Young Buys into Central

Whenever railroading needs improvement, Alleghany Corp's. Robert R. Young is quick to volunteer for the job (TIME, Sept. 3, 1945). Last fall Bob Young, whose sprawling empire included no part of the New York Central Railroad Co., declared that "there is a great deal of room for improvement in [New York Central's] management." Last week Alleghany Corp. reported that it had spent some $2,500,000 to buy 162,500 shares of Central stock, thus acquiring the largest single interest (about 2.5%) in Central's widely diffused ownership.

This was a fair-sized stack of chips. But the game was big. Among U.S. railroads New York Central is second in 1) investment, 2) miles of track, 3) number of passengers carried, 4) operating revenues. And it is now spending $150,000,000 to bring its equipment up to date.

When Bob Young starts his improvement, probably by trying to get his men elected to Central's board of directors, he will run smack up against Board Chairman Harold S. Vanderbilt and Union Pacific, which owns 160,000 shares of Central. A great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, Central's founder, Chairman Vanderbilt holds only some 65,000 shares. Young will be in for a scrap. But he is no man to dodge one. Wall Streeters watched with smiles of anticipation. It looked as if Central would soon be in the hottest fight since railroaders Jim Fisk and Jay Gould gave Commodore Vanderbilt his comeuppance back in 1873.

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