ASLRRA names 2023 'Hall of Fame' inductees

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association yesterday announced four new inductees into the Short Line Railroad Industry Hall of Fame.

Inductees Pete Claussen, Bruce Flohr, Edward Lewis and Richard Robey officially will enter the Hall of Fame during the 2023 ASLRRA Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans April 3, ASLRRA officials said in a press release.

Lewis, who died in 2015, will be honored posthumously. 

The Hall of Fame recognizes short-line railroad "visionaries" who — through their dedication, commitment and achievement — best exemplify the qualities of innovation, entrepreneurialism, perseverance and service that have advanced the short line industry, ASLRRA officials said. The 2023 class is the third to be inducted.

Claussen is the founder of Gulf & Ohio Railways Inc., which operates four short lines in Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. The company also owns Knoxville Locomotive Works, a locomotive remanufacturing company that develops low-emission locomotive engines. Claussen began as a lawyer and worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Knoxville International Energy Expo before becoming president of the South Central Tennessee Railway in 1983. Throughout his career, Claussen has purchased more than 18 railroads, the first being the Mississippi Delta Railroad in 1985. He also has chaired ASLRRA’s legislative policy committee and served on the association’s board and executive committee.

Flohr is the founder of RailTex Inc., a rail leasing company that rented out open-top hopper cars to quarry operators and operates short lines. The company was sold to RailAmerica in 2000 with its assets valued at $368 million. By that time, RailTex had acquired 34 separate rail lines and operated them as 23 short lines. Flohr started in rail as a brakeman and management trainee with the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1965, eventually becoming division superintendent of the company’s San Antonio division in 1971. Flohr also served as acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration in 1977. He served on the Association of American Railroads’ executive committee for six years and as chair of the Regional Railroads of America before it merged into ASLRRA.

Lewis was hired as president of the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad in North Carolina in 1987, the first company outsider to get the job. He stayed in that role until 2007. He began his railroading career at the Long Island Rail Road as a clerk in 1963 and later served at multiple short lines, including as assistant to the president and general manager of the Arcade and Attica Railroad; auditor of freight revenue at the Providence and Worcester Railroad; vice president of the Strasburg Rail Road; and secretary-treasurer and general manager of the Lamoille Valley Railroad Co. Nicknamed “Mr. Short Line,” Lewis wrote several books about railroads, including the American Shortline Railway Guide published in 1975. He died Nov. 11, 2015, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Robey is the founder of the North Shore and Nittany and Bald Eagle railroads in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, which he saved from abandonment when Conrail sought to divest some of its smaller lines in the early 1980s. Robey helmed a public-private partnership with the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority, an eight-county municipal authority formed to preserve Pennsylvanian rail lines. Robey retired from the railroad in 2010 after selling it to the North Shore Railroad management team.

Before founding the railroads, Robey joined the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in 1964, advancing into its railroad management training program two years later. Robey later managed sales for the Illinois Central Railroad and bought the Octoraro Railway with three business partners. He also worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad, assisting in setting up its marketing department in San Francisco. Robey later joined US Rail, a rail-car leasing company, and afterward joined the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. He served two terms on the ASLRRA’s board and helped found the Keystone State Railroad Association.