While a student at Amherst College, Michael V. Smith spent his summers working as a trackman for the Delaware & Hudson Railway and the New York Central Railroad. Though Smith majored in political science, a job as an operating management trainee with Penn Central Transportation Company after graduation set him on a career path that has lasted over half a century.
At Penn Central, Smith dove into marketing, an experience that would serve him well as his railroad career progressed. After Penn Central, Smith worked as a marketing manager at the Canadian Pacific Railway in Montreal and later the Boston & Maine Railroad. At the Boston & Maine, as the vice president of marketing and sales, he was part of the team that brought the railroad out of bankruptcy.
In the early 1990s, Smith connected with fellow short line railroader and Amherst graduate George Betke about short line acquisitions. The two worked with others to take over a 118-mile line in New York’s Finger Lakes region. In 1995, after convincing Conrail to sell the line and local economic development agencies to accept a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) deal, Finger Lakes Railway (FGLK) was born.
Still, the newly formed short line was essentially, according to Smith, a “dirt railroad.” Maintenance had been deferred to such an extent that trains were limited to speeds of 10 miles per hour on the track, much of which was excepted.
With the dogged determination typical of those in the small-railroad industry, Smith and the FGLK team secured Finger Lakes’ transformation into a vital property. In the beginning the railroad was handling fewer than 5,600 carloads per year, but that total has grown to over 18,000. The number of customers has more than tripled, with the employee count likewise rising to accommodate the new business.
Part of what helps Finger Lakes continue to flourish is FGLK management’s focus on customer service and the developed and applied marketing acumen the team has developed since start-up. This success earned Finger Lakes back-to-back ASLRRA Marketing Awards (now known as the Business Development Awards) in 2011 and 2012.
Though Smith was intent on guiding Finger Lakes’ growth, he recognized the importance and value of working with organizations like ASLRRA on policies that would be beneficial to the entire short line industry. Smith was a strong proponent of the original 45G short line infrastructure tax credit and advocated persistently for passage of the first tax credit bill.
Smith has been active with ASLRRA, serving on multiple committees and the Board of Directors. According to Smith, “ASLRRA is the best organization to promote the short line and regional railroads’ economic and political interests.”
Smith has also been a member of Railroads of New York (RONY), the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP), the American Railway Engineering Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) and the Northeast Association of Rail Shippers (NEARS), as well as other rail organizations, chambers of commerce and railroad historical societies. He was named the NEARS Transportation Person of the Year in 2019.
Today, Smith is still at work, helping to guide Finger Lakes Railway and supporting efforts to strengthen the entire short line industry.
