This is a book about a man's journey as an intellectual railroader. It's not about trains or about pictures of trains. Jim McClellan wrote and published other books and articles about trains. Even pictures and paintings of trains. However, this book is about his experience as a man who directly helped reshape the business or railroading. It's about his fears as well as his successes In taking on complex strategic ideas about the business of running railroads as companies. About struggling to communicate the complexity of networks. Often as a junior officer to others with far more experience and seniority then he had. About championing over a three to four decade long "idea" of merging smaller railroads into larger and strionger corporate networks. It's about persevering when at first your idea of the perfect business match doesn't pan out.
It's about dealing with business silos that face critical survival issues as the business of moving freight on steel rails because more difficult. It's about one man's maturing over along career.
It's also a look inside a corporate culture in a company that competitors always thought was a strong and wealthy railway company that could o no wrong. How could they lose? They carried coal,downhill. They had the best operating ratio. They were the envy of their competition. Yet, Mr McClellan reveals that inside that company there were serious questions about becoming "marginalized" by a carrier with a poorer productivity performance -- but with a much stronger origin/destination network coverage.
It's about the career long search for long term corporate survival as the railroads struggled with eastern US bankruptcy like the Penn Central. About the fear of what happens if king coal traffic advantages should falter.
It's a personal,disclosure of how some times it's better to adapt to being lucky than just being smarter.
It's a book about life inside both government agencies that regulate railroads as well,as life inside the executive floor of big private rail companies.
If those issues interest you, then this book should be added to your library.
Disclosure: twice in my railroad careerInhad the opportunity to work and learn from Jim McClellan. I might therefore be biased in this review. But in examine his history of four of the books sections about which I have irst hand knowledge, I conclude that Jim McClellan gives the reader interesting and a pretty accurate account of the events -- from his insider recollection. Sharing with his peers as well as as with outsiders some of the human and corporate nuances that I had overlooked. Sharing his fears so that the reader can learn that even the brightest among us have to struggle to be leaders. Because leadership isn't an easy task. There is always some doubt you have to overcome. That's my take away of why Jim's memories are of importance.
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theos
A superb mix of autobiography, US Railroad History with beautiful photos
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2017