R J Corman Dies

[MrFSS]

Railroad owner and founder of the R J Corman Railroad died earlier today.

STORY



For many years his offices were in a gutted diesel engine and dome car. He also owned the Kentucky Dinner Train and ran the Kentucky Derby Train. His company did RR repair work all over the country.

Living close to his main offices, I have been able to get some nice pictures over the years.

 

[Bob Dylan]

:hi: Nice pics Tom! Hopefully the Company will continue to Operate as a Rail Company, be a Shame if this Great Equipment was Sold Off to Wealthy Private Owners by "Corporate Bottom Line" Types!

 

[MrFSS]

:hi: Nice pics Tom! Hopefully the Company will continue to Operate as a Rail Company, be a Shame if this Great Equipment was Sold Off to Wealthy Private Owners by "Corporate Bottom Line" Types!

I think his family will continue the business.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Did the company haul freight? They could make some more money by buying frieght short lines, hauling their freight, and creating more tourist trains.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Yes, the RJ Corman Company owns and has trackage rights over many miles of ROW in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Significant coal and ethanol traffic at Cresson and the line north to Clearview, Pa. Also freight hauling over former B&O ROW in New Philadelphia, Ohio

 

[MrFSS]

Did the company haul freight? They could make some more money by buying frieght short lines, hauling their freight, and creating more tourist trains.

Their primary function is repairing/building rail track after bad wrecks, derailments, and natural disasters. They were the primary rebuilder of rail after Katrina.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Did the company haul freight? They could make some more money by buying frieght short lines, hauling their freight, and creating more tourist trains.

Their primary function is repairing/building rail track after bad wrecks, derailments, and natural disasters. They were the primary rebuilder of rail after Katrina.

If that's all they do, RJ Corman must not make much money at all. They should expand.

 

[railiner]

Sounds like this R J Corman lived the ultimate dream life of a railfan.....make his business and hobby into one, work and live in it......what could ever be better?

May he Rest In Peace.........

 

[MrFSS]

Did the company haul freight? They could make some more money by buying frieght short lines, hauling their freight, and creating more tourist trains.

Their primary function is repairing/building rail track after bad wrecks, derailments, and natural disasters. They were the primary rebuilder of rail after Katrina.

If that's all they do, RJ Corman must not make much money at all. They should expand.

You have to be kidding, right. He was a billionaire, yet built hospital wings and supported many worth while charities in Kentucky.

Explore this LINK.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Did the company haul freight? They could make some more money by buying frieght short lines, hauling their freight, and creating more tourist trains.

Their primary function is repairing/building rail track after bad wrecks, derailments, and natural disasters. They were the primary rebuilder of rail after Katrina.

If that's all they do, RJ Corman must not make much money at all. They should expand.

You have to be kidding, right. He was a billionaire, yet built hospital wings and supported many worth while charities in Kentucky.

Explore this LINK.

So, construction and cleaning up derailments? Did he make all that money of this rail maintenence? This work must make a lot of money if you can make billions from rail maintenece.

 

[rrdude]

Swadian, when your train derails, or you have anything that fouls up your main line, you HAVE TO get it operational again, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, DAMN THE COSTS. We ran a podunk little dinner train in Southwestern Michigan, and the DT, the "Star Clipper", derailed one nite. Not bad or extensive, just in the mud, but on a hill, with little of no road access.

After removing one DT engine, and the HEP car from one end, we backed the Scenic Train (i.e. excursion train) equipment up to the derailed DT, and transferred all the guests off. Next morning, we looked at it, and called Hulcher Services. They were on property in less than twelve hours, (they have staging areas all over the USA) and had our "main line" (such as it was) back in operation in less than 24 hours, hell, once they were on property, it only took a few hours to position the rigging, move the cars, and even do a temp repair of the roadbed. Truly amazing.

