Famous railroaders Casey Jones – Illinois Central engineer whose death in a 1900 train wreck was made famous in song and legend Albert Lacombe – made a railroad through Blackfoot territory Zhan Tianyou – distinguished Chinese railroad engineer, often called the "Father of China's railroad"
Railroad tycoons and businessmen Erastus Corning – formed the nucleus of what would become the great New York Central Railroad Charles Crocker – one of the Big Four co-founders of the Central Pacific Railroad Eugene V. Debs – labor organizer, founding member of Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, and participant in the infamous Pullman Strike Daniel Drew – robber baron involved in the stock manipulation of the Erie Railroad with Fisk and Gould James Fisk – robber baron involved in the stock manipulation of the Erie Railroad with Gould and Drew Jay Gould – robber baron involved in the stock manipulation of the Erie Railroad with Fisk and Drew Edward H. Harriman – president of the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific, and directed the unification of both railroads James J. Hill – founder of the Great Northern Railway, builder of first transcontinental railroad without federal subsidies or land grants Cyrus K. Holliday – founder of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Mark Hopkins – one of the Big Four co-founders of the Central Pacific Railroad Collis P. Huntington – one of the Big Four co-founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, founder of Huntington, West Virginia while helping construct the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway George Pullman – inventor of the Pullman sleeper (a luxury sleeping car) and founder of the Pullman Company Leland Stanford – one of the Big Four co-founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, president of the Southern Pacific Railroad, governor of California, and founder of Stanford University Arthur Stilwell – founder of the Kansas City Southern Railway, as well as several cities, among them Port Arthur, Texas, which is named after Stilwell Cornelius Vanderbilt – after spending the first 70 years of his life building a successful ferry business, controlled and expanded the New York Central Railroad into an empire and ordered construction of the first Grand Central Terminal
See also List of railroad executives
Inventors and innovators
Grenville M. Dodge – chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad and helped construct the first American transcontinental railroad. Fred Harvey – revolutionized passenger train onboard services, making travel by train more comfortable. Theodore Judah – chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad and passionate supporter of the first American transcontinental railroad Otto Kuhler – industrial designer Raymond Loewy – industrial designer Anatole Mallet – inventor of the articulated locomotive, commonly called the Mallet locomotive Charles Minot – general superintendent of the Erie Railroad, first to use the telegraph to dispatch trains in 1851 William Robinson – inventor of the track circuit used in railway signaling George Stephenson – "father of British steam railways", inventor of the Rocket steam locomotive (the first "modern" locomotive), and pioneer of the 4 ft 8 ½ inch rail gauge Richard Trevithick – credited with the 1804 invention of the steam locomotive Wilhelm von Pressel – designer of the Baghdad Railway George Westinghouse – inventor of the air brake
Others Richard Beeching – household name as chairman of British Rail (1961-1964) famous for Beeching cuts Jesse James – American outlaw, portraying a Robin Hood of sorts, standing up against railroad corporations in defense of the small farmers Francis Bourgeois - A British Trainspotter