In 1973, as part of the Chessie System, Western Maryland ownership went to C&O and it was operated by the B&O. The B&O itself merged with the C&O in 1987, which itself became part of CSX Transportation.
Legacy.
Much of the original WM west of Big Pool has been abandoned including the summit of the Allegheny Mountains and the Eastern Continental Divide near Deal, Pennsylvania. In addition to CSX, portions of the former WM are now operated by Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad, the Maryland Midland Railway (MMID), Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, Pennsylvania & Southern Railway and York Railway. A portion of the former WM roadbed in Baltimore is now used by the Baltimore Metro Subway going northwest from downtown to Owings Mills, Maryland in Baltimore County.
Other portions are now rail trails. These include the Western Maryland Rail Trail in Maryland; the Blackwater Canyon Trail and Allegheny Highlands Trail in West Virginia, and the Great Allegheny Passage in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
In Allegany County, Maryland, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park includes the Western Maryland Railroad Right-of-Way, Milepost 126 to Milepost 160, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, and the Western Maryland Railway Station in Cumberland which provides tourist orientation and historical exhibits.
A former WM warehouse is still standing on Hillen Street in downtown Baltimore, next to the Orleans Street Viaduct; it is now occupied by Public Storage, which also owns and operates the building.
Subdivisions.
At the peak in the early 20th century, WM operated the following lines:


Randolph George Croome

Randolph George Croome (July 29, 1884 – March 22, 1956) was a railway conductor and political figure in Ontario. He represented Rainy River in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1934 to 1943 as a Liberal member.
He was born in Invermay in 1884, the son of William Carl Croome and Elizabeth Loree, and was educated there. In 1904, Croome married Etta Harmer. He worked for the Canadian National Railway. He died at Port Arthur, Ontario (presently Thunder Bay) in 1956.


James Canby

James Canby (1781–1858) was an American businessman, banker and early railroad executive based in Wilmington, Delaware.
He was the son of Samuel and Frances Lea Canby. Samuel Canby was originally trained as a carpenter and cabinet maker and became a miller when he opened a flour mill in 1770 in Brandywine village. James Canby expanded upon his father's businesses by opening several additional mills and became a prominent businessman. Among other interests, he served as president of the Bank of Wilmington and Brandywine and invested in real estate in Baltimore, Maryland, and "western lands".
Canby's interest in railroads stemmed from his belief that the newish transportation method could benefit his milling business. In the 1830s, he helped organize and obtain a state charter for the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad, of which he served as president until 1837. From 1835, he also served as a director of the Delaware and Maryland Railroad. The W&S and D&M joined two other railroads to create the first rail link from Philadelphia to Baltimore. (The main line survives today as part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.)
An amateur botanist, Canby planted a rare cedar of Lebanon tree in 1850 at the entrance to Wilmington's Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery, of which he was an officer.
Death and legacy.
He died in 1858 and is interred at the Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery in Wilmington, Delaware. His service as a railroad executive is noted on the 1839 Newkirk Viaduct Monument in Philadelphia.


Charles Adam Heckman

Charles A. Heckman was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He fought in many of the early battles in North Carolina and later served in the Army of the James during the siege of Petersburg.
Biography.
Heckman was born in Pennsylvania and graduated from Minerva Seminary in 1837. He served in the volunteer army during the Mexican War becoming a sergeant by the time he was mustered out of service in 1848. Apart from the Civil War, Heckman spent most of his career as a conductor for the New Jersey Central Railroad.
Immediately after the Civil War began, Heckman enlisted in the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment and was elected captain. Before seeing any action in that regiment he was appointed major of the 9th New Jersey Volunteer Regiment. On October 8, 1861 he became the regimental lieutenant colonel and joined Ambrose Burnside's expedition to North Carolina. He fought at Roanoke Island and was promoted colonel just two days after the battle. He was wounded at the battles of New Berne and Young's Crossroads. On November 29, 1862 he was promoted to brigadier general of U.S. volunteers.
When General Burnside left for Virginia, he left Union forces in North Carolina under the command of John G. Foster. In the winter of 1862, Foster led an expedition against the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad at Goldsboro, NC. General Heckman led a brigade in Foster's expedition at the battles of Kinston, White Hall and Goldsboro.
Throughout most of 1863 Heckman was in command of the District of Beaufort, briefly commanding the Union defenses at New Bern. By the end of 1863 he was sent to Virginia to command the Union garrison at Newport News, Virginia. He temporarily commanded George W. Getty's division at the beginning of 1864.
On April 28, 1864 Heckman was assigned to command the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, XVIII Corps in the Army of the James. He was wounded at the battle of Port Walthall Junction and taken prisoner at the battle of Proctor's Creek. In September 1864 he was exchanged and, when he returned to duty, was assigned to command the 2nd Division in the XVIII Corps. Heckman led his division at the battle of Chaffin's Farm in support of General George J. Stannard's main attack against Fort Harrison. When Heckman moved forward his troops veered off far to the north. Instead of coming directly to the aid of Stannard's division, Heckman's men launched a costly attack against Confederate trenches near Forts Gilmer and Johnson. During the fighting in Fort Harrison, XVIII Corps commander Edward O. C. Ord was severely wounded and carried from the field. Heckman then assumed command of the corps. With this change in command at a crucial point the fighting ground to a halt and the Union forces constructed a defensive line. After an undistinguished show of leadership during the fighting on September 29, army commander Benjamin F. Butler decided to replace Heckman in command of the corps with his chief of staff, Godfrey Weitzel. Returning to command his division, Heckman helped repulse the Confederate attack the following day.
In December Heckman was transferred to command the 3rd Division in the newly created XXV Corps. Briefly from January to February in 1865 he was in command of the XXV Corps, but resigned from the army on May 25, 1865. Heckman returned to work for the New Jersey Central Railroad as a conductor and railroad dispatcher following the war.


Robert J. Ritchie (railroad executive)

Robert J. Ritchie is the former president and CEO of the Canada railway company, Canadian Pacific Railway.
In 1990 Ritchie succeeded William W. Stinson as president of Canadian Pacific Railway. and in 1995 succeeded I. Barry Scott as CEO. In 2004 Ritchie was awarded the Railroader of the Year by Railway Age. Ritchie stood down as president and CEO of the company in May 2006 and was replaced by Fred Green (2006 - 2012).
In 2011, Ritchie was named to the board of directors of GATX corporation.
Ritchie is listed by Bloomberg LP as one of the Skyservice Investments board members.


Ralph Peters (LIRR)

Ralph Peters (November 19, 1853 – October 9, 1923) was an American railroad executive who served as the president of the Long Island Rail Road.
Early life.
Peters was born in Atlanta, Georgia on November 19, 1853. He was one of nine children born to Mary Jane (née Thompson) Peters (1830–1911) and Richard Peters (1810–1889), a railroad executive who was one of the founders of Atlanta. Among his siblings was Richard, Edward, and Nellie, who also became prominent.
His paternal grandfather was Richard Peters, a reporter of Decisions to the U.S. Supreme Court, and his great-grandfather was Continental Congressman Richard Peters, a Pennsylvania jurist. His maternal grandfather was Dr. Joseph Thompson, an early settler and doctor.
Peters graduated from the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, with a Bachelor of Arts in 1872.
Career.
Peters was elected president of the LIRR in April 1905.
He died at his home on Garden City, Long Island on October 9, 1923.