Did I say at the start of this post, "DAMN THE COSTS" ? You get the idea, really, really, good money to be made in derailment services......like any disaster-relief structured company.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Swadian, when your train derails, or you have anything that fouls up your main line, you HAVE TO get it operational again, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, DAMN THE COSTS. We ran a podunk little dinner train in Southwestern Michigan, and the DT, the "Star Clipper", derailed one nite. Not bad or extensive, just in the mud, but on a hill, with little of no road access.
After removing one DT engine, and the HEP car from one end, we backed the Scenic Train (i.e. excursion train) equipment up to the derailed DT, and transferred all the guests off. Next morning, we looked at it, and called Hulcher Services. They were on property in less than twelve hours, (they have staging areas all over the USA) and had our "main line" (such as it was) back in operation in less than 24 hours, hell, once they were on property, it only took a few hours to position the rigging, move the cars, and even do a temp repair of the roadbed. Truly amazing.

Did I say at the start of this post, "DAMN THE COSTS" ? You get the idea, really, really, good money to be made in derailment services......like any disaster-relief structured company.

Man, guess it wasn't such a bad idea to build the Interstate. At least you don't have to fix it up yourself, the goverment will have patched it up fast with taxpayer money so that regular operations can be restored.

 

[rrdude]

Swadian, when your train derails, or you have anything that fouls up your main line, you HAVE TO get it operational again, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, DAMN THE COSTS. We ran a podunk little dinner train in Southwestern Michigan, and the DT, the "Star Clipper", derailed one nite. Not bad or extensive, just in the mud, but on a hill, with little of no road access.
After removing one DT engine, and the HEP car from one end, we backed the Scenic Train (i.e. excursion train) equipment up to the derailed DT, and transferred all the guests off. Next morning, we looked at it, and called Hulcher Services. They were on property in less than twelve hours, (they have staging areas all over the USA) and had our "main line" (such as it was) back in operation in less than 24 hours, hell, once they were on property, it only took a few hours to position the rigging, move the cars, and even do a temp repair of the roadbed. Truly amazing.

Did I say at the start of this post, "DAMN THE COSTS" ? You get the idea, really, really, good money to be made in derailment services......like any disaster-relief structured company.

Man, guess it wasn't such a bad idea to build the Interstate. At least you don't have to fix it up yourself, the goverment will have patched it up fast with taxpayer money so that regular operations can be restored.

Maybe that's why Interstate bridges are crumbling/falling down, and many of the highways are as rough as the Oregon Trail. That, and the fact that commercial motor-coaches and trucking companies don't even come close to paying taxes or fees to actually cover the cost of building and maintenance said Interstates.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Swadian, when your train derails, or you have anything that fouls up your main line, you HAVE TO get it operational again, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, DAMN THE COSTS. We ran a podunk little dinner train in Southwestern Michigan, and the DT, the "Star Clipper", derailed one nite. Not bad or extensive, just in the mud, but on a hill, with little of no road access.

After removing one DT engine, and the HEP car from one end, we backed the Scenic Train (i.e. excursion train) equipment up to the derailed DT, and transferred all the guests off. Next morning, we looked at it, and called Hulcher Services. They were on property in less than twelve hours, (they have staging areas all over the USA) and had our "main line" (such as it was) back in operation in less than 24 hours, hell, once they were on property, it only took a few hours to position the rigging, move the cars, and even do a temp repair of the roadbed. Truly amazing.

Did I say at the start of this post, "DAMN THE COSTS" ? You get the idea, really, really, good money to be made in derailment services......like any disaster-relief structured company.

Man, guess it wasn't such a bad idea to build the Interstate. At least you don't have to fix it up yourself, the goverment will have patched it up fast with taxpayer money so that regular operations can be restored.

Maybe that's why Interstate bridges are crumbling/falling down, and many of the highways are as rough as the Oregon Trail. That, and the fact that commercial motor-coaches and trucking companies don't even come close to paying taxes or fees to actually cover the cost of building and maintenance said Interstates.

Actually, intercity buses cover almost all of the costs for road maintainence with their own paid money as tax revenue. Intercity buses require very, very little indirect subsides from the goverment to maintain the roadways since intercity buses are very rarely driven on the roads compared to cars and commericial trucks. They also require no direct subisdes.

It the government privatized everything, including all the Interstates, Greyhound would still have lower operating costs per-pasenger-mile than Amtrak. Rail is only efficient at moving heavy loads, and heavy loads are very rare in the United States outside the most major corridors.

Plus, US railroads aren't maintained much better than the Interstates. Don't think that private companies can do a good job on that, either.

