RABO BIO: Joseph B. DiCarlo By Lee Thames

As retired railroaders, we all enjoy the relationships we established during our railroad service. This is especially true in knowing and working with those who started at the bottom of the ladder and earned their stripes through hard work and being a dedicated railroad employee. This is so true of Joseph B. DiCarlo and his 44 years of service with CSX and it affiliated companies.

Joseph B. DiCarlo was born in Kankakee, Illinois, December 24, 1932. He graduated from Kankakee High School in 1950, the year he began working for the New York Central Railroad.

Joe started his railroad career hiring on with the New York Central Railroad in Kankakee as a yard clerk. So he started out in the operating department on the lower rung of the ladder. You might say as a “hey boy” do this, do that. Joe recalls one of his first clerk jobs was to place heaters in the bunkers of perishable cars moving through the Kankakee yard.  This was done in the winter when the outside temperature was down to 32 degrees. These tall, heavy metal heaters were lifted by hand to the top of the car and lowered into the car’s bunker. No easy task. In addition to his various yard duties, he sold passenger tickets and worked the extra board.

This early Operating Department yard experience was to prove very beneficial in shaping Joe’s railroad career.

Joe was drafted into the United States Army in 1953 and served in Kitzingen, Germany, in the Artillery Corps. Upon his discharge in 1955, he returned to his old railroad clerking job with the NYC in Kankakee. In addition to performing railroad duties, Joe started college on the GI bill at Olivet University in Bourbonnais, Illinois, earning his degree in Business Administration with a minor in economics. He graduated in 1959.

It was 1959 that Joe’s railroad career path changed when he entered the New York Central Railroad Sales and Marketing Department training program. This was a special 18-month program. However, with his Operating Department background, he graduated early and, in 1960, was assigned his first management position as Director of the NYC Chicago, Illinois, sales office. Joe especially enjoyed this assignment and the challenge of representing the NYC and increasing the railroad’s market share. He did such a good job that he served three tours of duty in Chicago, totaling thirteen years.

In furthering his education, Joe attended the DePaul University graduate program at Chicago, for the years 1960 and 1961. Later, he completed Harvard’s Management Development Program in 1966. This helped prepare Joe for future railroad assignments with NYC, Penn Central, ConRail, Seaboard Coast Line and CSX. He held various sales management assignments in Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; New York, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland and Jacksonville, Florida. While holding these important positions, Joe also served on the Board of Directors of the Peoria & Eastern Railroad and the Detroit Terminal Railroad.

Joe’s CSX service began with the Seaboard System Railroad in 1984 just prior to the merger with C&O/B&O RR in Jacksonville, Florida, as AVP Sales, reporting to Jack Nall, VP Sales.

With the consolidation of the Sales Departments into the CSX Merchandise Sales Department, Joe moved to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1987 as AVP Sales, reporting to Mike Hagan, VP Sales. In 1989, Joe returned to Jacksonville when the CSX Sales & Marketing Department moved to Jacksonville.

I was transferred in 1985 to Atlanta, Georgia, as Director of Sales and reported directly to Joe. I found Joe to be a dedicated company person. He made certain everything was done correctly and in the best interest of CSX. This was especially true when interfacing with customers and company officials. As a direct report to Joe, he and I interfaced a lot during his Atlanta visits, making customer calls and doing taxi service for visiting CSX officials.

I recall in 1986, Dick Sanborn, President and CEO of CSX Distribution Services, was coming to Atlanta, Georgia to attend the TOFC annual convention. We were on the way to the airport to meet the company plane and pick up Mr. Sanborn when Joe suggested we first stop by the hotel to check out Mr. Sanborn’s reservation. To me, this was a big waste of time, but naturally we did what he suggested.

At the Atlanta downtown hotel, we pre-registered Mr. Sanborn, got the room key and proceeded to check out the room. In doing so, low and behold, we found the room was occupied! We returned to the registration desk where the situation was explained to the clerk who apologized and informed us no other rooms were available. Joe explained our situation to the clerk; but making no headway, he asked the clerk to step down to the end of the counter for a more private conversation. I noticed that Joe kept whispering in the clerk’s ear, and finally the clerk said, “Yes sir”, turned around and in a few minutes he returned with a key for a different room. Mission accomplished by a boss who knew how to handle a difficult situation. To this day, I don’t know what Joe said to the hotel clerk, but I’m going to find out the next time we are together.

Joe and Bonnie met in Jacksonville when they were employed with the Seaboard System Railroad and were married in 1984. When they were married, Bonnie was working in the CSX Technology group where she was Director-Payroll and Employee Benefit Technology Systems. They reside in Sawgrass Country Club, having lived there for the past 21 years. Joe is very active within the Beaches community, serving on the Board of Directors Sawgrass Island Homeowner’s Association, of which he was president for one year. He also served on the Sawgrass Master Association for five years and was president for two years. He was also chairman of the Sawgrass Community Maintenance and Waterway Committee for the past six years. In addition, he was a volunteer in the Beaches Habitat for Humanity home-building program.

Joe retired in 1995 in Jacksonville after 44 years of railroad service. He and Bonnie are enjoying their retirement years with their three grown children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The youngest, Robyn, has two children and lives in Valdosta, Georgia. Susan and her son and daughter reside in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where she teaches school. Son Joe lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and is employed with Bank of America.

Joe and Bonnie’s active life style includes golf, travel, reading and gardening.

Like all the retired RABO members, Joe B. DiCarlo deserves a pat on the back for a job well done.