In memoriam: Short-line safety guru and industry contributor 'Jake' Jacobson

By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor

The short-line industry recently lost a major driver of safety performance and recognition, as well as a rugged and larger-than-life individualist who became an industry legend. Lowell "Jake" Jacobson — the former longtime leader of the Copper Basin Railway — died July 24 from heart failure. He was 80.

Jacobson became the chief operating officer of the Copper Basin in 1986 when the short line was sold to Rail Management Corp. He served as president and COO for more than 30 years, retiring in February 2020. The short line — which was sold to copper company ASARCO in 2006 — operates a 54-mile line and seven-mile branch line in Arizona and interchanges with Union Pacific Railroad.

Prior to joining the Copper Basin, Jacobson served UP for 29 years in various capacities. After taking the reins at the Hayden, Arizona-based short line, he was the driving force in turning the railroad into one of the most efficient and safest U.S. short lines. In 1993, Jacobson led an effort to preserve and repair the Copper Basin’s track after the Gila River flooded.

His commitment to improving the short line’s safety helped the Copper Basin achieve a perfect safety record in 1993. But Jacobson found it disappointing there wasn’t a program at the time that recognized short lines’ safety achievements.

So he created his own. Jacobson each year announced and honored the short lines that achieved solid safety performance. He even fashioned a special lapel pin he would give to the winning short lines as an award.

In 1999, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) took over the annual safety recognition program and named it the Jake Awards after Jacobson. This year, the association chose 346 Jake Award recipients for above-industry average safety performance in 2020 and 316 Jake With Distinction Award winners for injury-free performance last year. Since its official inception in 1995, the Jake Award program has distributed more than 6,200 Jake and Jake with Distinction Awards to small railroads.

Jacobson was a legend in the railroad industry and the association’s history is deeply entwined with his, said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker in an email.

"Garnering a Jake Award is a highly valued win for our members, recognizing their railroad’s above-industry safety performance, and reflective of the passion that Jake had for safety, and his impact on our industry," Baker said.

The original model for the Marlboro Man — an iconic figure used to advertise Marlboro cigarettes beginning in the 1950s — Jacobson was named a "Great Railroader of the Century" in December 1999. In the early 2000s, he overcame prostate cancer and four major surgeries, including a radical prostatectomy.

Jacobson is survived by his wife Patricia, a son and daughter, and several grandchildren.