Western Railroad Discussion > Dick Davidson and the media

I don't mean to hijack Fred Frailey's post about John Reed and the subsequent remarks in defense of Dick Davidson, but you should know more of the story. We did a series of press train trips after the SP merger "melt-down" to show the recovery. My boss, Jim Hildreth and I initially argued against the trips, worried the company wasn't ready. Davidson overruled us, anxious to show what was going on first-hand. The trips ran about a week or so over various parts of the system. What was so great about them was that Davidson was a great host, very open and candid and enthusiastic. He didn't hide in his business car and spent every minute talking about the railroad. The after 5 p.m. get-togethers in the dome lounge were priceless when notebooks were put away. Among the cast of reporters were Frailey, Don Phillips (Washington Post), Rip Watson (Journal of Commerce) and Dan Machalaba (Wall Street Journal). It was a once in the life-time experience. Thank you Fred, Rip, Don and Dan. And you too Mr. Davidson.
JB

Yeah, probably made excuses about the meltdown just to calim that UP was still the so called greatest Railroad! I am never gonna forget that meltdown, that's what turned my attitude 180 towards UP!

He got paid real well for multiple melt-downs. The only good thing about it is I bought some more stock at $37.00 a share in 97. Wonder what the UP would paid him if he actually managed the mergers well.

By 1999 Davidson saw his railroad was running well again and wanted to dispel the image within the industry and among the public that Union Pacific couldn't shoot straight. So he opened the doors to the Running Dogs of The Press and said, Come see what we're doing, poke around, ask us anything. We were taken to Gillette Wyo, toured Black Thunder Mine and then boarded a train that took us to North Platte and the next day to Omaha. A year later Dick dared to bring us into the Heart of Darkness of Union Pacific, that is to say, Houston. And there was a third trip, from LA to Kansas City, during which time I ran the three E units practically the entire distance from Tucumcari to Dalhart, although I dare the FRA at this late date to prove it. I asked Dick afterward what he thought of my train handling, and he replied it was pretty piss poor.

I confess: I loved being the guest of UP on those trips. I met people like Woody Sutton, Bill Wimmer, Dennis Duffy and Jack Koraleski -- smart, resourceful folks who convinced me that UP's pool of talent is deep. Wined and dined? You bet! Corrupted? Oh yes, please corrupt me more! But ask Dick who is the most ungrateful son of a bitch who ever bit his hand, and it would absolutely, positively be moi. Kind of reminds me of the Bullwinkle episode in which Boris seeks to brainwash The Moose; he emerges from the brainwash room to tell Natasha: "No could brainwash. No brain."

Thanks to John Bromley for reminding me of those wonderful experiences on Union Pacific. Alas, all good things come to an end. The mini-meltdown of 2003 seemed to cause a circling of wagons at Union Pacific. The old Dick Davidson retreated and stayed on the defensive until he retired. The open door to we Running Dogs of The Press slammed shut. Very sad. I miss the old Union Pacific, and I miss the old Dick Davidson. On Trainorders he is a one-dimensional figure. The real person is far more interesting and complex.


Fred

Indecline Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He got paid real well for multiple melt-downs.
> The only good thing about it is I bought some more
> stock at $37.00 a share in 97. Wonder what the UP
> would paid him if he actually managed the mergers
> well.


I'm not in the UPRR management, however I have had some experience with project planning and management in my career. There is a vast amount of infrastructure involved in a railroad that the majority of people don't see or think about. You have to use, and trust, the information the local managers provide. If they provide faulty information, such as painting too optimistic a picture of the local conditions and it has an adverse impact on the project, the project head, in this case, Mr Davidson, will take the heat. I think there was lots of that over optimistic reporting occurring on the ex-SP about track condition, signals, dispatching, etc. After all these managers have had responsibility for their area for some time, and no one wants to stand up and say "Hey, my stuff is outdated, worn out and I can't keep it going." MDO pointed out in one of his posts about the conditions in the Texas area, and how he wasn't surprised about the meltdown after the merger, after all the SP had that occur on prior occasions. The UP has been spending the time since the merger spending vast amounts of money catching up on deferred maintenance on all aspects of the ex-SP. And it's beginning to show in the velocity and other parameters used to measure overall UPRR performance. Mr. Davidson deserves the credit for setting up the team which is pulling this off, without killing the whole railroad in the process.

Someday there will be a book written about this, and I for one, am looking forward to reading it.

Chief409