Steam & Excursion > Strasburg's New Leader

The Lancaster newspaper (online version) has a good article about the newly appointed leader to replace the late Craig Lefever who passed away of cancer.  The new guy, Tony Gebbia brings a non-railroader background (sortof) to the table as well as Disney experience, which he hopes to draw from.  It's a subscription site, and I'm not sure I can copy and paste the article due to TO rules, but the article discusses Tony's early work experience as a Disney monorail engineer (driver?) and the customer focus that Disney is acclaimed for.  He does recognize that "nothing is broken at Strasburg, so it doesn't need fixing" but hopes to enhance the customer experience will still striving towards a strong employee work experience.  He mentions that he's not a railroader, but a railfan.

I am cautiously optimistic about this appointment.  I love the SRR and the great family experience it offers.  I do wonder if this could impact the freight growth as it is outside of the passenger customer "experience."  I don't know what to think about the fact that he is not a traditional "railroader" and identifies as a railfan.....my understanding is the Class 1s are not fans of hiring railfans, but I don't know if SRR is that particular.  I'm sure Strasburg will continue to thrive and I look forward to many more visits!

-Sean 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/19 21:24 by bigmc83.

Well since it is primarily a tourist line, as a railfan if he wants to keep the attraction he will try to find ways to improve on an already great business.  I'd think better than a career rail executive who frowns on railfans since they are what have kept that line going for many years, trying to focus on freight or contracted work on steam equipment would hurt the SRR.

Cole42 Wrote:
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> Well since it is primarily a tourist line, as a
> railfan if he wants to keep the attraction he will
> try to find ways to improve on an already great
> business.  I'd think better than a career rail
> executive who frowns on railfans since they are
> what have kept that line going for many years,

Sorry but it hasn't been "railfans" that have kept The Strasburg Rail Road going for many years, but the general public that spend money there.

> trying to focus on freight

Well, the freight business has been VERY successful and profitable for the SRR, and seems to increase every year.

or contracted work on
> steam equipment would hurt the SRR.

Well, I disagree, again, as all that contracted work for steam and machining projects helped pay for a BIG extension on their shop.

The Strasburg hauls freight??!  Wow--I never knew.  What kind of freight is it hauling?  Are they seeking new businesses to locate along their line??

coach Wrote:
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> The Strasburg hauls freight??!  Wow--I never
> knew.  What kind of freight is it hauling?  Are
> they seeking new businesses to locate along their
> line??

They have lots of grain loads in for cattle in the area, phosphorus for fertilizer, lumber in, furniture out, an occasional tank car for a local rendering plant to send out waste. If you want to watch the freight action every day, go to Vitrual Railfan on YT and look at the Strasburg railcam during the day. They interface on the Paridise railcam with NS. NS delivers to their siding everyday at about 3-4am, befor the Amtrak rush on the HSR Harrisberg line