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No way to run a railroad: the untold story of the Penn Central crisis
Bibliographic Section
pay more than their share of roadway costs and so effectively subsidise large freight vehicles. Since these large trucks are the main competitors to the railways, competitive pricing will not improve overall economic efficiency unless there is comparable cost recovery from both modes. ARRDO therefore recommends that the various governments should give high priority to resolving the question of pricing and raising the level of cost recovery in the land transport sector. The final recommendation is that the central Commonwealth Government should give more financial assistance for upgrading the national railway network. All the investment proposed by ARRDO would be financially viable and therefore could be funded by loan capital. It recommends funding at the rate of $83 million
motorists
161
per annum as being consistent with current financial assistance to roads. Taken together, the ARRDO recommendations make a package appealing to most railway operators and transport economists. The railway management would adopt sound business practices in return for assured government funding of economically justified work. This is the future role ARRDO sees for Australia’s railways. Not a revolutionary role perhaps but one that has the support, subject to a few footnotes and parenthetical statements, of all five government-owned railways. That support could be at least as significant in having these proposals implemented as the intrinsic merit of the recommendations themselves.
BRIEF NOTICES No Way to Run a Railroad: the Untold Story of the Penn Central Crisis, Stephen Salsbury, McGraw-Hill, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, NY 10020, U.S.A., 1982, pp. 363, $19.95
trains and the Wellington avalanche. The lingo of the rails is also included. Photographs, lithographs and drawings supplement the text.
The Penn Central resulted from the merger in February 1968 of America’s two giant railroad corporations, the Pennsylvania and the New York Central. It was America’s largest transportation enterprise and became America’s largest business failure. It led to government entrance into what had previously been a privately owned industry. This book tells the story of Penn Central’s chief financial officer, David Bevan, and his role in its bankruptcy. A business biography, it will be of interest to any student of the business community. It is documented with information drawn from previously confidential files, as its subtitle suggests. It uses letters, memoranda, minutes of the corporation’s various internal committees, testimony before government agencies, and court records to analyze why the railroad went bankrupt and who was to blame. Government agencies, individuals and the press are all indicted in this study of the financial distress of the northeast rail system.
The Del& Locomotives of British Rail, Brian Webb, David and Charles, North Pomfret, VT05053, U.S.A., 1982, pp. 96. $17.50.
Encyclopedia of North American Railroading, Freeman Hubbard, McGraw-Hill, 1220 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, U.S.A., 1981, pp. 377, $39.95 Subtitled “150 Years of Railroading in the United States and Canada”, this book contains information about the people involved, the railroad lines and equipment, the mechanical and industrial developments, and the economics of the railroad industry. Alphabetically arranged entries examine aspects of rail history from technical material to human-interest anecdotes. Historians and the railroad buff can read of railroading during wartime (the Civil War and two world wars), stories of such figures as Casey Jones, George Pullman, Jesse James and Eugene Debs, and topics such as the Erie Railroad war, Amtrak, monorails, presidential funeral
Britain’s East Coast Main Line railway authorities chose the Deltic locomotive to lift its passenger service%out of the steam age into competition with automobiles and domestic airlines. This book deals with the 1955 Prototype Deltic, the Baby Deltics, and the class 55 locomotives, covering their design, development, and their operational problems. Much of the information in this book is revealed publicly for the first time.
The Cromford and IiIgb Peak Railway, John Marshall David and Charles, North Pomfret, VT05053, U.S.A. 1982, pp. 64, $7.50 (paper). This book is in two parts: a history of the Cromford ant High Peak Railway, opened in 1831,and a visitor’s guide with information about access to this now abandoned English track. The CHPR once formed an importanl transport link between Nottingham, Derbyshire and the mills of Lancashire. Its working life of 137 years, it: tremendous inclines, and its preserved beam winding engine are of interest to the railway history buff.
