Why children are the industry's future

"Railroads are invisible." Those words, spoken by a prominent transportation professor (and former Union Pacific official) at one of the nation's top universities with a transportation degree program, are among the most discouraging I've ever heard about this industry. The lack of recognition railroads have with the general public is a serious problem that's not being adequately addressed. It's the root cause of a lack of interest in railroading careers on the part of college graduates, as our cover story indicates.

I remember having a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do with my professional life long before I entered college. Reporting for my high school newspaper and shooting photos for the yearbook laid the foundation for a journalism focus in college, which eventually led to magazine editing and Railway Age.

Why should a path to a railroading career be any different? It stands to reason that if youngsters are exposed to this industry and educated on what it's really all about, they may someday be interested in working for a railroad. At the very least, they'll acquire a better understanding of the railroads' importance to the economy and, by extension, their daily lives.

That's where programs like Rail Awareness for Youth, Inc., come in. Created in 1999 "to reach all of America's youth with the message of America's rail industry," Rail Awareness for Youth "seeks to promote railroad safety through education, to teach the importance of our nation's rail transportation system, to present the rail industry as a potential occupation, and to promote railroading as a lifelong hobby." A long-term goal is developing a railroad education program that can be taught in elementary and secondary schools.

Rail Awareness for Youth, which has applied for non-profit 501C(3) status from the federal government, is seeking industry sponsors and volunteer counselors for the Railroading Merit Badge Pavilion at the 2001 National Scout Jamboree, Fort A.P. Hill, Va., July 20-Aug. 3. "Our goal," says founder Charles A. Anderson of Western Towers, "is doubling the number of Railroading Merit Badge recipients from the 1997 Jamboree." More than 100 counselors will be needed, he says. For information, contact Anderson at (800) 770-2873, Fax: (915) 655-1185, E-mail: charlesa@wcc.net.

Grass-roots lobbying: About 300 municipal leaders gathered recently in Washington, D.C., for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Increased federal funding for passenger rail topped the agenda, and a poll commissioned by the conference said that 82% of 1,013 registered voters surveyed supported building more light rail and commuter rail systems. Among the mayors' recommendations:

Investments are needed in "high speed rail corridors and the expansion of service on non-high speed routes."
"Accelerated investment is needed in the many rail projects in metropolitan areas and throughout the nation to ensure these critical transportation assets are deployed more expeditiously, helping our nation's metropolitan regions tap the vast potential of these projects."
"The federal government must enact tax incentives and pursue other measures to stimulate increased private sector participation in . . . support of passenger rail services."

The mayors also called for development of a "national rail policy," something passenger railroads in other countries have benefited from for many years, but which has managed to elude U.S. railroads.

Great railroaders: As the new century officially begins, it's appropriate to reflect on the railroad leaders of the 20th Century who left such an enduring legacy. Two of these were Donald J. Russell, who led the Southern Pacific when it was a giant among railroads, and John W. Barriger, who served successively as president of a number of smaller roads, and whose book, Super Railroads, was judged to be a work of seminal importance.

The names of Russell and Barriger did not appear in the list of Great Railroaders of the 20th Century published in the December 1999 issue of this magazine. Does anyone have other candidates for the list? Let us know.