Steam & Excursion > Capturing a unique era

This is about Hank's recent book, The High Iron Co.

Hank has captured a unique era, established by a unique excursion operator.
Its his account from a young fan to serious mechanic and fireman.
What's unusual is that Ross's High Iron Co. successfully operated private excursions
over several railroad corporations and their tracks.

This is the background story of how carefully Ross cultivated the top decision-makers 
of these corporations, and how the members of our whole enterprise understood how
vital a safe and tightly-run each experience was.  Ross always had the backing of top
railroad officers, before ever conceiving of a new trip experience.   

As a travelling Master Mechanic for movements of our locos, in preparations for our 
events, I'd often come across recalcitrant local officials, making movement decisions that
affected our scheduling..   In the days before cell phones, I'd call Ross, at all hours,
and in 20 minutes, or less.... our 'delay' became the reason for getting us out of there, quickly!  

Its a behind the scenes story of how the Premier Excursion operator built a large 
audience of faithful ticket buyers, and how our trips enhanced coprpoate relations
with the public.

in the days before the internet. our ticket sales were driven by our mailing list
( of previous ticket buyers) and long attracting, yellow, flyers at commuter stations.  
Using US Mail, our trips typically sold-out in 7-days, or less..

Ross also set the standard for well-run excursions, with the families and their
experiences,  as the Standard for customer satisfaction.  
Our most customer serious-injuries were cinders in folks's eyes.  
And, yes, Ross made sure we carried medical folks and doctors on every excursion.

So, Hank's writing brings you inside a lot of the fun and unique Main Line, high speed,
trips.   The Golden Era started in 1966 and ended about 2000.  
New managenent and new  "corporate obligations" slowly took over, so that now,
virtually no common carriers allow such excursion-like events.

Your heart will be warmed, if you were among our riders or crew members. 
And, Hank's stories make fascinating reading, from an era started almost 60 years ago.

Put on your red bandanas and eye goggles, and come along for a unique journey,
of almost 70 excursions, each one unique and now many can never be repeated. 
Hank's work has a complete list..

This book makes a most popular gift, this season.
Your gift recipients won't be able to put-it-down!.

Wes Camp



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/24 16:49 by wcamp1472.

I got my copy a week or so ago and thoroughly enjoyed reading it! I found it very informative. Over the years I've heard bits and pieces of the history  of the High Iron Co. so it was nice to be able to fill in the details of the company's history! It's a great story and I definitely recommend this book!