North Bend Rail Trail

The North Bend Rail Trail is a rail trail in north-central and western West Virginia in the United States. It is operated by West Virginia State Parks and is part of the American Discovery Trail.
Running parallel to U.S. Route 50, the rail trail extends from the community of Wolf Summit west of Clarksburg at its eastern end to I-77 near Parkersburg at its western end, passing through Harrison, Doddridge, Ritchie and Wood Counties and the towns of Salem, West Union, Pennsboro, Ellenboro and Cairo, as well as North Bend State Park and numerous unincorporated communities.
History.
Railroad.
The North Bend Rail Trail was built on one of the most distinguished railroad lines in U.S. history. Chartered in 1851, the Northwestern Virginia Railroad built 103 miles from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) mainline at Grafton, West Virginia, to the Ohio River at Parkersburg, West Virginia. The line was sold to the B&O upon completion on May 1, 1857 and became known as the B&O Parkersburg Branch.
The Parkersburg Branch was built to high engineering standards with 23 tunnels and 52 bridges to minimize curvature and offer a maximum grade of 1.5%. During its prime years, the branch hosted the "Metropolitan", the "Cincinnatian" and "National Limited", the B&O's premiere passenger train between New York City and St. Louis, Missouri. However, with the rise of automobile ownership, ridership declined and the B&O ceased passenger operations in 1971 with the formation of Amtrak.
After the Parkersburg Branch became part of the newly formed Chessie System in 1973, the mountainous route lost favor among railroad management. Amtrak, however, resurrected passenger trains in September 1971, though bypassed many of the sparsely populated towns along the line. Amtrak established the little-used "West Virginian", which linked Washington, D.C. to Parkersburg, in response to pressure from U.S. Congressman Harley Orrin Staggers, who used his political status to continually push for improved transportation service throughout West Virginia. Ridership remained low and Amtrak rechristened the train the "Potomac Special" (derisively called the "Harley's Hornet" or "Staggers Special") before eliminating it in 1973. Beginning in October 1976, another Amtrak train, the "Shenandoah", began utilizing the route, only to be discontinued in the fall of 1981 due to low ridership. Amtrak also rerouted the "Capitol Limited" over a B&O routing between Pittsburgh and Washington, a train originating in Chicago and continuing service to West Virginia communities east of Clarksburg, effectively bypassing the lightly used Parkersburg Branch.
By the time of Amtrak's retrenchment in 1981, local freight service was minimal. The Chessie System had already diverted long-distance freight trains to other routes and eliminated local service entirely by 1985. Two years later, the dormant Parkersburg Branch came under the stewardship of CSX Transportation, who abandoned the line between Walker and Wilsonburg and dismantled the tracks in September 1988.
Trail.
CSX Transportation initially demanded $1.5 million from prospective buyers for the railroad corridor but eventually sold it to the state of West Virginia for approximately $320,000. The state gradually developed plans to convert the line into a recreational trail and incorporate it into their state park system. Initial trail segments opened in 1991, with additional portions added over several years, encompassing some 60 miles of former railroad that included 50 bridges and 12 tunnels. In 1996, the state purchased the western portion of the abandoned corridor between Walker and Parkersburg, totaling 72 miles.
Under the management of the state's Department of Natural Resources, the North Bend Rail Trail has become one of the most renowned recreational trails through the Appalachians. It is revered for its mountainous scenery and lengthy tunnels, including the 1,086-foot tunnel No. 2 a short distance east of Salem.


Altamont Pass

Altamont Pass, formerly Livermore Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range of Northern California between Livermore in the Livermore Valley and Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley. The name is actually applied to two distinct but nearby crossings of the range. The lower of the two, at an elevation of , carries two railroad rights-of-way (ROWs) and Altamont Pass Road, part of the old Lincoln Highway and the original alignment of US 50 before it was bypassed c. 1937. The bypass route travels over the higher summit, at , and now carries Interstate 580, a major regional highway heavily congested by Central Valley suburbanization.
Of the two railroad lines through the old pass, one is still in use: the ex-Western Pacific line, sometimes known as the Altamont Corridor, now owned by Union Pacific. It carries freight trains as well as the Altamont Corridor Express, which gives its occasional name (A.C.E.) and operates between Stockton, Livermore, Pleasanton, Fremont, and San Jose. The abandoned right-of-way was used by the Southern Pacific, now also part of Union Pacific. This line was the Bay Area's original connection to the transcontinental railroad, from 1869 until 1879, when a sea level ferry crossing at the Carquinez Strait replaced it. The route remained in use for other purposes, but it was abandoned in 1984 in favor of trackage rights on the ex-Western Pacific line.
From 1966 to 2008, the Altamont Pass area was home to the Altamont Speedway, which became famous as the site of the 1969 Altamont Free Concert, a large outdoor concert featuring The Rolling Stones and marred by violence. The pass is also known for the Altamont Pass Wind Farm, one of the earliest in the United States.
History.
From the time of the California Gold Rush, what is now Altamont Pass was called Livermore's Pass after Robert Livermore, the owner of the Rancho Las Positas and a way station near the pass. After the railroad was built through the pass in 1869, Altamont, formerly The Summit, was established in 1872. Eventually the pass took the name of the town, but the site is now essentially uninhabited.


Abbeville Subdivision

The Abbeville Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of South Carolina and Georgia. The line is a former Seaboard Air Line Railroad line that runs from Tucker, Georgia, to Abbeville, South Carolina, for a total of 119.0 miles. At its north end it continues south from the Monroe Subdivision and at its south end it continues south as the Atlanta Terminal Subdivision.


Alton and Southern Railroad


Karl Karalus

Karl Karalus (1926-2013) was an illustrator and wildlife painter. He was married to Helen Couch Karalus. His work includes the illustrations for the book "Florida Birds".
Karalus was an engineer for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad for 23 years. In 1971 he resigned from the railroad and moved with his family to Florida where he pursued painting full-time. He specialized in birds and illustrated eight books. He co-authored another three. His works include "The Owls of North America" (Doubleday, 1974 ), "Florida's Birds" (Pineapple Press, 1990 by Dr. Herb Kale and biologist David S. Maehr), "The Wading Birds of North America" (Doubleday, 1981) and "Parrots of South Florida", authored by Susan Allene Epps (published by Pineapple Press in 2007). He moved with his family moved to North Carolina in 1989 and continued his illustration work. He was a fisherman, outdoorsman, adventurer and butterfly enthusiast.


Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad

The Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad (CR&C) was a railroad in Georgia.
Originally chartered in 1881 as the Rome and Carrollton Railroad, the railroad's name became the Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad in 1887, before any tracks were constructed.
The railroad started construction between Rome and Cedartown, Georgia, as a narrow gauge railroad, but the of rail were quickly torn up and made . By 1888, the railroad had more than of track, including a line from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Carrollton, Georgia, and several smaller branch lines. In 1891, the Savannah and Western Railroad purchased the CR&C, but when the S&W went bankrupt, Federal Courts returned the CR&C to its original owners. In 1897, the railroad was sold to Simon Borg and Company and renamed the Chattanooga, Rome and Southern Railroad.


Abbeville Southern Railway

The Abbeville Southern Railway was incorporated in Alabama in September 1892 for the purpose of building a branch line from a connection with the Alabama Midland Railway at Grimes, Alabama towards Abbeville, Alabama. The route was completed in December 1893, totaling , and was operated by the Alabama Midland Railway.


