Railroaders' Nostalgia > Mad Dog Chronicle # 311 The FRA Administrator

I know that this is long overdue, and for several reasons,too

I just returned from a short trip to Washington, DC. There was a single purpoue for this quick trip..... To attend the swearing in ceremony for the newly confirmed ( by unanimous consent of the US Senate) FRA Administrator Ron L Batory.. You see, I know him personally, I was the individual who recruited RLB
to work for the SP at the time that SP decided to purchase a portion of the bankrupt Chicago Missouri and Western from the bankruptcy trustee. At that time
Ron was the CM&W General Manager. I never was sorry that I did. Ron was and is smart, a quick learner and fit in well with the SP team. He became the General Manager for all of the SPs Chicago Operations.


From the Railway Age article today

"As Administrator, Batory is responsible for managing the agency’s regulatory oversight of more than 800 railroads, including enforcement of safety laws and regulations. “He will provide leadership and direction for FRA-administered financial assistance programs and national freight and passenger rail policy, as well as research and development activities that support improved railroad safety, efficiency and reliability,” FRA said.

After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from Adrian College in Michigan, Ron Batory began his railroad career in 1971 working for the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad. He received a Master of Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University in 1975, and then served in positions of progressively greater responsibility with the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, the Chicago, Missouri & Western Railway, and Southern Pacific Transportation Company. In 1994, Batory became President of The Belt Railway Company of Chicago, the largest intermediate switching terminal in the U.S. In 1998, he was recruited by CSX and Norfolk Southern to manage the partitioning of Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) as part of a merger approved by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. He was President and Chief Operating Officer of Conrail Shared Assets from 2004 until his retirement in April 2017."

Ron is the Fourteenth person to hold this position. In my humble opinion, he is the right man for the job at a critical time for the FRA.

(( I know this could go on some of the other forums, however since I am using the mad dog chronicle format this belongs here. I have a lot more to say about my history with Mr Batory, and about the FRA in the near future. However, I wanted to get this part out quickly. Bare with me.))

Go get em tiger!


mdo. 3/1/18



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/18 06:08 by mdo.

Great to hear you endorse the new FRA leader. Hopefully, he will be good for the railroad industry.

My personal experience on the SP with the FRA (lower eschelon folks) was not good, plus I had heard that some of them had been less than competent in the railroad positions they once held.

And even greater to see you back posting here!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/18 19:29 by Westbound.

Mike I agree Ron is a great choice and he will help lead and get the FRA back on course as he understands the business and for us shortlines or class II
rails he really understands . Glad Schumer gave in from his silly stand on the gateway tunnel while all the while criticizing the Railroads and FRA

I was the operating agreement expert (and keeper of the checkbook) who worked with Ron during the development of Southern Pacific's Chicago railroad operations. His grasp of the complexity of terminal operations in Chicago was tremendous. It took us months to put together Southern Pacific's operating grid in the greater Chicago area. After SPCSL was running well, we successfully worked on the acquisition of Southern Pacific's trackage rights over the Burlington Northern between Chicago and Kansas City. Even after Southern Pacific received rights over the former Santa Fe's trackage between Chicago and points south (at which point, Ron had left the Southern Pacific), Southern Pacific owned less than 2,000 feet of trackage in the Chicago terminal area. If any reader is interested in Southern Pacific's operational presence in Chicago, please let me have your email address via private message and I will share an article I wrote about the topic for the "SP Trainline."

I have worked with Ron from time to time subsequent to his service with Southern Pacific and his attention to detail is impressive. I have watched Ron's interaction with rank and file employees and management personal and his ability to achieve consensus has been very successful. He is the right person, at the right time, to lead the FRA. He will serve with distinction.

In a letter to all members of SMART-TD (nee UTU)National Legislative Director John Risch was high complimentery of the new FRA Administator Batory.Bill Webb

He has the Mad Dog Seal of Approval!

Thanks for keeping us up to date.

I'm highly encouraged he will make some great changes that are direly, if not desperately needed. He appears to have a great tenacity to take difficult subject matters and gather perspective from all sides before making a decision or doing a reversal. That is leadership, not the pre-existing command/control militaristic and/or secretive environment wherein it's a knee-jerk reaction, dislikes, intolerance, or jealousies. He's going to have his hands full as there's a few folks that have their own agendas and have merely put on a sheep outfit over their wolf tactics. All of this said there is tremendous talent that has been benched or hidden in the previous era. Hopefully, he'll see it and put it where it needs to be. If he can build trust, and not fear through leadership, and drain the swamp of the wolves then there is the propensity he could become the best administrator in history as well as a supreme turnaround guru. I truly wish him the very best in his endeavor and will heartily pray for his wisdom, understanding, and leadership during the challenging circumstances he'll likely face. Godspeed Mr. Batory!