John Walker Barriger III (December 3, 1899 – December 9, 1976) was an American railroad executive; he successively led the

Monon Railroad The Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1971, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Ra ...

Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) , also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11, 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Youngstown, Ohio in the ...

, Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad. In 1969, he was chosen as

Railroader of the Year Railroader of the Year is an annual award presented to a North American railroad industry worker by trade journal ''Railway Age''. The award was first presented in 1964 by trade journal ''Modern Railroads'' and has continued through the magazine ac ...

by industry trade journal ''Modern Railroads'' (which was acquired by ''

Railway Age ''Railway Age'' is an American trade magazine for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago (the United States' major railroad hub) and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. History The magazine's ...

'' in 1992).

Early years

Barriger was born on December 3, 1899. He was a graduate of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

Early career

His first railroad jobs were with the Pennsylvania Railroad. He worked as a rodman, as a shop hand, as associate editor of an employee magazine and as an assistant yardmaster. In the late 1920s he worked in investment houses. He helped author the controversial Prince Plan of railroad consolidation, which brought him instant fame. For eight years from 1933 to 1941 he worked in federal service as the railroad chief of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. During World War II, he worked for the Office of Defense Transportation. Barriger was the federal manager of the troubled

Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad The Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway is a short line railroad that operates of track from Mapleton, Illinois, through Peoria across Illinois to Logansport, Indiana. TP&W has trackage rights between Galesburg, Illinois, and Peoria, between Lo ...

. He helped launch

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

into the diesel locomotive business, and was also reorganization manager of the

Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two Wor ...

and the

Career

Barriger succeeded L.F. DeRamus as president of the

on May 1, 1946. As president, Barriger followed an aggressive policy of modernization. He was succeeded on December 31, 1952 by Warren W. Brown.Wozniczka, Denny (reprinted by Monon Railroad Historical and Technical Society),
Monon History: Presidents, Receivers and Trustees
''. Retrieved December 29, 2005. Barriger left the Monon Railroad for a Vice President position on the New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad. John Barriger wrote Super Railroads for a Dynamic American Economy in 1956. The 91 page book was published by Simmons Boardman Publishing Company of New York, New York. Barriger served as president of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad from 1956 until his retirement at the end of 1964 upon reaching the age of 65. He then worked briefly as a consultant to the St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco) Railway from January 1965 until March 1965. He was appointed Chairman of the Board of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (Katy) Railroad in March 1965 and became president of the railroad in May 1965. He left the Katy in January 1970.

Death and legacy

He died on December 9, 1976. Barriger's papers, photos, and railroad library of 10,000 volumes and of documents are included in the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library at the University of Missouri at St. Louis. Over 27,000 of John Barriger's railroad photographs have been shared with the public on the internet.

References

External links