Norfolk Southern Bridge (Kenova, West Virginia)

The Norfolk Southern Railway Ohio River crossing connects South Point, Ohio with Kenova, West Virginia.
Trivia.
The bridge is featured prominently in the Warner Bros. film We Are Marshall in a scene in which Jack Lengyel (played by Matthew McConaughey) visits William "Red" Dawson (played by Matthew Fox) at his home. The scene was filmed at a private residence on Barger Hill in Kenova, which overlooks the town and the three states converging at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers. The bridge can be seen in the background.
In the scene Lengyel makes reference to the train crossing it and uses it as an analogy for putting one's life back on track.
On March 4, 2013, Norfolk Southern noted the 100th anniversary of the bridge.


Wichita Falls Railroad Museum

Prior to closure, the Wichita Falls Railroad Museum was a railroad museum in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was founded in 1980 to establish a museum of railroad, streetcar, and pioneer history. Starting its existence in the town’s historic Depot Square, it changed locations over time, but had since 1992 been located back in Depot Square.
Rolling stock included the Fort Worth and Denver Railway No. 304 steam locomotive, and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad ("Katy") diesel switcher 1029, as well as Commuter Cars, Pullman Troop Sleepers, Dining Cars, Post Office and Baggage Cars, Cabooses and more.
The museum closed in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Museum officials agreed with the city of Wichita Falls, which owned the museum building, to terminate the lease and, by the end of 2021, ship the contents to the Museum of North Texas History, also in Wichita Falls.


Chattanooga Subdivision

The Chattanooga Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia. The line runs from Nashville, Tennessee, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, for a total of 140.0 miles. At its north end the line continues south from the Nashville Terminal Subdivision and at its south end the line continues south as the W&A Subdivision.


Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railway

Organized in 1870, the Atlanta and Richmond Air–Line Railway combined the Georgia Air Line Railroad and the Air Line Railroad in South Carolina under president Algernon S. Buford. The line was complete by 1873 but went broke the next year when it was re-organized into the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railway.
It later became part of the Southern Railway.


Baldwinsville Subdivision

The Baldwinsville Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. State of New York. The line runs from Syracuse, New York, northwest to Oswego, New York. It branches off the Fair Grounds Subdivision.
History.
It became part of New York Central and Conrail through leases, mergers, and takeovers, and was assigned to CSX Transportation in the 1999 breakup of Conrail.


Super C (freight train)

The Super C was a high-speed intermodal freight train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from 1968 to 1976. Dubbed the ""World's Fastest Freight Train"," the all-TOFC (trailer-on-flatcar, or "piggyback") and COFC (container-on-flatcar, or container) train ran about 2200 miles between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California on a 40-hour schedule.
Overview.
The brainchild of company president John Shedd Reed, the "Super C" (led by a pair of EMD FP45s) made its first run on January 17, 1968, covering the distance in a record-breaking 37½ hours averaging 58.2 miles-per-hour (93,6 km/h). The second test train did the ride even faster in 34½ hours averaging 63.7 miles-per-hour (108.4 km/h).
For an added fee of $1,400 per trailer shippers were guaranteed fast delivery.
Santa Fe tried high-speed freight operations on its Illinois Division in late 1966. By year's end, passenger-geared GE U28CG locomotives took 19 piggyback cars from L.A.'s Hobart Yard to Chicago in 61 hours. On June 8, 1967 a joint run using New York Central's "Flexi-Van" container cars traveled from New York City to Los Angeles in 54 hours, 21 minutes. The Super C carried high-priority items such as auto parts and electronic components; the United States Post Office soon became a consistent customer. It was allowed 79 mph.
Train length varied from one to 15 or 20 cars. In the end, too few shippers chose to pay for 40-hour delivery, especially considering that a standard TOFC load arrived in 15 hours more. The final blow came in 1976 when the Santa Fe lost its mail contract to a joint venture of the Chicago and North Western Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad that could deliver at lower cost on a 50-hour schedule.
The Super C completed its last trip on May 20, 1976.


Central Maine and Quebec Railway

The Central Maine & Québec Railway was a Class II freight railroad operating in the U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec with headquarters in Bangor, Maine. It was owned by Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Fortress Investment Group, LLC.
Its United States operations were named the Central Maine & Québec Railway US Incorporated with offices in New York, NY, and were registered with the Surface Transportation Board on February 14, 2014.
Its Canadian operations were named the Central Maine and Québec Railway Canada Incorporated with offices in Sherbrooke, QC, and were registered with Revenue Québec on February 14, 2014.
The CM&Q was acquired by Canadian Pacific Railway in June 2020.
History.
The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway , itself a product of the 2002 Iron Road Railways bankruptcy, filed for bankruptcy in the United States and Canada on August 7, 2013, following the fiery Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, in which a runaway crude oil train killed forty-seven people and caused an estimated $200 million in property damage to downtown Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. The company received protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code and under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada to oversee the sale of assets.
In December 2013, Fortress Investment Group, LLC, through its subsidiary Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC (RAH) placed a stalking horse bid on the operating rail lines, which was accepted by the bankruptcy trustee in January 2014. In February 2014 RAH announced that it had formed the CMQ to become the operating entity of the rail lines and that the sale would be concluded in March 2014. CM&Q received its certificate of fitness from the Canadian Transportation Agency on June 24, 2014.
In March 2014, John E. Giles of RAH drove the length of the line, visiting communities and industries served by the railway and inspecting the condition of tracks and installations. He estimated a $10–20 million investment would be needed over three years to repair the rail line, then in poor condition and not safe for the transport of oil or dangerous goods.
In the same year, the CMQR acquired 10 GMD SD40-2Fs from Canadian Pacific Railway.
The company planned to resume transport of crude oil by rail in January 2016; however, this did not happen due to petroleum market conditions.
On November 20, 2019, it was announced that Canadian Pacific Railway would purchase CMQ. Canadian Pacific's CEO, Keith Creel remarked that the acquisition would give CP a true coast-to-coast network across Canada and an increased presence in New England. This would result in several former CP rail lines in Maine and Quebec, which were sold over the years to CM&Q's predecessor railroads, being reacquired by CP.
On June 4, 2020, CP officially finalized its acquisition of CMQ.
Rockland Branch Operation.
In September 2015, CMQ was selected by the Maine Department of Transportation to operate the state-owned Rockland Branch rail line between Brunswick and Rockland, taking over the line from previous operator Maine Eastern Railroad on January 1, 2016. The CMQ proposal did not include the operation of passenger excursions that had been operated by Maine Eastern, ending 11 years of successful passenger rail operations along the Maine coast.
Routes.
CMQ owned and operated the following rail lines:
CMQ owned a total of of rail line which are broken down by jurisdiction as follows:


Charles Street Trolley

The Charles Street Trolley is a proposed trolley line running through northern portions of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Kittelson & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm hired by trolley advocates, estimates that the line would be likely to carry 2.5 million riders per year.
The proposal is backed by a public-private group known as the Charles Street Development Corporation. A second group, known as Friends of the Trolley is also backing the project; it was reported in November 2011 that FotT had hired a community organizer. As envisioned, the line would probably use modern, low-floor trolleys (trams), but the use of newly built replica-vintage rail cars is an alternative also being considered.
A website for what appears to be a third group—the Baltimore Streetcar Campaign—is also active in advocating for a Charles Street trolley plan.
Certain portions of the proposed trolley alignment would be similar to area covered by the Maryland Transit Administration's proposed Yellow Line. As of 2012, the proposed alignment also overlaps significantly with a proposed extension of the Charm City Circulator.
While the proposed trolley is not a project of the MTA, the two groups have expressed a willingness to work together on certain elements of a transit plan for the area involved.


