Derailed by bankruptcy : life after the Reading Railroad / Howard H. Lewis ; foreword by John C. Spychalski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lewis, Howard H.

Series:

Railroads past and present

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reading Company.

Railroads--United States--Finance.

Railroads.

Railroads--United States--Management.

Bankruptcy--United States.

Bankruptcy.

Railroads and state--United States.

Railroads and state.

Railroads--Finance.

Railroads--Management.

United States.

Physical Description:

xvii, 136 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Bloomington ; Indianapolis : Indiana University Press, [2015]

Summary:

What happened when the US government stopped investing in railroads and started investing in highways and air travel? By the late 1970s, six major eastern railroads had declared bankruptcy. Although he didn't like trains, Howard H. Lewis became the primary lawyer for the Reading Railroad during its legendary bankruptcy case. Here, Lewis provides a frank account of the high-intensity litigation and courtroom battles over the US government's proposal to form Conrail out of the six bankrupt railroads, which meant taking the Reading's property, leaving the railroad to prove its worth. After five grueling years, the case was ultimately settled for $186 million--three times the original offer from the US government--and Lewis became known as a champion defender of both the railroad industry and its assets.

Contents:

The age of innocence

The gathering storm

A time of waiting

The beginning

The plot thickens

Fear and exhaustion

Detailed case preparation

The times that try men's souls

The rail use case: ours and the government's

The government's case

End game.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780253018663

0253018668

OCLC:

908192518