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27-441: The company serves all six Class I railroads, many regional and short line railroads as well as various rail-served industries. These operations encompass an array of services, including: railroad construction, short line railroad operations, industrial switching services, emergency response, track material logistics, distribution centers, signal design and construction, and an excursion dinner train. R. J. Corman Railroad Construction

54-468: A 25% partner in a business hauling cattle, goods, and junk. According to a 2011 profile in Fortune , "high school utterly bored him"; he missed 105 of 173 possible school days during his senior year but still graduated in 1973. In 1973, immediately after graduating from high school, he started performing railroad construction jobs for L&N Railroad with a single backhoe and dump truck. He quickly developed

81-590: A Lexington gastroenterologist whom he had previously dated, and the two then set on a journey that eventually led to the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute in Boston . When they arrived at Dana–Farber, the institute's lead myeloma researcher told him, "If you come here, we will do everything possible to see that you grow old gracefully and die of something other than multiple myeloma." For the rest of his life, Corman contributed heavily to Dana–Farber, and also set up

108-399: A car that had been part of the funeral procession for Dwight Eisenhower in 1969. Rick went on to establish six more companies and acquire eight more short lines with over 600 miles of track before his passing in 2013. Although Corman technically retired in 1997, he remained intimately involved in his company's day-to-day affairs for the rest of his life. He spent his final years planning for

135-765: A daughter and a son, bear his name, but were born to a woman he never married. The three youngest, a son and two daughters, are from his third marriage. He spent the last 11 years of his life in a relationship with Tammie Taylor, an executive in his company. He was also a significant University of Kentucky sports booster. In his final years, Corman became a close friend of UK men's basketball head coach John Calipari , who came to call him "a brother". Corman first met Calipari in 2009, when he sent one of his private jets to take Calipari and his wife from Memphis to Calipari's introductory press conference in Lexington . Shortly after Corman's death, Calipari recalled that they spent almost

162-481: A loss, and airlines , which often used airports and dispatchers (in this case air traffic control by the FAA ) funded by public money. Not restricted by the requirement to break even, automobile use rose as infrastructure was constructed by the state, leading to the end of passenger train service on most railroads. Trucking businesses had become major competitors by the 1930s with the advent of improved paved roads. After

189-647: A particular shipper, and to the carrier serving a particular shipper. The judgments supported a second round of legislation. The major regulatory changes of the Staggers Act were as follows: The Act also had provisions allowing the Commission to require access by one railroad to another railroad's facilities if one railroad had effective "bottleneck" control of traffic. The provisions dealt with "reciprocal switching" (handling of railroad cars between long-haul rail carriers and local customers) and trackage rights . However,

216-459: A personal jet to deliver Mark Stoops to Lexington for his 2012 introduction as UK's new football head coach. As a tribute to Corman, Calipari announced that he would wear red for at least one home game in the 2013–14 season . Corman was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2001, after feeling excruciating back pain while running in Amsterdam . He entrusted much of his care to Kathleen Martin,

243-510: A reputation for his fast and thorough work. Within a few years, another opportunity came when friends in the rail industry asked his company to step in and take over derailment work after a Columbus, Ohio , company that had done this work left the city. Throughout the next few years, Rick established a railroad construction company and then a derailment company under the banner of R. J. Corman. When larger railroads began contracting out their derailment and construction work in order to cut costs, Rick

270-524: A ten-year period, the railroads reversed their historic loss of traffic (as measured by ton-miles) to the trucking industry, and railroad industry profits began to recover, after decades of low profits and widespread railroad insolvencies. In 2007 the Government Accountability Office reported to Congress , "The railroad industry is increasingly healthy and rail rates have generally declined since 1985, despite recent rate increases.... There

297-459: A trust to run his company following his death that reportedly had the institute as a beneficiary. He had two bone marrow transplants as part of his treatment, the first in 2001 and the second in 2008. The cancer returned again in 2011; after a final turn for the worse in 2013, Corman died on August 23 at his home in Nicholasville. Staggers Rail Act The Staggers Rail Act of 1980

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324-651: A two-year period, as the cumulative result of efforts to reform transport regulation begun in 1971, during the Nixon administration . The other two laws were the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 and the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 . This legislation in effect superseded almost a century of detailed regulation begun with the establishment of the ICC in 1887. The Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 abolished

351-656: Is a United States federal law that deregulated the American railroad industry to a significant extent, and it replaced the regulatory structure that had existed since the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 . In the aftermath of the Great Depression and World War II , many privately owned, operated, and funded for-profit railroads were driven out of business by competition from publicly owned, operated, and funded Interstate highways , which almost always operated at

378-503: Is widespread consensus that the freight rail industry has benefited from the Staggers Rail Act." The Association of American Railroads , the principal railroad industry trade association, stated that the Staggers Act has led to a 51 percent reduction in average shipping rates, and $ 480 billion has been reinvested by the industry into their rail systems. The Staggers Act was one of three major deregulation laws passed by Congress in

