08-23-2013, 06:16 PM
I first met Mr. Corman in 1982, when he was contracted to rebuild the trestle that collapsed under our train on the F&C. He had already established himself in the railroad construction field and was a very down to earth fellow at that time. Watching them rebuild the trestle, he stood and talked to me for a very long time about railroading and how he hoped to one day expand his company into railroad operations - which he did.
This link to the Corman website about Mr. Corman's passing http://www.rjcorman.com/pressreleases/Vi...elease.pdf rather sums the man up, especially the statement "demanding boss". He did indeed become very demanding as his company grew and to say he changed would be an understatement. No doubt a necessity to make his operation successful and keep it running. He was very highly respected in this area and did a lot for his home town of Nicholasville and supported many hospitals and charities; donating large sums of money to help them out.
Many people will have different feelings about the late Mr. Corman, but you have to admire how the man came from virtually nothing to build a diversified railroad mini-empire and manage to operate very marginal lines that no one else wanted. Even to the point of creating his own business for lines that had little or no rail traffic on them.
It will be interesting to see what happens to the R J Corman Railroad Group within the next year or so. I have a feeling that it will be split into different companies and many of the marginal rail lines sold off to other companies that might be interested in them. I doubt that either his son or daughter have the drive or will to try and hold all this together. But only time will tell.
Rest in peace Mr. Corman.
This link to the Corman website about Mr. Corman's passing http://www.rjcorman.com/pressreleases/Vi...elease.pdf rather sums the man up, especially the statement "demanding boss". He did indeed become very demanding as his company grew and to say he changed would be an understatement. No doubt a necessity to make his operation successful and keep it running. He was very highly respected in this area and did a lot for his home town of Nicholasville and supported many hospitals and charities; donating large sums of money to help them out.
Many people will have different feelings about the late Mr. Corman, but you have to admire how the man came from virtually nothing to build a diversified railroad mini-empire and manage to operate very marginal lines that no one else wanted. Even to the point of creating his own business for lines that had little or no rail traffic on them.
It will be interesting to see what happens to the R J Corman Railroad Group within the next year or so. I have a feeling that it will be split into different companies and many of the marginal rail lines sold off to other companies that might be interested in them. I doubt that either his son or daughter have the drive or will to try and hold all this together. But only time will tell.
Rest in peace Mr. Corman.
Ed
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"