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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The "Weary Erie", July 27, 1999
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.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A focus on the railroad's financial history, August 21, 2000
The Erie Lackawanna, whose main line was New York-Chicago, was one of the more interesting US railroads. It was originally laid with a wider-than-standard track gauge, had wider clearances than competing railroads, and had unusually mild gradients, at least in Indiana and western Ohio. However, throughout its history, it was always clinging on for dear life, never a truly credible competitor against the larger railroads. Today, it's little more than a memory, and much of its main line track has been lifted. It's a shame, because railroad rights-of-way are impossible to assemble in this day and age. As the author points out, Erie Lackawanna would have been perfect as a 1990s-style carrier dedicated to container and `piggyback' trains, thanks to its generous clearances. The Erie Lackawanna was also noteworthy for avoiding all significant cities between New York and Chicago - a liability in its heyday, but an asset in the container era. This book might more accurately be labeled a `financial history.' We're given an incredible depth of information about securities, taxation, business practices at headquarters, and biographical information of executives; the end result is thorough but something less than riveting. The most interesting portions describe the organizational turmoil resulting from Erie's acquisition of the Lackawanna, and the later acquisition by Conrail. Sadly, there is very little regarding rolling stock, stations, details of its route, or operating practices. This book has four excellent maps and about 20 black and white photos of rolling stock, plus various miscellaneous photos, especially formal pictures of executives.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE REST OF THE STORY ABOUT EL'S DEMISE, April 5, 2009
H. Roger Grant has done a masterful job of presenting a side of the Erie Lackawanna story that never was told before publicly. He covers many of the costly mistakes made that had they been avoided, might have kept the railroad alive beyond 1976. He reveals the fact that during its first three years after the merger, the Erie Lackawanna experienced much the same kind of infighting by the Erie and DL&W factions as the Penn Central experienced with the Red and Green team feuding. It was this feuding that almost sank the company. Mr. Grant also points out equipment modifications to locomotives that should have been made to make the two diesel fleets more compatible with each other, but weren't until several years after the October 17, 1960 merger date, which merged the two railroads in name, but remained two in operation until after 1961.This, too nearly sank the company. i highly recommend this book to fans of this railroad.
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