Re: PC: Another Penn Central Book.

["Gary Farmer" <gary@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Michael wrote,

>The one thing I walked away with from those books was a desire to slap
Saunders, punch
>Perlman, and lay a beating on Bevan

Why? Could other mananagent have done better? PC top management changed
hands 3-4 times in 8 years (Gorman, Moore, trustees) & no one could solve
the crisis. I have taken from the PC merger that the situation was not
solvable by management. In fact, I think Conrail was still in the red until
the Staggers act came along.
If the Government forces you to provide services that cost you more to
provide (unprofitable lines, passenger service, etc...) than another branch
of Government (the ICC) is willing to let you charge for those services, how
can ANY business, regardless of the compentency of their managers, make
money?
I disagree with Saunders, Perlman & Bevan being the cause of the problem. In
my opinion, they are easy scapegoats. I put PC's failure was squarely on the
shoulders of the goverment and the punitive rail policies of the era (not
solely, but it was the biggest factor).

Gary Farmer

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Worrell" <worrelmr -AT- dramatools.net>
To: <penn-central -AT- smellycat.com>