Ira Silverman of Independent Consultant

Ira will give a photo gallery presentation about the trip he and his wife took this past summer to Norway and Sweden. He will discuss the many interesting rail operations in both countries. After cruising up the Norwegian coast they took a two week rail tour of the two countries run by Ffestiniog Travel, a branch of the famous Welsh narrow gauge railroad. In addition to the famous Oslo-Bergen main line they rode on the newest and most northerly part of the main line system to Bodo. From Narvik they rode the iron ore railway into Sweden which featured in the invasion of Norway by Germany. They also traveled the lightly used Inlandsbahan which is reminiscent of the Northern Transcontinental across Ontario.

Biography:

Ira Silverman started his railroad career with the Illinois Central in 1971 after getting a graduate degree from the Transportation Center at Northwestern University. At Amtrak, he was Director of Route Marketing for fifteen years where he instituted pricing and promotion strategies for Metroliner and long-distance trains that increased revenue by $160 million. He served as Chief Transportation Officer for MARC Train Service during the takeover of Conrail by CSX and NS, the introduction of high-speed rail service on routes shared with Amtrak, and implemented new MARC service to Frederick, Maryland. After retiring, he has volunteered at several rail museums, traveled extensively by rail, and is a proud grandfather.

Address:Baltimore, Maryland, United States