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Recent Galleries

Louisiana & Delta : Shortly after returning from Saudi in September 1986 I accepted the position of General Manager of the new shortline - Louisiana & Delta. GWI was acquiring some of SP's branch lines in Louisiana and I was responsible for staffing, equipment acquisition, training and starting up LDRR. I managed LDRR successfully for 14 years at which time I left and became General Manager of the Arizona Eastern in Globe, AZ.

Louisiana & Delta

Shortly after returning from Saudi in September 1986 I accepted the po ...

Updated: Apr 02, 2013 6:31pm PST

CSX :

Updated: Apr 02, 2013 3:27pm PST

Burlington Northern :

Burlington Northern

Updated: Apr 01, 2013 7:23am PST

Waide Collection of Vintage Railroad Advertisements 1950 - Present : Railroad advertisements from the 1950 to 2011.

Waide Collection of Vintage Railroad ...

Railroad advertisements from the 1950 to 2011.

Updated: Mar 31, 2013 8:15pm PST

Annie : This site is dedicated to Jim Erickson, currently the President of the Annie, and the rest of the great Annie crew. When I was at the Ann Arbor Jim was in charge of the "boat" operations. Because I was based in Owosso and Jim in Frankfort/Elberta we didn't get to know each other real well. Since I left Annie and have had a chance to reflect on the time I was there, I have come to recognize the fine job Jim did. He has also become a good friend and we communicate every-now-and then. Also, the rest of the crew who were there when I was and may still be working away at keeping Annie running and profitable.

Upon accepting an offer to be Chief Mechanical Officer of the Ann Arbor Railroad - henceforth called Annie - I moved to Owosso, MI in the Fall, 1981. The move from the Class I to the shortline side of the house was an eye opener for me. I remember when I first arrived in Owosso and went to the yard, my thoughts were "what did I get myself into?" However, it didn't take long for me to acquaint myself with shortline ways and shortline people. In fact, work really became fun again.

Even though we operated Annie as a single railroad, to me it was actually split into 3 sections: 1 - the south end, from Toledo to Ann Arbor which was owned by Michigan Interstate Railway Company, 2 - the north end which went from Ann Arbor to Elberta/Frankfort and was owned by the State and operated by Michigan Interstate and 3 - the boats. As CMO I was mainly responsible for the railroad's mechanical operations. Those covered the locomotive and car shops in Owosso, plus a small roundhouse/servicing facility and car repair in Toledo.

Annie's main traffic was foundry sand from the quarry in Yuma, automobile parts from a Ford plant in Ann Arbor, some cement from the plant in Dundee, the Jeep plant in Toledo, a Ford plant just outside Ann Arbor and the "boat traffic," much of which was paper from the plants in Wisconsin. The boat traffic was brought to us by the Green Bay & Western at Mantiwoc, WI.

Annie operated 3 boats at the time. MS Viking was the newest and most used. It was propeller driven by 4 EMD 16 cylinder engines (basically the same engine found in an EMD locomotive at the time). The Arthur K. Atkinson was powered by 2 V20 Nordberg diesel engines. It was the 2nd of the 3 units to be operated. The last boat was the steam powered City of Milwaukee. The Milwaukee was laid up most of the 2 years I was with Annie, operating only a few days during that spell.

In addition to the boats, Annie has some interesting main line motive power - EMD GP35s with Alco trucks equipped with GE traction motors.

For me tying the 2 years together was the opportunity to work and get to know some really great railroad folks. In spite of all of the difficulties and distractions, the Annie "crew" got the job done.

In 1983 after the State had ceased paying the subsidies to keep Michigan Interstate operating the north end of the Railroad, I found an opportunity that I just could not turn down. That was to go to Saudi Arabia under a contract with U. S. DOT as an advisor to SRO - the Saudi Railway Organization. That was to be the next chapter in my railroad life.

This site is dedicated to Jim Erickson, currently the President of the ...

Updated: Mar 31, 2013 5:17pm PST

BNSF 2000 - 2004 :

BNSF 2000 - 2004

Updated: Mar 31, 2013 2:37pm PST

Southern Pacific : This Gallery is dedicated to three persons. Being a diehard "Santa Fe man" I never thought that I'd get to meet, know, and work with great railroad men form Southern Pacific. I was mistaken. Rollin Bredenberg, Jack Jenkins and Ray Duplechain proved me wrong. These three were not only great railroaders, but also became good friends and associates. Thanks to each of them for their assistance, help and council when, as the General Manager, I was starting up and operating the Louisiana & Delta, a shortline comprised of several former SP branch lines in Louisiana.

Southern Pacific

This Gallery is dedicated to three persons. Being a diehard "Santa Fe ...

Updated: Mar 29, 2013 11:28am PST

BNSF 2005 - 2009 :

BNSF 2005 - 2009

Updated: Mar 28, 2013 3:46pm PST

Arizona Eastern : This Gallery is dedicated to Tom Schlosser, Gene Shepherd and "my kids" at the Arizona Eastern. In early 2002 Tom Schlosser, now passed, who was a great friend and associate, offered me the opportunity to be the General Manager of the Arizona Eastern (AZER). Along with several other railroads, RailAmerica was in the middle of acquiring AZER. Tom had himself only just joined RA as the Western Region VP and needed someone to take over GM duties in Globe. I took the reins in February 2002 and left there when I retired 3 years later in February 2005. It turned out to be one of the most fun filled, pleasurable and interesting phases of my career.

We had our down days, like broken rail derailments (which always seemed to happen in the middle of the night) on 75# rail with no ties underneath. But there were also some great days and accomplishments, like moving over 50 unit trains of Ponderosa pine logs which resulted from the Sitgreaves NF fire of Fall 2002. To everyone's amazement we handled the logs without a major incident, only 1 single wheel derailment, and basically an on-schedule interchange of the logs to the UP at Bowie, AZ. In between we continued to provide Phelps-Dodge copper operations the best possible service at their Miami, AZ smelter and kept all of our other customers on plan. I'm sure that I could not have accomplished any of those without Tom's and Gene's support and the steady, dependable, every day work of the "kids."

Arizona Eastern

This Gallery is dedicated to Tom Schlosser, Gene Shepherd and "my kids ...

Updated: Mar 28, 2013 9:49am PST

Commuter Operations :

Commuter Operations

Updated: Mar 28, 2013 8:30am PST

Gallery pages: < 1 2 3 4 5 6 > >>