Mafersa coaches

Mafersa coaches are railroad cars originally built for Virginia Railway Express. They are currently operated by Connecticut Department of Transportation and QIT-Fer et Titane.
Description.
The ConnDOT cars operate on Shore Line East and the Hartford Line as part of the CTrail service. Because of their lack of automatic doors, the Shore Line East cars are prohibited from running into Grand Central Terminal. In addition, the undercarriage clearances preclude running at more than in third rail territory as found south and west of Pelham. Hence, ConnDOT does not use them in the Metro-North Railroad equipment pool. The cab cars are numbered 1701–1719 (odd numbers only, with restrooms). The coach cars are numbered 1730-1774 (even numbers only, no restrooms). They are limited to 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) while in service on most trains.
History.
Mafersa built the coaches new for the Virginia Railway Express at $24.7 million. VRE sold 33 of the coaches to the Connecticut Department of Transportation in 2004 for its Shore Line East service. QIT-Fer et Titane, a Quebec mining company, purchased the remaining five cars in 2008.
Routes served.
These coaches are used by CTrail on their Shore Line East and Hartford Line services. They are operated as far west at Stamford and as far East as New London. Kawasaki M8 Railcars are intended to be introduced on Shore Line East on services from Stamford or New Haven to Old Saybrook. The Mafersa Coaches will then run exclusively on the Hartford Line, except for some which will run services to New London.


Charles Moorman

Charles Wickliffe "Wick" Moorman IV (born 1953) is an American businessman and railroader. Moorman is currently a consultant with Amtrak, where he formerly served as president and CEO as well as co-CEO. Prior to his hiring by Amtrak, Moorman served as chairman, president and CEO of Norfolk Southern Railway. At Norfolk Southern, he succeeded David R. Goode on February 1, 2006. Moorman served as president from 2004 to 2013 and chief executive officer from 2005 until his initial retirement in 2015.
Moorman has served in a number of leadership positions at Norfolk Southern and its predecessor railroads including senior vice president corporate planning and services, president of Thoroughbred Technology and Telecommunications, vice president information technology, and vice president personnel and labor relations.
Career.
Moorman is a 1975 graduate of Georgia Tech and Harvard Business School, he joined Norfolk Southern predecessor, Southern Railway, in 1970 as a Co-Op while still attending Georgia Tech. He was also a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
On December 9, 2010, "Railway Age" named Moorman the Railroader of the Year recipient for 2011.
In 2011, Moorman was involved in the launch of the 21st Century Steam, a revival of Norfolk Southern's popular steam excursion program which had been ended in 1994. On June 1, 2013, Moorman was succeeded as president of Norfolk Southern by James A. Squires.
On August 19, 2016, Amtrak announced that Moorman had been selected to become the railroad's new president and CEO to succeed Joseph H. Boardman on September 1. Moorman, who had stated that he only intended to serve as a "transitional CEO", served as CEO for less than one year before former Delta Air Lines executive Richard Anderson was named president and co-CEO in June 2017. Moorman remained with Amtrak as co-CEO with Anderson until the end of 2017 before transitioning into an advisory role in 2018.
On February 8, 2020, it was announced that the East Broad Top Foundation had acquired most of the railroad assets of the East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Company. It was announced that Moorman was the president of the foundation.
Compensation.
While CEO of Norfolk Southern in 2008, Moorman earned a total compensation of just over $9 million, which included a base salary of $950,000, a cash bonus of $1,759,400, stocks granted of $6,768,618, and options granted of $2,415,000. Moorman's contract with Amtrak calls for him to be paid $1 per year with incentive pay up to $500,000 per year based on criteria set by the Amtrak board of directors.
Honors.
Moorman was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2016.


Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway

The Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway is a shortline railroad subsidiary of the Rio Grande Pacific Corporation that operates two disconnected lines in Oklahoma and Texas, mostly owned by the state of Oklahoma. The line for which it is named extends from Wichita Falls, Texas to Altus, Oklahoma, through Wichita, Tillman, and Jackson Counties. It was completed by the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway and Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway of Texas in 1910, and became part of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (MKT) system in 1911. The line was cut back from Forgan, in the Oklahoma Panhandle, to Altus in 1973, and operations were transferred to the WTJR in January 1991. The other line, from Waurika to Walters, is a former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad branch, leased to the Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad, an MKT subsidiary, after the Rock Island's abandonment in 1980, and transferred to the WTJR in 1991.
In January 2010 it was announced that the WTJR planned to buy a line from Burkburnett, Texas to Altus, Oklahoma that the railroad had previously leased from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. The deal was to be completed by the middle of the month.
At one time there was a small spur stretching from Walters, Oklahoma to Waurika, Oklahoma that tied in to the Union Pacific Railroad in north downtown Waurika. A majority of that track has since been removed and a 1,000' section remains from the track switch in Waurika, which is now used to store track maintenance equipment used by the UPRR
Walters to Waurika is no longer in use.


Jackson and Woodin Manufacturing Company

Jackson & Woodin Manufacturing Company, also called Jackson & Woodin Car Works, was an American railroad freight car manufacturing company of the late 19th century headquartered in Berwick, Pennsylvania. In 1899, Jackson and Woodin was merged with twelve other freight car manufacturing companies to form American Car & Foundry Company. Jackson and Woodin's management were proponents of the temperance movement in America, and went as far as buying all the saloons and hotels in Berwick, leading to Berwick becoming a dry town by 1881. By the time of the 1899 merger that created American Car and Foundry Company (ACF), Jackson & Woodin was the largest freight car manufacturer in the eastern United States. The Jackson & Woodin shops became ACF's Berwick Plant, a plant that was heavily used by ACF.
History.
Jackson & Woodin was founded in 1840 by Mordecai W. Jackson and George Mack as a farm implement manufacturing company. Jackson bought Mack's interest in the company in 1843, and partnered with Robert McCurdy, whose interest Jackson bought later in 1846. William Hartman Woodin partnered with Jackson in 1849. The company turned to construction of mine cars by the late 1860s.
The Jackson & Woodin shops were destroyed by fire on March 17, 1865; the company rebuilt with a larger facility in the same location, increasing the size of its workforce from 150 to 250.
After Mordecai Jackson and William Woodin retired from the company, Jackson & Woodin incorporated on March 1, 1872 with Clement R. Woodin (sometimes written as Clemuel Woodin, William Woodin's son) appointed as president, Clarence G. Jackson (Mordecai Jackson's son) as vice president and Garrick Mallery as treasurer. The company's partners, Mordecai Jackson and William Woodin, were appointed to the executive committee. C. R. Woodin helped the company grow throughout his time in its top position; an 1879 advertisement for Jackson & Woodin declared that the company was producing 150 railroad car wheels per day.
Also in 1879, Jackson & Woodin helped with the establishment of the local YMCA chapter, donating the entire third floor of the company's main building (including rent, heat and light) as meeting space. When YMCA of Berwick was incorporated in 1883, the majority of the organization's trustees were current executives of Jackson & Woodin.
C. R. Woodin stepped down from the company presidency in 1894 due to poor health. Clement Woodin's son, William Hartman Woodin, who would later make a name for himself as the Secretary of the Treasury under Franklin D. Roosevelt, served as general superintendent of Jackson & Woodin, and was promoted to president of the firm in 1895.
In 1899, Jackson & Woodin was one of 13 car manufacturers that were merged to create American Car & Foundry Company (ACF). By the time of the merger, Jackson & Woodin was the largest freight car manufacturer in the eastern United States, with total assets of $60,000,000. The Jackson & Woodin shops became ACF's Berwick Plant, a plant that was heavily used by ACF. ACF produced the first all-steel passenger car at the Berwick Plant in 1904; it was the first car produced as part of an order for 300 cars from the Interborough Rapid Transit company in New York City.
ACF's Berwick Plant remained open for passenger car assembly until January 1961, when the last NYCT IRT R28s were delivered.


