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Mike Smith
Mike Smith
“One of the great things about shortlines,” according to Mike Smith, “is you get people who are enthusiasts and think of themselves as more than employees…they’re fulfilling a dream.”
This certainly was the case with Smith. Railroading got in his blood as a child watching his grandfather who was chief train dispatcher on the New York Central’s Mohawk Division. During high school and college, Smith worked summers on track gangs for the Delaware & Hudson and the New York Central.
Smith’s first job after graduating from Amherst College was marketing metro liners with the newly formed Penn Central, first in the passenger department in Philadelphia and then at Grand Central Terminal.
“I didn’t know anything about marketing,” Smith said, “but I guess that’s not atypical in railroading. You get thrown into something you know nothing about and you’re expected to learn.”
Learn he did! The experience launched a lifelong career in the industry that included stints with Canadian Pacific, Boston & Maine, and ultimately, as President of the Finger Lakes Railway.
Watch Smith’s interview below for perspective on the unique life of a shortline railroad president and the grit and determination required to manage ‘the first and last mile.’
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