Schedule Change at the Pennsy

After the Pennsylvania Railroad's board of directors finished its regular meeting last week in Philadelphia, a telephone call went through to summon Allen J. Greenough, 54, vice president in charge of transportation and maintenance. Walking into the president's office, Greenough was hit with the biggest surprise of his career: he had just been named president of the Pennsy, jumping over the heads of other officers who had hoped to get the job.

The new post put Greenough in line as heir to James M. Symes, who moved up from president to chairman and remained chief executive officer. Symes, 62, plans to retire in 2 1/2 years, in Pennsy fashion wanted to pick his successor well ahead of time.

Greenough was not the only one surprised by the board's action. Previous top candidate for the job: Greenough's own boss, James P. Newell, 57, vice president of operations. Greenough had not been considered in the running. But railroadmen gossiped that other vice presidents were scrambling so hotly for the job that the board decided to pass over all of them, picked Greenough as the man who could work best with the contending factions.

A railroadman's railroadman, big (6 ft., 200 lbs.), affable Allen Greenough won a reputation at the Pennsy for his forcefulness and ability to remain calm in every circumstance. Born in San Francisco, he went to Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. before joining Pennsy as an engineering trainee in 1928, highballed up the corporate track, was boosted to vice president in 1955. Along the route, he distinguished himself by making fast decisions, stopping the buck at his door. Married and father of two sons, he is used to putting in a ten-hour day, gathering his own facts by pounding the rails. As chief administrative officer, he will be in charge of the road's everyday operation, will have even less time for the golf and woodworking that he enjoyed before the lightning struck.

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