Stillwater Central Railroad

Stillwater Central Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in Oklahoma.
A subsidiary of the Watco Companies, the SLWC operates over of track in the state from Sapulpa through Oklahoma City through Lawton to Snyder and has trackage rights over BNSF from Sapulpa to Tulsa, and from Snyder to Long. SLWC operates a branch from Stillwater to a connection with BNSF at Pawnee. Its primary business is handling mined, mineral, and industrial products.
History.
In July 1998, SLWC leased of rail line from the State of Oklahoma. This included both the line between Sapulpa (near Tulsa) and Del City (near Oklahoma City), known as the Sooner Sub, as well as a branch line from Stillwater to Pawnee (geographically separated from the other line leased).
In January 2002, SLWC acquired from the BNSF, and began operating, of rail line from Wheatland (south of Oklahoma City) to Long. In January 2005, SLWC leased from BNSF a line from Wheatland to Oklahoma City.
In January 2010, in conjunction with BNSF, the SLWC launched unit crude oil train service between the Bakken oil fields and a terminal in Oklahoma.
In July 2014 SLWC agreed to purchase the Sooner Sub line from the State of Oklahoma, subject to approval by the Surface Transportation Board; the STB approved the transaction on July 29, 2014.
The purchase contract reportedly included a requirement to start a six-month daily passenger service trial run over the line before August 2019, with a financial penalty for not meeting the deadline set at $2.8 million. The agreement also called for the state to retain the right to acquire a passenger rail easement should the company decide not to operate such a service after 10 years. Finally, the agreement required the line to be accessible to other rail companies, and for the SLWC to upgrade the line from Class II to Class III, to enable trains to safely travel at faster speeds. Class III permits freight traffic up to 40 mph and passenger traffic up to 60 mph. In June 2018, SLWC, being only a freight operator, issued a request for proposal to begin the process of securing a private rail carrier to provide the passenger service, locally known as the Eastern Flyer, for an initial period of 10 years, along the route between Sapulpa and Del City, but with the expectation of working with city officials to expand it to the downtowns of Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Government officials were not optimistic that the original August 2019 deadline would be met. On August 5, 2019, the Stillwater Central opted to default under the agreement and pay the contractual $2.8 million penalty for not establishing the service. However, the company had accomplished the upgrading of the rail line as agreed.


Colgate Hoyt

Colgate Hoyt (March 2, 1849 – January 30, 1922) was an American businessman active in the late nineteenth century.
Early life.
Hoyt was born on March 2, 1849 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was one of six children born to Mary Ella (née Beebe) Hoyt (1814–1890) and Dr. James Madison Hoyt (1815–1895), a Baptist minister, lawyer, businessman and author. Among his siblings was Wayland Hoyt, who was also a Baptist minister and author. He was a descendant of Simon Hoyt, who landed in Massachusetts in 1628 and settled in Windsor, Connecticut, and Walker Hoyt, who was one of the first settlers of Norwalk.
Hoyt attended public schools in Cleveland before attending the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He abandoned school due to his father's ill health, going into this father's law offices, before entering real estate.
Career.
In 1881 he came to New York and became affiliated with James B. Colgate & Co. (James Boorman Colgate was his uncle by marriage) For many years thereafter, he was a prominent financier in New York on Wall Street who specialized in railroad transportation. He later became a partner of Colgate, Hoyt & Co. in which he was active in the organization and finance of many businesses.
He was a director of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, and one of the founders of Everett, Washington, where a main street is named after him.
Hoyt and Charles Colby advised John D. Rockefeller, who they knew from the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. Much of the capital used to build Everett, Washington came from Rockefeller's investments, apparently without his knowledge. Rockefeller naively trusted Hoyt and Colby largely due to their Baptist affiliation. According to Pulitzer prize-winning historian Ron Chernow, drawing on Frederick T. Gates memoir and other sources, the duo fleeced Rockefeller, which Rockefeller initially refused to believe. They left him with significant losses in speculative land, timber, and other industrial investments after exiting the investments themselves. The situation was uncovered by Gates who was asked to assess investment sites on his due diligence travels for Rockefeller's philanthropic efforts. Gates personally visited supposed investment sites in Alabama, Wisconsin, and Colorado. One of the visits was to an iron ore which Rockefeller believed was generating $1,000 per day in profit. In reality, he was losing that amount daily while Hoyt and Colby were ostensibly using their connections to inflate speculative activity in local real estate. Rockefeller, Gates, and possibly George Rogers (of Standard Oil) found that Hoyt and Colby had been sending statements with falsified or misleading financial values. Gates ultimately discovered around 20 "sick or dying corporations" in the scheme. It is unclear whether Hoyt or Colby engaged in illegal activity and there is no evidence they originally planned to defraud Rockefeller, though their actions would likely be considered fraudulent by modern standards. It is also possible that one of the two men played a lesser role in the scheme. Rockefeller, known to be easy on family and friends, did not pursue legal remedies and Hoyt appears to have recovered professionally.
Personal life.
In 1873, he was married to Lida Williams Sherman (1853–1908), the daughter of Charles Taylor Sherman and niece of William Tecumseh Sherman. Together, they were the parents of four children:
After the death of his first wife in 1908, he was married to the former Katherine Sharp (1879–1972) at Wood Manse in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1912. Katharine, who was previously married to George Scott Cheeseman, was a daughter of Judge Solomon A. Sharp, a California Assemblyman and Senator. In New York City, his residence was at 121 Madison Avenue and Hoyt's country estate was a 46 acre parcel known as Eastover that was located on New York's Centre Island.
Hoyt died on January 30, 1922 at his home in Oyster Bay, New York. After his death, his widow remarried to geologist Charles Page Perin in 1925.


George A. Draper

George A. Draper (November 4, 1855 – February 7, 1923) was an American textile industrialist.
Biography.
Early life.
George Albert Draper was born on November 4, 1855 in Hopedale, Massachusetts. He was a descendant of early Massachusetts settler James Draper. He had a brother, Eben Sumner Draper, who went on to serve as the 44th Governor of Massachusetts from 1909 to 1911. At the age of seventeen, he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied for two years.
Career.
He joined his father's businesses as treasurer at Hopedale Machine Company and later at the Draper Company.
He was President of the Grafton and Upton Railroad, and of the Harmony Mills; director in the Milford National Bank, First National Bank of Boston, Brogon Cotton Mills Company, of Anderson, North Carolina, and of the Calhoun Cotton Mills of Calhoun, North Carolina.
Death.
He died on February 7, 1923.
Legacy.
His son Wickliffe Draper inherited his fortune and used it to begin the Pioneer Fund.