Forgotten Railways: Scotland, John Thomas, David am Charles, North Pomfret, VT 05053, U.S.A., 1981, pp. 224 $14.95. This railway history is for explorers, actual and arm chair. The narrative covers not only the railways, bu
pay more than their share of roadway costs and so effectively subsidise large freight vehicles. Since these large trucks are the main competitors to the railways, competitive pricing will not improve overall economic efficiency unless there is comparable cost recovery from both modes. ARRDO therefore recommends that the various governments should give high priority to resolving the question of pricing and raising the level of cost recovery in the land transport sector. The final recommendation is that the central Commonwealth Government should give more financial assistance for upgrading the national railway network. All the investment proposed by ARRDO would be financially viable and therefore could be funded by loan capital. It recommends funding at the rate of $83 million
motorists
161
per annum as being consistent with current financial assistance to roads. Taken together, the ARRDO recommendations make a package appealing to most railway operators and transport economists. The railway management would adopt sound business practices in return for assured government funding of economically justified work. This is the future role ARRDO sees for Australia’s railways. Not a revolutionary role perhaps but one that has the support, subject to a few footnotes and parenthetical statements, of all five government-owned railways. That support could be at least as significant in having these proposals implemented as the intrinsic merit of the recommendations themselves.
BRIEF NOTICES No Way to Run a Railroad: the Untold Story of the Penn Central Crisis, Stephen Salsbury, McGraw-Hill, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, NY 10020, U.S.A., 1982, pp. 363, $19.95
trains and the Wellington avalanche. The lingo of the rails is also included. Photographs, lithographs and drawings supplement the text.
The Penn Central resulted from the merger in February 1968 of America’s two giant railroad corporations, the Pennsylvania and the New York Central. It was America’s largest transportation enterprise and became America’s largest business failure. It led to government entrance into what had previously been a privately owned industry. This book tells the story of Penn Central’s chief financial officer, David Bevan, and his role in its bankruptcy. A business biography, it will be of interest to any student of the business community. It is documented with information drawn from previously confidential files, as its subtitle suggests. It uses letters, memoranda, minutes of the corporation’s various internal committees, testimony before government agencies, and court records to analyze why the railroad went bankrupt and who was to blame. Government agencies, individuals and the press are all indicted in this study of the financial distress of the northeast rail system.
The Del& Locomotives of British Rail, Brian Webb, David and Charles, North Pomfret, VT05053, U.S.A., 1982, pp. 96. $17.50.
Encyclopedia of North American Railroading, Freeman Hubbard, McGraw-Hill, 1220 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, U.S.A., 1981, pp. 377, $39.95 Subtitled “150 Years of Railroading in the United States and Canada”, this book contains information about the people involved, the railroad lines and equipment, the mechanical and industrial developments, and the economics of the railroad industry. Alphabetically arranged entries examine aspects of rail history from technical material to human-interest anecdotes. Historians and the railroad buff can read of railroading during wartime (the Civil War and two world wars), stories of such figures as Casey Jones, George Pullman, Jesse James and Eugene Debs, and topics such as the Erie Railroad war, Amtrak, monorails, presidential funeral
Britain’s East Coast Main Line railway authorities chose the Deltic locomotive to lift its passenger service%out of the steam age into competition with automobiles and domestic airlines. This book deals with the 1955 Prototype Deltic, the Baby Deltics, and the class 55 locomotives, covering their design, development, and their operational problems. Much of the information in this book is revealed publicly for the first time.
The Cromford and IiIgb Peak Railway, John Marshall David and Charles, North Pomfret, VT05053, U.S.A. 1982, pp. 64, $7.50 (paper). This book is in two parts: a history of the Cromford ant High Peak Railway, opened in 1831,and a visitor’s guide with information about access to this now abandoned English track. The CHPR once formed an importanl transport link between Nottingham, Derbyshire and the mills of Lancashire. Its working life of 137 years, it: tremendous inclines, and its preserved beam winding engine are of interest to the railway history buff.
Forgotten Railways: Scotland, John Thomas, David am Charles, North Pomfret, VT 05053, U.S.A., 1981, pp. 224 $14.95. This railway history is for explorers, actual and arm chair. The narrative covers not only the railways, bu