 

[AlanB]

Actually, intercity buses cover almost all of the costs for road maintainence with their own paid money as tax revenue. Intercity buses require very, very little indirect subsides from the goverment to maintain the roadways since intercity buses are very rarely driven on the roads compared to cars and commericial trucks. They also require no direct subisdes.

No they don't! Combined, buses, trucks, and cars in 2010 only managed to cover 42% of the costs of the highways. And while both trucks & intercity buses pay more in direct taxes than car drivers pay, they also cause more damage to the roads & highways.

It the government privatized everything, including all the Interstates, Greyhound would still have lower operating costs per-pasenger-mile than Amtrak. Rail is only efficient at moving heavy loads, and heavy loads are very rare in the United States outside the most major corridors.

If that is indeed true, and no one really knows since the bus companies don't report their costs, then it is only due to the fact that Amtrak offers so much more in the way of amenities than an intercity bus does. That is food service and sleeper service. They may also be hurt a bit by the long distance trains during off peak times. But in general, trains have a much lower operating cost.

Many love to tout BRT as the cheaper alternative to LRT. BRT is supposed to run faster and carry more people conventional city buses. And therefore it should have a lower cost per passenger mile. Only it doesn't! In 2011 according to the National Transit Database, regular buses had an operating cost of 90 cents per passenger mile. BRT buses came in at 90 cents per passenger mile. Light rail comes in at 60 cents. Heavy rail & commuter both came in at 40 cents.

Now, I do strongly suspect that Intercity buses do better than BRT, but I rather doubt that they do some much better that they beat commuter rail. And if one takes away the amenities, Amtrak to some extent becomes commuter rail.

 

[rrdude]

Swadian, when your train derails, or you have anything that fouls up your main line, you HAVE TO get it operational again, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, DAMN THE COSTS. We ran a podunk little dinner train in Southwestern Michigan, and the DT, the "Star Clipper", derailed one nite. Not bad or extensive, just in the mud, but on a hill, with little of no road access.

After removing one DT engine, and the HEP car from one end, we backed the Scenic Train (i.e. excursion train) equipment up to the derailed DT, and transferred all the guests off. Next morning, we looked at it, and called Hulcher Services. They were on property in less than twelve hours, (they have staging areas all over the USA) and had our "main line" (such as it was) back in operation in less than 24 hours, hell, once they were on property, it only took a few hours to position the rigging, move the cars, and even do a temp repair of the roadbed. Truly amazing.

Did I say at the start of this post, "DAMN THE COSTS" ? You get the idea, really, really, good money to be made in derailment services......like any disaster-relief structured company.

Man, guess it wasn't such a bad idea to build the Interstate. At least you don't have to fix it up yourself, the goverment will have patched it up fast with taxpayer money so that regular operations can be restored.

Maybe that's why Interstate bridges are crumbling/falling down, and many of the highways are as rough as the Oregon Trail. That, and the fact that commercial motor-coaches and trucking companies don't even come close to paying taxes or fees to actually cover the cost of building and maintenance said Interstates.

Actually, intercity buses cover almost all of the costs for road maintainence with their own paid money as tax revenue. Intercity buses require very, very little indirect subsides from the goverment to maintain the roadways since intercity buses are very rarely driven on the roads compared to cars and commericial trucks. They also require no direct subisdes.

It the government privatized everything, including all the Interstates, Greyhound would still have lower operating costs per-pasenger-mile than Amtrak. Rail is only efficient at moving heavy loads, and heavy loads are very rare in the United States outside the most major corridors.

Plus, US railroads aren't maintained much better than the Interstates. Don't think that private companies can do a good job on that, either.

These statements are not only false, they are ridiculous. Granted, there are thousands of miles of secondary or branch lines that won't get you where you are going fast.... However, the private railroads n the USA do a pretty bang up job of keeping their main lines in top shape, or freight service....it ony makes business sense to do so

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Then how do you explain this? http://www.buses.org/files/Foundation/Motorcoach-Amtrak-Comparison.pdf

Again, intercity buses are so rare on the freeways that very little maintainence costs are actually for the bus. And why is Amtrak always supposedly so efficient when it emits so much Nitrogen Oxides and Carbon Dioxide?

 

[George Harris]

This thread has gotten a very long way from its initial purpose of acknowledging and giving some recognition to an outstanding person, businessman, railroader, and all around high quality individual who died way too young.

