William Barstow Strong
William Barstow Strong ( born May 16, 1837 in Brownington (Vermont ); † August 3, 1914 in Los Angeles, California ) was an American railroad operator. He was 1881-1889 president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. He is often referred to as William B. Strong or WB Strong.
Life and career
He was born in Brownington (Vermont ) on 16 May 1837. Strong finished his education at the College in Chicago, Illinois in 1855 and began a rail gauge. He began as a train station supervisor in the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, this place had gotten him his older brother James.
He worked successively at the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, McGregor Western Railway, Chicago and North Western Railway, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB & Q) in the 1870s up to the operating supervisor at the Michigan Central Railroad. In this position, Strong was replaced in 1876 by Henry Brock Holst Ledyard. After an intermediate task in the Michigan Central, he went back to CB & Q, moved into a management position at the Santa Fe as General Manager and was after a month of Vice President.
On 12 July 1881 he was followed by T. Jefferson Coolidge as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ( ATSF ). Under him, the operating power of the ATSF grew up about 7000 miles at ( 11,265 km ), making the ATSF that time was the largest railroad in the U.S.. He remained its president until his retirement in 1889.
The City of Barstow (San Bernardino County, California), in which the ATSF their repair shop and large maintenance equipment operates, and Strong City (Kansas) were named in his honor.
Other bearers of the name of William Barstow Strong
William Barstow Strong was the name of Streckenbeobactungswagens the ATSF in the late 20th century.
William B. Strong was one of the names on board NASA's Stardust spacecraft (s), the comet Wild 2 visited (s) 2004.