Derailed by Bankruptcy Life after the Reading Railroad [Hardcover]

What happened when the US government stopped investing in railroads and started investing in highways and air travel? By the late 1970s, six major eastern railroads had declared bankruptcy. Although he didnt like trains, Howard H. Lewis became the primary lawyer for the Reading Railroad during its legendary bankruptcy case. Here, Lewis provides a frank account of the high-intensity litigation and courtroom battles over the US governments proposal to form Conrail out of the six bankrupt railroads, which meant taking the Reading's property, leaving the railroad to prove its worth. After five grueling years, the case was ultimately settled for $186 millionthree times the original offer from the US governmentand Lewis became known as a champion defender of both the railroad industry and its assets.

Foreword by John C. Spychalski
List of Abbreviations
List of Important Names
Introduction
1. The Age of Innocence
2. The Gathering Storm
3. A Time of Waiting
4. The Beginning
5. The Plot Thickens
6. Fear and Exhaustion
7. Detailed Case Preparation
8. The Times That Try Mens Souls
9. The Rail Use Case: Ours and the Governments
10. The Governments Case
11. End Game
Epilogue
Notes

Lewis has done the impossiblewritten an engaging and very human story about a railroad bankruptcy. I was deeply involved in the great railroad crisis of the early 1970s while at the FRA and USRA but still learned a lot from Derailed by Bankruptcy. This book is essential reading for those interested in a turbulent time when freight railroading came close to being nationalized.The fact that the book was very hard to put down once you got started with it says something about the authors ability to both enlighten his readers as well as tell a good story.Derailed by Bankruptcy?should be required reading in every law school, especially for students who aspire to become corporate attorneys. Howard H. Lewis provides valuable insights intolÊ