Dr. Adrian Herzog, 52, passed away on February 28, 2001

Dr. Adrian Herzog, 52, passed away on February 28, 2001.

People who noted the passing of Dr. Adrian Herzog might want to ponder some of his accomplishments. Many in the rail advocacy movement are sometimes a bit long on rhetoric and emotion, and a little short on tangible achievements. Here are some of Adrian's achievements:

He was the one person who first conceptualized the Regional Rail program for southern California, and who first identified the UTDC (now Bombardier) bilevel car as the vehicle of choice for that application.
He was the one who laid the conceptual and analytical foundation for expanding intercity service in the Southwest Corridor from the four local trains Amtrak was then operating between LA and San Diego to the service that exists today between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
He was the one who first conceived the notion and then the analytical framework for extending the Sunset Limited to Miami.
He was the one who first proposed (and proved mathematically) that a fully developed national system could not be achieved without at least 1,500 additional Superliner railcars.
He was the one who proved that the market for interregional passenger rail services was elastic with the size of the matrix of origin/destination pairs in the network, and who proved mathematically that ridership and output of a national system grew as the square of the size of the network. He demonstrated that a 5% expansion of the Southwest Transcontinental Corridor (for example) would drive a 600% increase in ridership.
He was the person who worked up the empirical proof that persuaded the Amtrak Board to order Graham Claytor to extend the Palmetto to Jacksonville over the bitter objection of Amtrak management.
Adrian was the first to identify the strategic hubs of a successful national network of trains, at San Jose, Ft. Worth and New Orleans. He first identified the strategic value of the rail hub at Newton, KS as key to a fully developed Midwestern network.

Adrian Herzog was trained as a mathematician, the subject in which he had been awarded his doctorate. He became an astrophysicist, and devoted his career to teaching and mentoring young adults as a Professor at California State University, Northridge. In addition to his avocational passion for rail passenger service, he was an ecologist and explorer.

-- Andrew C. Selden


RailPAC Contacts Publications Issues Archives Tributes Byron A. Nordberg Dr. Adrian Herzog Alan Wimmergren Meeting Reports Membership Links	Dr. Adrian Herzog, 52, passed away on February 28, 2001. People who noted the passing of Dr. Adrian Herzog might want to ponder some of his accomplishments. Many in the rail advocacy movement are sometimes a bit long on rhetoric and emotion, and a little short on tangible achievements. Here are some of Adrian's achievements: He was the one person who first conceptualized the Regional Rail program for southern California, and who first identified the UTDC (now Bombardier) bilevel car as the vehicle of choice for that application. He was the one who laid the conceptual and analytical foundation for expanding intercity service in the Southwest Corridor from the four local trains Amtrak was then operating between LA and San Diego to the service that exists today between San Diego and San Luis Obispo. He was the one who first conceived the notion and then the analytical framework for extending the Sunset Limited to Miami. He was the one who first proposed (and proved mathematically) that a fully developed national system could not be achieved without at least 1,500 additional Superliner railcars. He was the one who proved that the market for interregional passenger rail services was elastic with the size of the matrix of origin/destination pairs in the network, and who proved mathematically that ridership and output of a national system grew as the square of the size of the network. He demonstrated that a 5% expansion of the Southwest Transcontinental Corridor (for example) would drive a 600% increase in ridership. He was the person who worked up the empirical proof that persuaded the Amtrak Board to order Graham Claytor to extend the Palmetto to Jacksonville over the bitter objection of Amtrak management. Adrian was the first to identify the strategic hubs of a successful national network of trains, at San Jose, Ft. Worth and New Orleans. He first identified the strategic value of the rail hub at Newton, KS as key to a fully developed Midwestern network. Adrian Herzog was trained as a mathematician, the subject in which he had been awarded his doctorate. He became an astrophysicist, and devoted his career to teaching and mentoring young adults as a Professor at California State University, Northridge. In addition to his avocational passion for rail passenger service, he was an ecologist and explorer. -- Andrew C. Selden
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