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Claude Brinegar, a former U.S. transportation secretary during the Nixon Administration who led an overhaul of railroads in the Northeast, died March 13. He was 82.

Former President Richard Nixon nominated Brinegar to become the third U.S. transportation secretary in 1972. At the time, he was a senior vice president for Union Oil Co.

During his tenure at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Brinegar led efforts to revive bankrupt railroads in the Northeast that ultimately resulted in the formation of Conrail. He helped forge legislation aimed at restructuring the Penn Central, which declared bankruptcy in 1970.

Brinegar served as Conrail’s founding director from 1974 to 1975 and later joined the railroad’s board again in 1990 for an eight-year stint. He also served on the board of CSX Corp., which acquired part of Conrail in 1999, until 2002.

Brinegar continued to serve as U.S. transportation secretary for six months after Nixon's resignation in 1974. He then returned to Union Oil, later renamed Unocal Corp., where he retired as executive vice president and chief financial officer in 1992. He continued to serve as vice chairman until 1995.

Brinegar is survived by his wife, Karen, two daughters, a son and four grandchildren.