by Rudy Garbely
in-person keynote presentation for the Susquehanna Valley Railway Historical Society
Saturday, October 28, 2023 | Time TBA (Evening)
NOTE: This presentation is being delivered during a banquet dinner that requires pre-registration and payment at this link. During the afternoon as part of the same event, Rudy will also conduct an in-person live interview with former D&H president Carl Belke.
The preservation and authentic restoration of railroading's most precious artifacts typically rely upon documentation and written narratives that provide context and data for a given object's history, use, and significance. The process of studying this history and developing these narratives is complicated and multi-faceted, and it is based largely upon privately-held railroad-generated records, documents held by institutions and museums, and the memories and recollections of those that participated in the creation of that history.
Railroad author, researcher, and publisher Rudy Garbely published his critically acclaimed book Delaware & Hudson: The Final Years, 1968 to 1991 in mid-2022. The original print run is sold out, but the book is still available print-on-demand at www.garbelypublishing.com/delawarehudson. His comprehensive research covered the railroad's 1968 purchase by the Norfolk & Western and the resulting presidency of Bruce Sterzing turned the railroad into a railfan utopia in the early 1970s. The coming of Conrail in 1976 nearly bankrupted the D&H, and it struggled until it was purchased by Guilford in an ill-fated 1984 transaction. The railroad was bankrupt by 1988, and after three years of emergency operations by the New York, Susquehanna & Western, the D&H was sold to CP Rail in 1991. In addition to relying heavily on primary source documents to develop this narrative, Garbely conducted over 30 interviews with the D&H's managers and executives, as well as others in the railroad industry who influenced the D&H's trajectory through history.
Garbely's in-person presentation will cover the process of studying the D&H's history, including conducting interviews with prominent historical figures, the importance of railroad museums' historic archives as repositories for information, and the procedure for determining the significance and coverage of any given topic in a comprehensive book or historical writing. To illustrate these topics, Garbely has prepared a collection of unused photographs that "didn't make the cut" when publishing the book, showcasing never-before-seen views of the D&H in its heyday and explaining why these images were omitted from the final product. Additionally, audio clips of Garbely’s interviews conducted with the late Bruce Sterzing, Howard Hontz, and Hays Watkins are included in the presentation.
While the book upon which this presentation is based is available only online through the line above, other D&H books by The Garbely Publishing Company, including Garbely’s new book on D&H cabooses, will be available for sale at the event.