Texas and Pacific Railway

The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California.
History.
The T&P had a significant foothold in Texas by the mid-1880s. Construction difficulties delayed westward progress, until American financier Jay Gould acquired an interest in the railroad in 1879. The T&P never reached San Diego; instead it met the Southern Pacific at Sierra Blanca, Texas, in 1881.
The Missouri Pacific Railroad, also controlled by Gould, leased the T&P from 1881 to 1885 and continued a cooperative relationship with the T&P after the lease ended. Missouri Pacific gained majority ownership of the Texas and Pacific Railway's stock in 1928 but allowed it to continue operation as a separate entity until they were eventually merged on October 15, 1976. On January 8, 1980, the Missouri Pacific Railroad was purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad. Because of lawsuits filed by competing railroads, the merger was not approved until September 13, 1982. However, due to outstanding bonds of the Missouri Pacific, the actual merger with the Union Pacific Railroad took place on January 1, 1997.
Several reminders of the Texas and Pacific remain to this day, mainly two towering buildings which help define the southern side of Fort Worth's skyline—the original station and office tower (pictured below) and a warehouse located immediately to the west. In 2001, the passenger platforms at the T&P station were put into use for the first time in decades as the westernmost terminus for the Trinity Railway Express, a commuter rail line connecting Fort Worth and Dallas. The warehouse still exists but there are plans to renovate it. The passenger terminal and corporate offices have been converted into luxury condominiums.
Major named passenger trains of the Texas and Pacific.
Major named passenger trains of the Texas and Pacific (route sections between St. Louis and Texarkana were operated by Missouri Pacific):
Timeline.
"T&P" includes its subsidiary roads (A&S, D&PS, T-NM etc.); operated route-miles totalled 2259 at the end of 1929 (after C&NE, PVS and TSL had become subsidiaries) and 2033 at the end of 1960.
Legal disputes.
The Texas and Pacific was unable to finance construction to San Diego, and as a result the Southern Pacific was able to build from California to Sierra Blanca, Texas. In doing so, Southern Pacific used land designated for, and surveyed by Texas and Pacific, in its rail line from Yuma, Arizona, to El Paso, Texas. This resulted in lawsuits, which were settled with agreements to share tracks, and to cooperate in the building of new tracks. Most of the features advantageous to Texas and Pacific were later disallowed by legislation.
Gauge.
Under the influence of General Buell the TPRR was originally to be gauge, but this was overturned when the state legislature passed a law requiring gauge.
Land grants.
From 1873 to 1881 the Texas and Pacific built a total of 972 miles (1,560 km) of track; as a result it was entitled to land grants totalling 12,441,600 acres (50,349 km²). T&P, however, received land only for the construction of track east of Fort Worth. This meant the firm received only 5,173,120 acres (20,935 km²). The State of Texas did not award the additional area because, it said, the construction had not been completed within the time required by the firm's charter. The then state Attorney General Charles A. Culberson filed suit to recover 301,893 acres (1,222 km²) on the grounds that "the road had been granted land partly on sidetracks and partly on land not subject to location." The state ultimately recovered 256,046 acres (1,036 km²) giving a net grant to the T&P of 4,917,074 acres (19,899 km²), or 7,683 square miles. By comparison, the state of Connecticut is 5,543 square miles (14,356 km²).
Texas Pacific Land Trust.
The Texas Pacific Land Trust (NYSE: TPL) was created in 1888 in the wake of the bankruptcy of the T&P in order to provide an efficient and orderly way to sell the railway's land, receiving at the time in excess of 3.5 million acres (14,000 km²). As of 31 December 2006 the Trust was still the largest private land owner in the state of Texas, owning the surface estate of 966,392 acres (3,911 km²) spread across 20 counties in the western part of the state. The Trust also generates income from oil & gas royalties through its 1/128 non-participating royalty interest under 85,414 acres (346 km²) and 1/16 non-participating royalty interest under 386,988 acres (1,566 km²).


Ernst Wiener Co., New York

Ernst Wiener Co., New York was an american locomotive manufacturer.
Products.
Ernst Wiener Co., New York built for instance a gasoline locomotive designed to haul ten loaded cars (tonnage 25), at a speed of eight to twelve miles an hour (13 to 20 km/h). It had a four cylinder, water cooled, four-cycle, gasoline engine, with cylinders cast in pairs and standing vertically. Ignition was provided by the storage battery and magnetic type, arranged for two sets of spark plugs. A radiator of the automobile type was at the front of the locomotive.


Cincinnati Street Railway

Cincinnati Street Railway (CSR) was the public transit operator in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1859 to 1952. The company ceased streetcar operations and was renamed Cincinnati Transit Company.
The company was founded in 1859 and was one of several operators. The Cincinnati Consolidated Railway merged with CSR in 1880:
Some of the city's streetcars, namely A9-10 PCC were sold to the Toronto Transit Commission upon abandonment.
The company began subway construction from 1920 to 1925, but the route was abandoned due to lack of money.
Fleet.
Preserved vehicles.
Some former CSR vehicles have been preserved in museums. One example is car 2227, built in 1919 by the Cincinnati Car Company, at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. That museum acquired car 2227 from the Lake Shore Electric Railway (another museum) in 2009 and restored it, unveiling the restored car in 2013.


Baltimore City Passenger Railway

The Baltimore City Passenger Railway began operation on July 12, 1859 using horse-drawn cars.
Oden Bowie was elected president of the railroad in 1873.


Buffalo Terminal Subdivision

The Buffalo Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. State of New York. The line runs from Buffalo, New York, to Hamburg, New York.
History.
It became part of New York Central and Conrail through leases, mergers, and takeovers, and was assigned to CSX Transportation in the 1999 breakup of Conrail.


