Are there any good books out there about Conrail? I just finished The Men Who Loved Trains. A good book about Conrail would be a good follow up. Any ideas?
What did you think of the book?
I have a book published by the Conrail Historical Society which has all the Conrail freight schedules. It ran $20 and was pretty interesting as it gave very detailed information about scheduled freights and intermodals.
There was a book called Conrail Commodities which I wanted to purchase, but never did. It covered the types of freight Conrail handled, such as coal, automotive, intermodal, steel, etc.
ed
I thought it was a really good book. It could have used another chapter, on who the players were, just to keep everybody straight. I read when I get time, here and there,and found that I would have to keep going back a few pages and review, just to remember who all the people were in that chapter. Rush Loving did a very good job keeping the whole story entertaining. On the surface, a lot of what went on in PC and CR dealings was about as clear as a rugby game played in the mud-after dark. I just started Leaders Count, then I need to scare up some more good books to read.
Murph:
I think Leaders Count is an excellent book. some will say it is a company book written to make BNSF look good, but I think it takes a pretty good look, historically at the roads which led to BNSF.
Particularly interesting for me was the period of time around the Powder River Coal era (late 70’s) and the realization that rates were going to have to increase or the company would drown in volume that was not compensatory.
Also, the period in the 90’s dealing with the BN - Santa Fe merger was great. Rob Krebs’ story is very interesting. BN always seemed to go outside for CEO’s beginning with the Frisco merger. Rob Krebs did a lot of very good things which have led to great results today. His transformation is interesting. You will enjoy reading about him.
BN went thru a few managers in the 80’s which were obviously there to contain expenses or unlock value without placing emphasis on growth of the railroad. The corporate guys just dont stack up when compared with the railroaders.
ed