405-488: The company's future after his death. While he received many purchase offers, he refused them all out of loyalty to his employees. His company continues to provide a variety of services for the railroads. In 2011, BNSF Railway CEO Matt Rose said about Corman, "He's kind of like an oilfield firefighter. He's the Red Adair of the railroad industry." Corman was married three times in all, and had five children. His two oldest,

432-472: The entire flight "talking about anything other than basketball" once Corman made it clear he knew virtually nothing about the sport. Corman occasionally attended UK practices; Calipari noted that Corman was the only person he ever allowed into a UK practice wearing a red shirt, the color of UK's archrival , the University of Louisville . Corman's support was not limited to the men's basketball team; he also used

459-407: The following subsidiaries: R. J. Corman offers services such as: railroad construction, short line railroad operations, industrial switching services, emergency response, track material logistics, distribution centers, signal design and construction, and an excursion dinner train, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train . Richard J. Corman Richard Jay Corman (July 22, 1955 – August 23, 2013)

486-532: The new northeastern railroad system. The 4R reforms included allowance of a greater range for railroad pricing without close regulatory restraint, greater independence from collective rate making procedures in rail pricing and service offers, contract rates, and, to a lesser extent, greater freedom for entry into and exit from rail markets. Although the 4R Act established the guidelines, the ICC at first, did not give much effect to its legislative mandates. As regulatory change began to appear from 1976 to 1979, including

513-417: The phasing in of the loss of collective ratemaking authority, most major railroads shifted away from their effort to maintain the historic regulatory system and came to support greater freedom for rail pricing, for higher and lower rail rates. Major railroad shippers also continued to believe that they would be better served by more flexibility to arrive at tailored arrangements that were mutually beneficial to

540-570: The provisions did not have as much effect as the others mentioned. The act was named for Harley Staggers (D-WV), who chaired the House Committee on Energy and Commerce . Studies of the rail industry showed dramatic benefits for both railroads and their users from the alteration to the regulatory system. According to studies by the Department of Transportation's Freight Management and Operations, railroad industry costs and prices were halved over

567-650: The purchase of the Bardstown Line and the Memphis Line. The company continued to acquire and rehabilitate many lines throughout the 1990s. They've reopened many railbanked lines, and, in 2008, began work to reopen a fully-abandoned non-railbanked corridor in Pennsylvania to serve a new industrial park, landfill and quarry. The Bardstown Line became home to My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, which made its inaugural run in 1989. In 1990, R. J. Corman's first Distribution Center

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594-618: The war, they expanded their operations as the highway network grew and acquired increased market share of the cargo business. Railroads continued to be regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and a complex system for setting shipping rates. The Staggers Act followed the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (often called the "4R Act"), which reduced federal regulation of railroads and authorized implementation details for Conrail ,

621-476: Was able to provide them with the high-quality service that they were looking for. Though the early years of the business were financially difficult, Corman worked diligently to gain support for his companies. After Congress passed the Staggers Rail Act in 1980, Rick started a railroad company after he purchased the Bardstown Line. A year later, he began operating My Old Kentucky Dinner Train on that line using

648-649: Was founded in 1973, by Richard J. Corman . In 1983, R. J. Corman Derailment Services was founded and opened its first division in Columbus, Ohio . From 1997 to 2000, eight more Derailment Services divisions were opened across the Northeast and Midwest U.S. The company's original headquarters, Jay Station, was completed and opened in Nicholasville, Kentucky . The property was dedicated to Rick's father, Jay Corman. R. J. Corman began operating short line railroads in 1987, with

675-479: Was launched. R. J. Corman Railroad Group announced on June 18, 2009, that it had acquired the assets of Railpower Technologies Corp and its U.S. subsidiary, Railpower Hybrid Technologies. Fortune Magazine released a feature story on Rick Corman, an American classic self-made success. On April 1, 2013, R. J. Corman Signaling was formed and began operations. Rick Corman died on August 23, 2013, after an 11-year battle with multiple myeloma . R. J. Corman operates

702-475: Was opened in South Union, Kentucky . R. J. Corman Material Sales began in 1994, after the company agreed to begin serving as Conrail's full-service track and rail material distributor. In 2001, R. J. Corman launched its Railroad Switching company. From 2003 to 2004, R. J. Corman's runway, Lucas Field, was constructed in Nicholasville, Kentucky . With that project's completion, R. J. Corman Aircraft Maintenance

729-404: Was the founder and owner of R. J. Corman Railroad Group , a Nicholasville, Kentucky -based railroad services and short line operating company . Corman was born and died in Nicholasville, Kentucky . The son of a state highway worker, he grew up in a home not far from his company's future headquarters in Nicholasville. He first went into business at age 11, when his paternal grandfather made him

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