John Edgar Thomson

John Edgar Thomson (February 10, 1808 – May 27, 1874) was an American civil engineer and industrialist. An entrepreneur best known for his leadership of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) from 1852 until his death in 1874, Thomson made it the largest business enterprise in the world and a world-class model for technological and managerial innovation. The railroad's first Chief Engineer became its third President.
His sober, technical, methodical, and non-ideological personality had an important influence on the Pennsylvania Railroad, which in the mid-19th century was on the technical cutting edge of rail development. The railroad was known for its conservatism and steady growth while avoiding financial risks. His Pennsylvania Railroad became the largest railroad in the world, with 6000 miles of track, and was notable for generating steady financial dividends, for high- quality construction, constantly improving equipment, technological advances (such as replacing wood with coal as locomotive fuel), and innovation in management techniques for a large complex organization.
Childhood and early career.
John Edgar Thomson was born in 1808 in Springfield Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, to a family with Quaker roots whose immigrant ancestors had arrived in the colonial era. His father John Thomson was a leading civil engineer, who helped build the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and the first experimental railroad in the United States. The son had little formal schooling, as was typical of the time. He worked closely with his father from an early age, acquiring a sound foundation of engineering practice which he augmented by reading, observation, and experience.
Thomason began his railroad career at age 19 as a rodman working in a survey crew locating the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad; later he worked for Camden and Amboy Railroad. In 1832 he sailed to Great Britain, making an inspection tour of the new railways constructed in the country. Through his father's influence, he became a member of Pennsylvania state's engineer corps, surveying routes for a rail line west from Philadelphia. He was soon promoted to assistant engineer, and in 1830, when the line of the Camden & Amboy Railroad was located across the state of New Jersey, Thomson was placed in charge of an engineering division.
Developing Georgia's railroads.
At the age of 26 in 1834, Thomason was hired as the chief engineer of the newly chartered Georgia Railroad. He located the road, negotiated and oversaw construction contracts, operated portions as they opened, and promoted possible connections to the north and west. Thomson became nationally known for his expertise; his salary was $4000 in 1837.
By 1845, he had completed the railroad from Augusta to Marthasville (present-day Atlanta). At 173 miles (278.4 km), it was the longest railroad in the world at the time. Thomson later bought control of the Montgomery and West Point Railroad and helped finance and locate the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. Also in 1845, he surveyed and designed the Augusta Canal for lawyer Henry Cumming; it was completed two years later.
Pennsylvania Railroad.
The state of Pennsylvania had invested extensively in state-owned canals and short-line railroads. They were neither profitable nor efficient, and the state was falling behind its rivals in infrastructure development, believed critical for economic growth. The Pennsylvania Railroad, PRR, incorporated in 1847, built a line across the Allegheny Mountains from the capital Harrisburg west to Pittsburgh, to eliminate the inefficient Allegheny Portage Railroad and the slow-paced canals. The line would give Philadelphia a link to the fast-growing west, allowing it to compete with Baltimore, Maryland (which was served by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad) and New York City.
The company appointed Thomson as chief engineer at a salary of $5000 a year. Thomson did a brilliant job. With unbounded energy he sought out the best routes, making allowances for grades and river crossings. With Herman Haupt, he co-designed what became famous as "Horseshoe Curve" and built a railroad with practicable grades. He switched the fuel from wood to coal for the locomotives; other lines followed suit, thus opening up a new demand for coal, which the PRR shipped to all railroads. The through line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh opened for traffic in February 1854, and made Philadelphia a major outlet for long-haul traffic from the west. This connection also strengthened its port, which had access to the Atlantic Ocean.
Thomson led a faction that ousted the incumbent board of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1852; Thomson became president and turned his attention more toward finance than engineering. He repeatedly reorganized the company into more efficient subdivisions, and to better cost accounting, paying careful attention to the selection of vice presidents. His organizational model was widely imitated by other railroads, and set the standard for large American businesses. In 1857 he financed the railroad's purchase of the entire system of state transportation works, consisting of 278 miles of canals and 117 miles of railroad, together with real estate and rail equipment. At a cost of $7.5 million the Pennsylvania now dominated the state and took control of most short-haul traffic from the many towns along its heavily populated route.
Postwar expansion.
Thomson expanded the railroad to the west, into Ohio and parts beyond. In 1856 Thomson arranged for the consolidation of several western lines into the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway. It was formally leased to the Pennsylvania in 1869 and, in 1870-71, the Pennsylvania Company, one of the first of the holding companies, was created to take over the properties west of Pittsburgh, which were developing into large northwest and southwest systems.
In 1860, the Pennsylvania represented only the main line from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, with a few short branches. By 1869 it had expanded within Pennsylvania alone to nearly one thousand miles and also controlled lines northward to the shores of Lake Erie, through New York State. In 1869 it purchased the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago line, giving it a connection with Chicago through Ohio and Indiana. In 1870 the Pennsylvania began to expand on the east coast also, obtaining an entry into New York City by acquiring the United Railroad and Canal Company, which owned leased 456 miles of railroad and 65 miles of canals in New Jersey. By 1873 Thomson also had links to the South. Thomson then built up Philadelphia as a transatlantic port, creating the American Steamship Company in 1870 under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Steel was becoming available at moderate cost, and Thomson contracted with industrialist Andrew Carnegie for steel to replace all the wooden railway bridges, and to replace iron tracks with stronger steel tracks. With such infrastructure in place, trains could be designed to be heavier, faster, and more efficient.
In 1871-72 the Pennsylvania expanded into the Midwest by astute purchases. It bought the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad in 1871 as well as smaller lines in Ohio, merging them into the system. The most important acquisition during this period was the purchase of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis, with lines extending westward from Pittsburgh to St. Louis, Missouri, and branches reaching southward to Cincinnati, Ohio and northward to Chicago. This system included over 1400 miles of road, giving the Pennsylvania a second line to Chicago, a direct line to St. Louis, a second line to Cincinnati, and access to territory not previously tapped.
Technology.
Besides expanding the system and putting it on a solid financial basis, Thomson made the Pennsylvania the technological leader of the industry. It took the lead in changing its engines to run on coal rather than wood burning, and from iron to steel (in constructing rails, bridges and cars). With Philadelphia emerging as the center of the locomotive industry, new innovations were offered first to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which embraced them.
Management.
Thomson developed a new kind of management suitable for a large dispersed corporation with many functions, partly based on the work of Daniel McCallum. Specicifically , he devised a decentralized system based on geographical districts, as well as the staff and line system that became synonymous with American management. Line executives handled people and hourly operational decisions on traffic, while staff executives handled finance and paperwork.
Business.
As a conservative, risk-averse financier, Thomson avoided disaster during the panics of 1837, 1857, and 1873, while rival lines often went bankrupt. His Pennsylvania Railroad was worth about $400 million in the early 1870s (before the Panic of 1873 depressed values), with $25 million in traffic revenue and a profit of $8.6 million. It paid steady dividends year in and year out and was a favorite for cautious investors. The speculators who were so numerous in the post-Civil War era looked elsewhere. Thomson had a vision of a transcontinental line, invested his own money in several ventures, and briefly in 1871 the Pennsylvania controlled the Union Pacific.
Chandler (1965) demonstrates that the large-scale problems of management became obvious in the middle of the 19th century with the rise of the great railroad systems, such as the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio. New methods had to be invented for mobilizing, controlling, and apportioning capital, for operating a widely dispersed system, and for supervising thousands of specialized workmen spread over hundreds of miles. The railroads solved all these problems and became the model for all large businesses. The main innovators were three engineers, Benjamin H. Latrobe of the Baltimore and Ohio, Daniel C. McCallum of the Erie, and Thomson of the Pennsylvania. They devised the functional departments and first defined the lines of authority, responsibility, and communication, together with the concomitant separation of line and staff duties which have remained the principles of the modern American corporation.
Taciturn and not a glad-hander, Thomson was active in many civic projects.
Memory and legacy.
Thomson died in Philadelphia on May 27, 1874 and is interred at The Woodlands Cemetery. A historic marker commemorates the location of his birth in his hometown of Springfield (Delaware County), Pennsylvania, and a street in the community is named for him. The city of Thomson in McDuffie County, Georgia, was named for him. Andrew Carnegie was a great admirer and named his main company the J. Edgar Thomson Steel Company; Carnegie also named the Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, after him.
Thomson married Lavinia Frances Smith in 1854. Although they had no children together, they adopted a daughter. By the time of his death in 1874, after the national financial Panic of 1873, Thomson's fortune had declined by 3/4, to $1.3 million. He had bequeathed most of it to charity, including a fund to help orphans whose fathers may have been killed in the course of their railroad duties.
Thomson was inducted posthumously into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1975.


HX Draw

The HX Draw is a bascule bridge carrying the New Jersey Transit Bergen County Line and Pascack Valley Line across the Hackensack River between Secaucus, New Jersey and East Rutherford. The bridge is also known as The Jack-Knife because of its unusual method of opening.
Designed by Joseph Strauss and completed in 1911, this bridge is one of the first heel trunnion bascule bridges built in the United States and originally formed part of the Erie Railroad's main line.
In 2008, NJ Transit repainted the span in a new coat of black paint.


Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad

The Sandusky, Mansfield, and Newark Railroad began in 1846. It ran in Ohio from Sandusky to Newark. It was taken under control by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O Railroad) in 1869. The B&O Railroad built a new mainline in the 1890s west from Willard. It lowered the line from mainline status.
The Sandusky, Mansfield, and Newark Railroad was operated into the 1970s and 80s. Some parts are still in use. For example: Newark to Mt. Vernon and Mansfield to Willard. Other parts are abandoned.


Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision

The Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Kentucky and Ohio the line is part of the CSX Transportation Louisville Division and the Northern Region. There are seven sections to the Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision. The seven sections are as follows:
(Hamilton Belt Line tracks have been removed).


Regional Rail, LLC

Regional Rail, LLC is a company operating short-line railroads in Delaware, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania. It operates 6 railroads: East Penn Railroad, Florida Central Railroad, Florida Midland Railroad, Florida Northern Railroad, Middletown and New Jersey Railroad, and Tyburn Railroad, as well as the Conshohocken Recycling & Rail Transfer. It is based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
Operations.
Regional Rail, LLC owns three railroads in the Mid-Atlantic states of the United States. The East Penn Railroad operates on of trackage in Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania. The Middletown and New Jersey Railroad operates of railroad lines near Middletown in New York. The Tyburn Railroad serves a transload facility in Morrisville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Regional Rail, LLC also owns the Conshohocken Recycling & Rail Transfer in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, a waste transfer station that ships waste to landfills by rail.
The company additionally owns three railroads in Florida. The Florida Central Railroad operates northwest of Orlando, Florida. The Florida Midland Railroad operates 2 lines totaling in central Florida near Winter Haven and South Lake Wales. The Florida Northern Railroad operates 2 lines totaling in northern Florida.
The company also owns Diamondback Signal, which installs and maintains grade crossing signals for short line and regional railroads.
History.
Regional Rail, LLC was formed in April 2007. Four months later, it took over the East Penn Railroad. In April 2009, the company acquired the Middletown and New Jersey Railroad. In September 2011, Regional Rail, LLC took over the Tyburn Railroad. In June 2012, Regional Rail, LLC took over the Conshohocken Recycling & Rail Transfer. Two months later, the company gained majority ownership of Diamondback Signal, LLC. In August 2015, private equity group Levine Leichtman Capital Partners purchased Regional Rail, with the intention to continue its operations. In 2019, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners sold Regional Rail to 3i RR Holdings GP, LLC, the US rail subsidiary of the private equity firm based in the United Kingdom.
In November 2019, Regional Rail purchased the Florida Central Railroad, Florida Midland Railroad and Florida Northern Railroad from Pinsly Railroad Company.


Strand Beach Elevator

Strand Beach Elevator is an inclined elevator in Dana Point, California that transports people between a beach area and a hilltop, making the beach accessible. A developer agreed to construct this amenity for the city as part of an overall deal for a large real estate development. It was completed and opened in 2009, and ownership and operation was turned over to the city.


Rohr, Inc.

Rohr, Inc. is an aerospace manufacturing company based in Chula Vista, California, south of San Diego. It is a wholly owned unit of the Collins Aerospace division of Raytheon Technologies; it was founded in 1940 by Frederick H. Rohr as Rohr Aircraft.
Rohr's main product line are aerostructures, such as engine-related components, including engine nacelles, thrust reversers, and mounting pylons for military and commercial aircraft. It also consults on integrating and managing its designs with the other aircraft systems.
Other products include auxiliary power units, flight control surfaces, and other aircraft parts.
History.
Frederick H. "Pappy" Rohr (Fred), creator of the fuel tanks for Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis", founded Rohr Aircraft Corporation on August 6, 1940 with the help of Reuben H. Fleet after approaching him for a job. The company incorporated as Rohr Corporation in 1969, and changed its name to Rohr Industries, Inc. in 1971.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Rohr Industries made a foray into mass transit equipment manufacturing. It manufactured railcars for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the first 300 subway cars for the Washington Metro, among others. It was also the United States license holder of the Aérotrain. In 1970 it produced an experimental Aérotrain design, the TACV, and purchased the rights to the Monocab design and turned it into the ROMAG. In the same year it acquired the Flxible Company, a bus manufacturer, which would produce a Transbus design, which evolved into the Model 870 Advanced Design Bus, as well as the later Flxible Metro, which addressed all of the shortcomings of the Model 870. Rohr divested itself of, or discontinued those programs by the late 1970s.
Rohr Industries became Rohr, Inc. in 1992. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RHR, until it merged with the Goodrich Corporation in 1997 and remained separately incorporated company as Goodrich Aerostructures. In August 2012, United Technologies Corporation (UTC) purchased Goodrich Corporation and all its divisions. After the acquisition, UTC created an aerospace systems division, United Technologies Aerospace Systems (UTAS), into which all divisions of Goodrich Corporation and UTC's Hamilton Sundstrand divisions were incorporated as one entity. On 26 November 2018, United Technologies announced the completion of its Rockwell Collins acquisition, after which it merged its newly acquired business with UTC Aerospace Systems to form Collins Aerospace.
Sales and divestitures.
UTC sold its UTC Power unit in early 2013 to Oregon-based ClearEdge Power. UTC sold the former Goodrich electric power systems to Safran for $400 million. This was a divestiture that was a condition of UTC's 2012 acquisition of Goodrich. Pratt & Whitney's Rocketdyne operations were sold to jet engine maker GenCorp for $550 million in mid-2013. Three former Hamilton Sundstrand businesses, Milton Roy, Sullair and Sundyne, were sold to private equity firms BC Partners and The Carlyle Group for $3.46 billion.


New River Railroad

The New River Railroad was founded as the New River Mining and Railroad Company on May 24, 1874, at the Montgomery White Sulphur Springs, in Virginia. Construction of the railroad began on September 16 at the New River Depot on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad.
Route.
The railroad route travels north through Virginia and down the New River valley to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway on the mouth of the Greenbrier River.
History.
The company issued and sold $4 million of stock to pay for the railroad. The development of the railroad revealed multiple coal seams along its route. The company established its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mining companies could own stocks, and counties affected by the railroad could sell bonds or levy taxes to buy stock or pay off the bonds.
J. Dickenson Sergeant, Thomas Graham, Richard Wood, Henry Beckwith, S. H. Newbery, William Firmstone, R. F. Hoke, P. H. McCaull, P. W. Strother, and Richard B. Roane were the founders of the railroad. William Firmstone, an industrialist and engineer, died three years after incorporating the company in 1877. He had rebuilt the furnace of Glendon Iron Company to modernize it. Frank Firmstone, his son, modernized two more furnaces. Another of his sons, Harry Firmstone, was the first engineer in Virginia to use coke to make pig iron in 1874. The high-grade coke that made this possible came from the New River. P. H. McCaull was a delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates and a County Clerk of Roanoke County in 1887; McCaull was a Republican who wrote to William Mahone in 1877 that an election had been lost due to a law that gave Democrats control of voting rolls. P. W. Strother was also a Delegate. Richard B. Roane, a Superintendent, was married to a relative of Sam Houston.
In 1878, Frederick W. M. Holliday, the Governor of Virginia, provided prisoners to work on the railroad system. Many of these were wrongfully convicted, innocent men used for convict leasing to the New River Railroad. The state would subsidize the cost of clothes, food, medical expenses, and guards for the men equivalent to what the state would pay if the men had stayed in prison. In return, the railroad would pay back these expenses each year with railroad bonds along with six percent interest.
On December 23, 1881, the New River Railroad and Mining and Manufacturing Company merged with Bluefield Railroad to form the New River Railroad of West Virginia.
These railroads were the foundation for the Norfolk and Western Railway, New River Division. Norfolk and Western Railway President Frederick J. Kimball bought the New River Railroad and transformed the railroad system from one that just transported agricultural products to one that made significant profits from coal by opening the Pocahontas Coalfield in western Virginia and southern West Virginia.


Holban Yard