Steve Ditmeyer of Transportation Technology and Economics

Herman Haupt (Philadelphia, March 26, 1817 – Jersey City, December 14, 1905) was an American civil engineer, railroad construction engineer, and executive. Haupt graduated from West Point in 1835 at the age of 18 and, after serving in the Army, held several railroad-related positions prior to the Civil War, including Chief Engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1853.  In this role, he oversaw design and construction of the Horseshoe Curve on the PRR mainline across Pennsylvania between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. As a Union Army General, he played a key role in the American Civil War, during which he revolutionized U.S. military transportation, particularly the use of railroads. 

Steve will examine how Haupt's education, experience, mercurial personality, leadership skills, and entrepreneurial spirit played out not only with his service in the Army in what probably was the key battle of the Civil War, but also with his entire career.  

Steve’s presentation consists of four principal parts:

1. The railroad situation in the US before the Civil War,
2. Herman Haupt’s pre-war years,
3. Herman Haupt’s role in the Army before, during, and after the Battle of Gettysburg, and
4. Herman Haupt’s post-war years.

Steve will examine how his education, experience, mercurial personality, leadership skills, and entrepreneurial spirit played out not only with his service in the Army in what probably was the key battle of the Civil War, but also with his entire career.

Biography:

Steve Ditmeyer has had an extensive career in railroading.  He received a BS degree in Industrial Management from MIT and an MA degree in Economics from Yale.  In the private sector, he worked for six railroads and a railroad equipment manufacturer. In the public sector, he served as an Army Transportation Corps officer with the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a federal civil servant with the Federal Railroad Administration, and an international civil servant with the World Bank. His career has cut across multiple disciplines, including freight and passenger transportation, engineering, economics, research and development, command and control systems, policy, marketing, management, operations, information technology, systems analysis, and education.

Steve was detailed by FRA to the Industrial College of the Armed Forces from 2003 to 2007, where he was an associate professor of economics and head of the transportation industry study. Every autumn the ICAF faculty took the entire 300-person student body of ICAF on a “staff ride” to the Gettysburg Battlefield. During the outing, faculty members discussed various aspects of the battle. Steve originally prepared his lecture on “Railroads, Herman Haupt, and the Battle of Gettysburg” as his contribution to the staff ride. The lecture was ultimately published as an article with the same title in the spring-summer 2013 issue of Railroad History Magazine on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

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Address:Alexandria, Virginia, United States