Howard Elliott (December 6, 1860 – July 8, 1928) was President of

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

1903-1913, and also President of

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

beginning in 1913.

Biography

Elliott was born on December 6, 1860, in New York, and received a degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He entered railway service during the summer of 1880, during college break as a rodman on the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

. After graduation from Lawrence Scientific School in 1881 with a degree in civil engineering, he became a clerk in the president's office of the St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern Railway. From 1887 to 1891, he was a general freight and passenger agent, and from 1891 to 1896, also of the Hannibal and St. Joseph and Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs lines. From 1896 to 1902, he became general manager, and from 1902 to 1903, second vice-president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy lines. In 1903 he was elected president of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and also president of various subsidiary companies of the Northern Pacific. On July 25, 1913 he was elected president and director of the New Haven system, succeeding

Charles Sanger Mellen Charles Sanger Mellen (August 16, 1852 – November 17, 1927) was an American railroad man whose career culminated in the presidencies of the Northern Pacific Railway (1897-1903) and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (1903-1913). H ...

. Elliott's term as president of the New Haven began with the wreck of the '' Bar Harbor Express'' on September 2, 1913, a disaster of such scope that had not been seen on the New Haven. Elliott faced many difficulties throughout his career in the Northern Pacific. The road when he took charge of it was not in very good physical condition. Elliott increased its mileage from 5,111 to 6,032 miles, and its revenue freight train load from 326 to 511 tons. When the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul built its extension to the

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

right through the Northern Pacific territory, cutting severely into the competition, Elliott continued with improvements and was able to show a surplus of over $3 million in 1911 and one of over $2 million 1912. When

George J. Gould George Jay Gould I (February 6, 1864 – May 16, 1923) was a financier and the son of Jay Gould. He was himself a railroad executive, leading the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW), Western Pacific Railroad (WP), and the Manhatt ...

retired as president of the

Missouri Pacific The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

in 1911, Elliott was offered the presidency of that road, but declined, preferring to remain in New England. He died on July 8, 1928.

References

* Railway Age Gazette (August 1, 1913) pp. 177–8.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Howard 1860 births Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni Northern Pacific Railway people Businesspeople from New York (state) 1928 deaths