Guerdon Sterling Sines, 1928-2014, railroad computer systems pioneer

“Guerdon was a driving force in the rail industry on the application of computer technology to daily train operations,” said retired UP Vice President-Manifest Products Woody Sutton. “Without him, the development of TOPS (Total Operations Processing System) on the Southern Pacific, TCS (Transportation Control System) on the Missouri Pacific and UP, and freight car management and car scheduling at an industry level would likely not have been implemented as effectively as they were in the 1960s and 1970s.”

Born in El Paso, Tex. on Dec. 26, 1928, Sines was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1951. During the Korean Conflict, he was the Company Commander of I Company, 23rd Infantry Regiment, Second Division, and was the first in his class from West Point to receive a battlefield promotion and the Bronze Star for valor. Sines was later wounded and earned the Purple Heart and the French Croix de Guerre medals.

Sines joined the Southern Pacific in 1963 and during the next three years was in charge of the joint SP-IBM TOPS project, which helped revolutionize the railroad industry by computerizing and automating its systems. He went on to the New York Central, Penn Central, and the Missouri Pacific to direct their information and control systems. In 1983, Sines was appointed Vice President-Information & Communication Systems at the UP, a position he previously held at the MoPac. He was known in the industry for his effective leadership skills, and his willingness to promote women and break the gender glass ceiling as well as deal firmly with harassment claims in the days well before sexual harassment was even codified. Sines retired from UP in December of 1990 and moved with his wife, Dorothy Delasco Sines, to St. Simons Island, Ga.

Sines authored and published several papers that were delivered to the International Union of Railways (UIC) and the Association of American Railroads, and served on the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board as well as various other railroad research committees. He was a graduate of Harvard University’s 78th Advanced Management Program.

Sines is survived by his wife of 63 years, Dorothy; four children; six grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren; as well as his brother John B. Sines, and two nephews.