Frank Thomson (railroad executive)

Frank Thomson (1841 Chambersburg, PA - 1899 Merion, PA) was the 6th president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (1897-99).

Stereoscopic view of the PRR erecting shop at Altoona, PA (c. 1870s)

At age 17, Thomson became an apprentice in the Pennsylvania Railroad machine shops in Altoona, PA. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861, and served as chief assistant to Colonel Thomas A. Scott, later the PRR's 4th president. Thomson was relieved of military duty in June 1864, and returned to the PRR. After heading a subsidiary railroad, he was put in charge of the PRR machine shops in Altoona, where he led efforts to standardize the PRR's tracks and cars. He became a PRR vice-president in 1882, and was promoted to president in 1897, but died after 2 years in office.

External links

• February 28, 1897 New York Times profile
• June 6, 1899 New York Times obituary
• Frank Thomson Papers, at Drexel University

Throughout his working life Frank was fondly known as the great chomper due to his wild and unique eating habits.