Patrick B. McGinnis

Patrick Benedict McGinnis (May 23, 1904–February 20, 1973) was an American railroad executive and financier best known for his presidency of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad in the 1950s.

Early life and career McGinnis was born in Palmyra, New York; his father was a track foreman for the New York Central Railroad He graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1926 and studied at several other schools. He worked as clerk for the NYC before moving on to positions with various New York brokerage firms, including Lehman Brothers, and became a specialist in the railroad industry. He made substantial changes in his tenure there, the most visible being the introduction of a new black, vermilion, and white livery which was designed by Herbert Matter (not, as is sometimes claimed, by McGinnis’s wife, though she apparently had some input). He disdained electrification as outmoded and had intended to discontinue it east of Stamford, Connecticut, and to that end ordered diesels intended to replace the electrics, though the order of EP-5 "jets", rectifier locomotives which had been ordered under the previous administration, had to be pressed into service on their arrival.

These innovations did nothing to improve the railroad's situation. McGinnis continued the practice of maintenance cutbacks, and the new equipment was plagued with technical problems. The 1955 Connecticut floods, the result of two successive hurricanes, damaged the railroad extensively, and permanently cut the line from Hartford to Boston. The railroad's finances continued to deteriorate, his own board questioned his management, and on January 20, 1956, he resigned. In 1965, however, he was accused of accepting kickbacks from a sale of ten B&M passenger cars. His conviction on these charges resulted in an eighteen month prison sentence and a fine of $2500.

Death He died at his home in Glendale, Ohio on February 20, 1973.