Robert R. Young
| Robert R. Young | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Robert Ralph Young February 14, 1897 Canadian Hemphill County, Texas, USA |
| Died | January 25, 1958 (aged 60) Palm Beach, Florida |
| Alma mater |
Culver Military Academy University of Virginia |
| Occupation |
Financier New York Central Railroad |
| Years active | 1916-1958 |
| Spouse(s) | Anita Ten Eyck O'Keeffe Young |
| Children | Eleanor "Cookie" Young |
| Parent(s) | David John and Mary Arabella Moody Young |
Robert Ralph Young (February 14, 1897 – January 25, 1958) was a United States financier and industrialist. He is best known for leading the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and New York Central Railroad during and after World War II. He was a brother-in-law of the famous western painter Georgia O'Keeffe.
Because of his initials, R.R. Young was often labeled "Railroad" Young; he was otherwise known as the "Populist of Wall Street," or, as his press agent encouraged journalists to call him, "The Daring Young Man of Wall Street". He regarded himself as a crusader against the mismanagement of railroads by banking interests. Young's most famous advertisement slogan was "A hog can cross the country without changing trains - but you can't."
Despite his vocal criticisms, at the railroads he led, Young inaugurated many forward-looking advances in technology that have ramifications to the present. He was one of the first railroad executives to introduce high-speed diesel powered passenger trains which utilized lightweight equipment. He was also involved with the first large-scale railroad computer system, as well as diversification of freight traffic and development and implementation larger and better freight cars of all types.
Young's grandfather was a pioneer rancher in the Texas Panhandle. Young was the youngest boy of four children (John Stinson Young b. 1890, Kenneth Moody Young b. 1893, Robert Ralph Young b. 1897 and Florence Edith Young Exum b.1904) born to David John Young and the former Mary Arabella Moody in Canadian, the seat of Hemphill County in the eastern Panhandle. He was born in a house built by Temple Lea Houston, youngest son of Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas and a later governor of Texas. Mary Moody Young's father built the Moody Hotel in Canadian, which still houses a few businesses. Mary died when Robert was only ten. David Young, a strict man and the first banker in Canadian, did not quite know how to control his precocious son, whom neighborhood boys nicknamed "Pumpkin" because of his auburn hair.
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