Mike Flannery (Robert Gene Flannery)

Background

Flannery was born on September 14, 1924, in Washington, Indiana, to Allen H. Flannery and Nellie Jane White Flannery. He graduated from Washington High School in 1942, in a southwestern Indiana community whose civic and commercial life was closely connected with regional transportation and agriculture.

During the Second World War, he served in the United States Navy as a radar technician from 1943 to 1945. Radar technology was an important wartime development in navigation, detection, and communications, and his naval service preceded his entry into railroad engineering after completing his university education.

Education

Flannery graduated from Washington High School in 1942 and received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Purdue University in 1948. Purdue's engineering programs were closely associated with the technical and industrial development of the Midwest, providing training for careers in transportation, construction, and manufacturing.

He later completed an advanced management course at Harvard Business School in 1965 and a systems management course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967. Harvard Business School represented the postwar expansion of formal management education, while MIT was a leading center for systems analysis and technologically oriented administration during the period when railroads were adopting increasingly complex planning and information systems.

Career

Flannery began his railroad career with New York Central in 1948, entering its engineering department and advancing through operating and management positions. He later served as trainmaster, superintendent, general manager in Syracuse, assistant vice president for transportation, and vice president for systems development. His progression reflected the increasingly technical and system-wide nature of railroad management in the postwar era.

When New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad combined to form Penn Central, Flannery continued in senior management. He served with Penn Central from 1968, holding responsibilities in systems development and operations and becoming executive vice president of the Penn Central Transportation Company in 1970. Penn Central's creation was one of the largest American railroad mergers, but the company soon faced severe financial and operational difficulties.

Flannery joined Western Pacific Railroad as executive vice president effective January 1, 1971, under president Alfred E. Perlman. He became president in 1973 and chief executive officer in 1975. Western Pacific operated a major western route linking California, Nevada, Utah, and connecting systems in the broader western railroad network; under Flannery's leadership, its management pursued improved operations, marketing, service, and financial independence.

In the late 1970s, Flannery helped lead the management group that organized Newrail to acquire Western Pacific's operating assets from Western Pacific Industries. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the transaction in January 1979, restoring the railroad's independent operating status under its existing management. He also represented Western Pacific in national transportation discussions, including service as a director of the United States Railway Association.

Following the death of Missouri Pacific president James W. Gessner, Flannery became president and chief executive officer of Missouri Pacific in 1982. The Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific, and Western Pacific combination received federal approval in December 1982, and after the 1983 consolidation he became president of the Union Pacific system. He remained in that position until retiring from Union Pacific in 1987.

Achievements

• Flannery helped organize the management-led acquisition of Western Pacific Railroad's operating assets through Newrail, a transaction approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission in January 1979 that restored the railroad's independent operating status under its existing management.

• As a senior Western Pacific executive, Flannery supported the preservation of the railroad's historic equipment and helped facilitate the donation of a Western Pacific locomotive for public display in Portola, California, contributing to the development of what became the Feather River Rail Society's railroad museum.

Politics

Flannery was identified with the Democratic Party. His professional life unfolded during a period when American railroads were adapting to postwar industrial change, increased competition from highways and airlines, federal regulation, and the financial pressures that reshaped the industry through mergers and management reorganizations.

Membership

Flannery participated in professional, civic, fraternal, and social organizations connected with transportation, national service, and community life. His directorship of the United States Railway Association placed him within a federally established effort to address the financial and operating problems of the American railroad industry during the 1970s.

He was also associated with Pi Kappa Alpha, the Freemasons, the National Defense Executive Reserve, and the Philadelphia Country Club. These organizations represented different aspects of professional association, fraternal life, national preparedness, and civic society during his career.

• Director and railroad representative.

  United States Railway Association , United States

  1977

• Pi Kappa Alpha , United States

• Freemasons , United States

• National Defense Executive Reserve , United States

• Philadelphia Country Club , United States

Connections

Flannery married Barbara Ann Angell on December 23, 1952. They had three daughters: Julia Ann, Jennifer Ann, and Amy Lynn. He died at his home in Hillsborough, California, on May 21, 2003, at the age of 78.

Father:

Allen H. Flannery

Mother:

Nellie Jane White Flannery

Daughter:

Amy Lynn Flannery

Daughter:

Julia Ann Flannery

Daughter:

Jennifer Ann Flannery

Wife:

Barbara Ann Angell

References

• Western Pacific Mileposts, December 1970 Biographical profile documenting Flannery's appointment as executive vice president of Western Pacific, his education, military service, family, memberships, and earlier railroad career.
  1970
• The Train Sheet, issue 119 Memorial account documenting Flannery's career with New York Central, Penn Central, Western Pacific, Missouri Pacific, and Union Pacific, as well as his death and railroad-preservation activities.
  2003
• Honorary Doctorates, Purdue University Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering Purdue University reference listing Robert Gene Flannery among the honorary doctorate recipients who graduated from the university's civil and construction engineering program.
• Chronology of Union Pacific Presidents Union Pacific historical reference identifying R. G. Flannery as president of Union Pacific Railroad from January 1983 through 1986.
• Nominations—Board of Directors of USRA United States congressional hearing documenting Flannery as a railroad representative and chief executive officer of Western Pacific Railroad during consideration of nominees to the United States Railway Association board.
  1977