 

[MrFSS]

This thread has gotten a very long way from its initial purpose of acknowledging and giving some recognition to an outstanding person, businessman, railroader, and all around high quality individual who died way too young.

His funeral was yesterday and he was buried on the property where the home office of his company is, just outside Lexington, KY.

 

[AlanB]

Then how do you explain this? http://www.buses.org/files/Foundation/Motorcoach-Amtrak-Comparison.pdf
Again, intercity buses are so rare on the freeways that very little maintainence costs are actually for the bus. And why is Amtrak always supposedly so efficient when it emits so much Nitrogen Oxides and Carbon Dioxide?

First, you said subsidy per passenger mile. They never listed that in that study, only subsidy per passenger; so I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that subsidy per passenger mile was lower. One does not have to follow the other.

Second, go look at who the study was prepared for. The ABA (American Bus Association) whose job it is to promote bus service any way they can. The Reason Foundation, they oppose anything rail. One cannot find even one rail project that Reason supports.

 

[the_traveler]

I agree that this has gone way past the original intent of the post.

But I just want to add something to Swadian's claim that buses pay their costs. Do they pay enough taxes for several millions of $$$ for every mile the run buses on? :huh: That's the true cost of the roads, including building, maintaining it, snow plowing, etc ..., not just paying the toll on the highway.

Just like the airline's claim that they made $xxx billion. If they had to pay to build the airport, had to pay the full cost of ATC, the full cost of the FAA, etc ... I doubt that claim would be made!

 

[George Harris]

Then how do you explain this? http://www.buses.org/files/Foundation/Motorcoach-Amtrak-Comparison.pdf
Again, intercity buses are so rare on the freeways that very little maintainence costs are actually for the bus. And why is Amtrak always supposedly so efficient when it emits so much Nitrogen Oxides and Carbon Dioxide?

First, you said subsidy per passenger mile. They never listed that in that study, only subsidy per passenger; so I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that subsidy per passenger mile was lower. One does not have to follow the other.

Second, go look at who the study was prepared for. The ABA (American Bus Association) whose job it is to promote bus service any way they can. The Reason Foundation, they oppose anything rail. One cannot find even one rail project that Reason supports.

Swadian: Be careful of your source of data for the passenger train emissions. you can find that many of these go back to the time that the thought was that Amtrak could become profitable by hauling high priority freight on the back of the trains. Thus, if you took emissions and divided them by passengers you would get a high number because a lot of the power requirement and associated emissions related to hauling tonnage that was not there to haul people.

What Alan said about the bus association statistics. Figures don't lie, but liars figure. You can prove just about anything by careful selection of data.

The "Reason Foundation" So far as I am concerned these people give the politically conservative a bad name. A lot of their stances appear to be more to speak favorably of their source of money instead of providing reasonable backing for a particular political perspective. Their name should be a hint. They are reasonable in the same sense that these countries that call themselves "Democratic People's Republics" are anything but the exact opposite thereof. The more their name claims to be something the more likely they are to be the opposite thereof. Think George Orwell type naming.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Since NARP-supported studies would use the same "selective data" as the ABA-supported studies, let's just leave this argument alone.

 

[Greener Pastures]

Today's private railroads (infrastructure) are, for the most part, constructed and maintained in much the same fashion as they were almost 100 years ago. While track technology in other parts of the world has evolved, it has stagnated in the U.S. Today, the costs associated with derailments and the associated service interuptions are much higher than the savings of deferring maintenance and opting for legacy track designs.

Unfortunately, it will be another couple of generations before the Class 1 railroads here realize the errs of their ways. In the meantime, companies such as RJ Corman and others who attend to derailments stand to make millions of dollars.

I find it remarkable that the railroad industry in the U.S. if so far behind the rest of the world, while America leads the world in virtually every other industry!

Rail programs are propping up in universities all over the country these days and my hope is that the industry will begin to make progress towards implementing a system comparable to the systems that have been widely used in other parts of the world since just after the end of WWII.

 

[Greener Pastures]

And, frankly, anyone who believes that buses represent a more efficient mode (operating and maintenance costs) of mass transportation than rail is really misguided. I refuse to participate in the discussions that even entertain this as an option.