Penn Central Transportation Company. Passenger Operations Dept.

At the time of the Penn Central merger, total responsibility for passenger service was lodged in the Operating Department, instead of being divided between the Operating Department and the Passenger Sales Department. James M. Leconto became Assistant Vice President - Passenger Service, reporting the the Vice President - Transportation. On May 1, 1969, Howard C. Kohout was appointed over Leconto as Vice President - Passenger Operations, and the Transportation Department became freight-only. The Passenger Operations Department had full responsibility for passenger operations, including the federally-subsidized high-speed "Metroliners," that began running between New York and Washington on January 16, 1969, and the New York-Boston "TurboTrain" that followed on April 8, 1969.

In a major restructuring on March 1, 1970, A. Paul Funkhouser, formerly Vice President - Coal & Ore Traffic, was named Senior Vice President - Passenger Service. His staff included Kohout as Vice President - Passenger Service, and William H. Tucker as Vice President - New England. On May 1, 1970, Kohout's title was changed to Vice President - Passenger Operation, and Frank S. King was named to the new staff position of General Manager - Philadelphia Commuter Area to deal with increasing complaints from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA).

After the Penn Central bankruptcy in June 1970, William H. Moore of the Southern Railway Company became President of the company. One of his first moves, on October 1, 1970, was to prune the company's top-heavy management, eliminating all Executive Vice Presidents and Senior Vice Presidents and demoting many Vice Presidents to Assistant Vice Presidents or General Managers. Funkhouser became Vice President - Public Affairs, Kohout became Assistant Vice President - Operating Administration, and R. D. Timpany became Assistant Vice President - Passenger Operation. Timpany left Penn Central to become Trustee of the bankrupt Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, and Albert M. Schofield replaced him as Assistant Vice President - Passenger Operation on February 1, 1971. On March 18, Schofield became Vice President - Reorganizational Planning on the staff of the Trustees, and Frank S. King became the department head as General Manager - Passenger Operations.

On April 1, 1972, Jay McD. Gilmore became General Manager - Passenger Operations, replacing Frank S. King, who resigned to become Vice President - Operations of Amtrak. Edward P. Frasher, who had been Assistant Vice President - Operations - West, became department head as Assistant Vice President - Passenger on February 1, 1974. Gilmore later became General Manager - Northeast Corridor Region. Frasher served until the April 1, 1976, creation of Conrail, when he became the new company's Assistant Vice President - Strategic Planning. His subordinate, Clifford B. Alban, Penn Central's last General Manager - Passenger Operation, became the first General Manager - Passenger Transportation under Conrail.

In spite of the many changes of organization, the functions and activities remained remarkably stable during the entire Penn Central regime. The Passenger Operations Department was responsible for everything having to do with the running of passenger trains, including relations with Amtrak and the state commuter agencies, the experimental high-speed demonstration projects in the Northeast Corridor, the abandonment of marginal services, and the maintenance and modification of passenger stations.

From the description of Penn Central Transportation Company Passenger Operations Dept. Records, 1968-1977 (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 123466709