Career
He had previously served as president of the Wabash Railroad, and served as president of the North&West from October 1, 1963, until his retirement in April 1970. Commonwealth Magazine once described Pevler as "a driver who operated with doors open and coats off," citing the "sheer force of his personality" and vigor in his activities. He was an alumnus of Purdue University.
He was buried in Evergreen Burial Park, Roanoke, Virginia,
In 1927, Herman Pevler commenced work with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and he was elected Vice President of that railway in 1948.
In 1959, he was elected a director of the First National Bank at Saint Louis. Herman Pevler was the president of Wabash Railroad before he succeeded Stuart T. Saunders as President of North&West. Saunders left to head the Pennsylvania Railroad, a major North&West stockholder at that time.
Pevler oversaw consummation of a complex group of mergers begun under Saunders which brought into the North&West fold the Nickel Plate Road, the Wabash Railroad and portions of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The mergers were completed in 1964, and widely expanded the company, reaching such major points as Detroit, Chicago, and Saint Louis.
The latter two were major gateways and interchange points with western railroads.
Following the expansion, Northwest revenues quadrupled during Pevler"s administration. Coming from the Wabash, he was the first North&West president in the 20th century to have not come up through the lower ranks of the North&West, and his leadership was met with some resistance by some North&West staff Among his legacies was a change in North&West livery on locomotives to a blue very similar to that employed by the Wabash, which became known within the company as "Pevler blue." As his mandatory retirement age approached, it became known that Pevler intended to recommend to the Board of Directors a top official of another railroad as his replacement.
However, quick maneuvering by North&West insiders and lobbying of key directors resulted in the selection of John P. Fishwick, a longtime North&West staff attorney who Pevler had assigned to Cleveland to oversee a subsidiary operation.
In 1959, Pevler wrote a 12-page pamphlet on Featherbedding titled The Changing Railroad Picture. Pevler supported the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Acting of 1966.
