| William Barstow Strong | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 16, 1837 Brownington, Vermont |
| Died | August 3, 1914 (aged 77) Los Angeles, California |
William Barstow Strong (May 16, 1837 – August 3, 1914) served as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from 1881 to 1889.[1][2][3] He is often referred to as either William B. Strong or W. B. Strong.
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He was born in Brownington, Vermont on May 16, 1837.[2][4] Strong graduated from Bell's Business College in Chicago, Illinois, in 1855, and soon launched his career in railroading. His first railroad job was as a station agent for the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad,[5] a position that was introduced to him by his older brother James.
He married Abbie J. Moore, October 2, 1859, in Beloit, Wisconsin. They had three children, a girl and two boys.[6]
He worked his way through several railroad jobs successively for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, McGregor Western Railway, Chicago and North Western Railway, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), and as superintendent of the Michigan Central Railroad in the 1870s. In this position, Strong was succeeded by Henry Brockholst Ledyard in 1876.[7] He returned to the CB&Q after working on the Michigan Central and then joined the management team of the Santa Fe as General Manager, and was promoted to Vice President within a month.[2]
On July 12, 1881, he succeeded T. Jefferson Coolidge as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF).[2] Under his tenure, the ATSF expanded to about 7,000 miles (11,265 km) of right-of-way, which at the time made the ATSF the largest railroad in North America.[5] He held the presidency until his retirement in 1889.[2]
The city of Barstow, California, where the ATSF maintained extensive shop and equipment construction and repair facilities, and the town of Strong City, Kansas, are both named in his honor.[8][9]
William Barstow Strong was the name of an observation car owned by the ATSF and operated in business trains in the latter part of the 20th century.[10]
William B. Strong was included in a list of names that traveled aboard NASA's Stardust spacecraft which visited the comet Wild 2 in 2004.[11]
| Preceded by |
Superintendent of the Michigan Central Railroad –1876 |
Succeeded by Henry Brockholst Ledyard |
| Preceded by T. Jefferson Coolidge |
President of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 1881–1889 |
Succeeded by Allen Manvel |