Sublime

No detail was too small for Harrison. Even the company ball cap got a makeover. Instead of black with white letters, it shifted to company colors, blue and gold.

Nobody can bullshit him,” said Hargrove in 2017. “Not the management, not the union, not the workers.” Harrison knew their jobs. That gave him credibility in the field, but it also created angst among employees.

Best-practice steam engine technology could have saved the equivalent of a quarter of labor costs at most plants. Inefficient furnaces were oxidizing away huge amounts of metal. The Germans were pulling ahead in the use of overhead belt conveyors. It was absurdly wasteful to support 119 rail-shape standards. Better management of furnace linings, mo

Harrison, though, knew human nature and was toughest to work for when the railroad ran well. The boss worried that his people would get complacent. “When things were bad, it’s when he was most supportive,” Creel said.

“I mean this guy’s a general. He’s like Patton,” Ackman said. “And running a railroad is like running an army, right?” Harrison had made the same reference about Bill Thompson, his mentor.

Hill alienated colleagues as often as he inspired them. Arrogant, self-righteous, sometimes too ambitious, and frequently a blatant bully, Hill lashed out at managers and workers alike who failed to meet his taxing demands of production and loyalty.

Hill genuinely cared about quality rail service and about public opinion.