Product Description

This text examines the history of one of America's most famous railroads, the Erie, and its successor after 1960, the Erie Lackawanna. It covers the period between the Erie's fourth bankruptcy in the late 1930s, and its final liquidation in 1976. The story of this innovative transport company mirrors much of what was happening in American railroading during that time: technological change, governmental over-regulation, model competition, corporate mergers, union 'featherbedding', and uneven executive leadership. The challenges faced by the Erie became increasingly complex and ultimately led to financial collapse. Deciding not to reorganise for the fifth time, the Erie Lackawanna turned over most of its rail operations in 1976 to the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). Those assets not transferred to Conrail became part of the 'Estate'. This entity sold the remains of the railroad, producing one of the most successful business liquidations in American history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3076765 in Books
• Published on: 1996-12-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 308 pages

Review
'Not merely a pleasure to read, this is an outstanding study of the railroad industry, specifically the Erie Railroad from 1938, through its merger with the Lackawanna Railroad, final bankruptcy, and inevitable takeover by Conrail in the massive reorganization of northeastern railroads. Grant clearly describes the realities within which railroads operate and to which they must respond : technology, labor issues, competition from other railroads, as well as highway and river transportation.' Choice

Customer Reviews

The "Weary Erie"
The years immediately following the end of World War 2 were good ones for the nation's railroads. Flush with cash after record war time traffic, they set about to modernise their worn out systems. Tracks were upgraded, diesels were purchased to replace aging steam locomotives, buildings were painted and rolling stock, passenger and freight, were upgraded or replaced.But by the mid-1950's, the circumstances had changed. Increased highway competition was cutting into revenues while archaic labor agreements ("featherbedding"), high property taxes and crippling government regulations colluded to sap the roads of cash. The situation was particularly desperate in the northeast leading some railroads to seek merger partners.Two such roads were the Erie and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (Lackawanna). Running side by side in many places, the two companies were quite different. The Erie had been in and out of financial trouble for much of its existence, its stock attractive only to "venturesome investors" ("when Erie common pays a dividend, there will be icicles in hell"). The Lackawanna by contrast, was a smaller, but sturdy anthracite coal hauler whose stock was suitable for "widows and orphans" paying a regular and generous dividend well into the 1930's.But by the late fifties, the two roads could not meet expenses by revenues alone, survived by selling assets (property, equipment, etc.).They entered into merger talks and in 1960 merged as the Erie lackawanna.This book deals with the pre-merger planning and post merger jockeying to keep the merged company solvent. The merger trend was in its early phase at the time, so there were some difficulties. The corporate cultures came into immediate conflict. While it was supposed to be a merger of equals, it soon became evident that it was an Erie takeover. Said a happy former Erie official: "The place is just like the old Erie" while Perry Shoemaker, the former president of the Lackawanna told his former colleagues: "I feel terrible. I sold all of you down the river.H. Roger Grant follows the ups and downs in the 16 year existence of the company, paying particular attention to the brief, but important tenure of CEO William White. A "railroad man's railroad man," he came to the EL in 1963. He had creditability with lenders who had been reluctant to extend financing and he is generally credited with implimenting policies which would eventually reduce the deficit and even produce a modest profit. He is probably best known outside the industry for re-instating the premier "Phoebe Snow" passenger train, a mostly sybolic gesture, but an effective PRmove and employee moral booster.There was some cause for optimism in the late 1960's. The EL was able to negotiate more favorable labor agreements and attract more lucrative on-line industry. It received permission to discontinue its last long distance passeneger train, a considerable savings, and was now receiving substantial subsidies from the state for its North Jersey commuter operation.But a recession in 1970 along with soaring interest rates rocked the still fragile EL and by early 1972, out of cash and hounded by creditors, the company again was "on the brink." In June, a storm, which washed out vast sections of road, finally pushed the company into bankruptcy, thus joining a group that would soon include all major northeast railroads and lead to the creation of Conrail in 1976.Railroad fortunes improved in the 1980's due to government deregulation, more reasonable work rules and highway congestion which reversed the flow of freight traffic to trucks. Auther Grant contemplates what all this could have meant to the EL had it come about sooner. We will never know, of course, but as is illustrated by the heavily footnoted text, EL officials managed to operate an efficient and remarkably safe system regardless of the immense challenges-no small feat. It is seeing how they did it that makes this book interesting.