Alfred E. Perlman

= Family =

Alfred Edward Perlman was born November 22, 1902, in St. Paul, Minnesota, the son of Louis and Leah Perlman. He married Adele Sylvia Emrich, June 15, 1937. Together they had three children: Michael Louis; Lee Alfred; Constance.

Education

Perlman graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering in 1923. He graduated from the Harvard Business School with a Masters degree in railway transportation in 1931. He was awarded honorary degress from Clarkson University and Depauw University.

Career

Perlman joined the Northern Pacific Railway in field construction in 1923. Over the next nine years he served as a track laborer, draftsman, roadmaster, and finally assistant to the vice-president.

In 1934 he joined the Reconstruction Finance Corporation as a consultant.

He joined the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad as an assistant engineer in 1935, helping reconstruct Midwestern lines hit by heavy flooding.

In 1936 he joined the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad as engineer in charge of maintenance-of-way work; in 1941 he was promoted to become chief engineer of the Rio Grande. From 1947 to 1952 Perlman was general manager of the Rio Grande, and from 1952 to 1954, executive vice-president.

In 1954 Perlman was appointed president of the New York Central Railroad in the wake of the suicide of Robert R. Young. For the next fourteen years Perlman worked to strengthen and improve the Central in the face of ever increasing automobile, truck, and airline competition.

Within six years Perlman succeeded in reducing the Central's long-term debt by nearly $100 million; reduced its passenger service deficit from $42 to $24.8 million; and by 1959 had increased earnings to $1.29 per share, double that of 1958. Included in Perlman's efforts was the famous Jet Train of 1966, when a Budd Rail Diesel Car numbered M-497 was mated to a General Electric jet engine. Running in Ohio, it set a speed record of 183.85 miles per hour.

Perlman pushed for modernization of the Central's physical plant, which included paring down main line routes to single track with centralized traffic control, and the construction of modern freight facilities. On of the largest projects was at Selkirk Yard outside of Albany, New York. Billed as a twenty million dollar project circa 1966, the yard was rebuilt and automated, increasing capacity to handle 8,329 cars a day from 2,300. When the project was completed in 1968, the New York Central had spent $29 million, including $4 million for a diesel locomotive service facility. When opened, the rebuilt terminal was named for Alfred E. Perlman Yard.

Beginning February 1, 1968, Perlman was president, director, and chief administrative office of the Penn Central Transportation, the ill-fated merger of the New York Central with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Penn Central operated a system with 40,000 miles of track in fourteen states and two Canadian provinces. It had total assets of $6.3 billion and annual revenues of nearly $2 billion. Yet, within two years of merger, competition and a bungled integration of the merged companies resulted in the largest corporate bankruptcy in American history to that time.

Perlman, along with Stuart T. Saunders (1909-1987) and David C. Bevan, both from the Pennsylvania Railroad, were dismissed from the Penn Central on June 8, 1970. Saunders, an attorney, returned to private practice, having held onto his stock and suffered a personal loss of $700,000 (in 1970 dollars). Bevan was tried and acquitted for embezzling $4 million in Penn Central funds.

In the wake of the Penn Central debacle, however, Perlman was hired to revitalize the Western Pacific Railroad. He served as the western road's president from December 1, 1970 to January 1, 1973, and chairman from 1970 to 1976. He retired June 24, 1976, and that year the Western Pacific was sold to a private investment group led by Perlman protege Robert Flannery. The Western Pacific was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad in 1982.

Perlman died April 30, 1983 in San Francisco, California. He is remembered as one of "Trains" magazine's ten most prominent railroad presidents of the Twentieth century.

Other

In 1949 Perlman served as a consultant to the Korean National Railways. In 1950 Perlman served as a consultant to the Israeli State Railways.Perlman was a member of the Transporation Association of America; American Museum of Immigration; Denver University; Elmira College; Bay Area Council; Newcomen Society.

References

Conrail. "Conrail's Selkirk Yard: A Visitors Guide." New York: Conrail, 1986.

Goldman, Ari L. "Stuart T. Saunders, Driving Force behind Penn Central, Dies at 77." The New York Times. February 9, 1987. Lewis, Robert G. "Who's Who in Railroading and Rail Transit." New York: Simmons-Boardman, 1977, p. 309.

"Alfred E. Perlman Dies at 80; New York Central President." The New York Times. May 2, 1983.

"Railway Age." Various issues, 1930-1980.

"Time." April 18, 1960.

Email, Anderson, Thom, Western Pacific Railroad Historical Society, May 30, 2008.