RAILROADER: The Unfiltered Genius and Controversy of Four-Time CEO Hunter Harrison

Of far greater importance to me—and I’ll wager many affluent consumers—is not having my valuable time abused, not being put through an agonizing and difficult process to resolve problems, not dealing with rude, uncooperative, and incompetent people, and not being lied to. This company has no significant product problems. Even though mine had two ma

Harriman was a truly remarkable man, one of the most brilliant railroaders and formidable capitalists in American history, whose genius has been somewhat masked behind a partially deserved reputation for shady dealing.

Much more important, his philosophy of railroading—with its emphasis on infrastructure and the primacy of freight—would live on, not only in these lines but in most others as well.

Jim Hill worked incessantly at improving every aspect of the railroad’s structure and operation. He traveled back and forth along the line in his business car, looking for dips and bumps and spying out curves that could be straightened and grades that could be lessened. More than any other railroad leader of the day, he had an engineer’s passion fo