Another Chapter

Way back in college, I interned Wabtec Railway Electronics for two summers. Once I graduated, I worked on Positive Train Control (PTC) with Wabtec for almost five years before I stepped out of the railroad world. A few years later, I had an opportunity to jump back into the railroad world and continue moving PTC forward. After nine years at Herzog Technologies, it is time for a new chapter. I'm again stepping away from railroading.

I'm thankful for the opportunity I've had to be part of helping North America's railroads meet the PTC mandate, including Herzog PTC Hosting that put compliance within reach of even small railroads. I've seen people doing amazing work to keep railroads running efficiently even with the operational wrinkles PTC brings. I've seen bits and pieces of the inventiveness and innovation that characterizes an industry not always seen that way.

I already miss working in rail, and the people I got to meet in that world: friends and acquaintances from the Class 1s and short lines, freights and commuters, ASLRRA, AREMA, ITC, competitors and collaborators, people I met at Railway Interchange, and anyone somehow not included in that list. There are more of you than I can list without feeling like I'm leaving people out. And, of course, I miss my Herzog colleagues. Not working alongside you feels strange.

Instead of railroading, I'll be working for a company called Home Instead Digital Solutions. Over the summer, an opportunity came along at DS that seemed too good to pass up. It fit nicely at the intersection of several sets of skills, asked for growth in places I've been wanting to grow, and is pushing me into new areas of technology and organizational development.

Neils Bohr and Yogi Berra are both credited as saying "it's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future." I won't try to guess whether I'll work in the rail industry again. I do hope to keep up with as many of you as possible, and would be very happy if our paths crossed again.

Railroaders, I wish you the best of luck. Be safe.