Railway Age December 2020

2021 OUTLOOK

THE SECOND GREAT

A

s one of the most difficult years in world history draws to a conclusion that at times felt like it would never come, the North American railway industry—battered and bruised but refusing to go down—looks to a new year with cautious optimism, and most important—hope.

How do we define hope? It has been described as “an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.” As a verb, among its definitions are “to expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation.” Noted Professor of Psychology Barbara Fredrickson said that hope “comes into its own when crisis looms, 10 Railway Age // December 2020

opening us to new creative possibilities. … With great need comes an unusually wide range of ideas, as well as such positive emotions as happiness and joy, courage and empowerment, drawn from four different areas of one’s self: a cognitive, psychological, social, or physical perspective.” Hopeful people are “like the little engine that could, because they keep telling themselves, ‘I think I can, I think I can.’ Such positive thinking bears fruit when based on a realistic sense of optimism, not on a naive ‘false hope.’”

Psychologist Charles R. Snyder linked hope to “the existence of a goal, combined with a determined plan for reaching that goal,” and said the difference between hope and optimism was that the former “included practical

pathways to an improved future.”

These definitions form the foundation of the railroad industry.

For this edition of our annual Outlook for the coming year, we’ve reached deep into our talent pool, drawing from Railway Age’s staff and contributing editors, from our headquarters in Lower Manhattan to Capitol Hill to Wall Street. We’ve topped off our offering with the perspective of an industry specialist who deals every day with finding and empowering the talent that is the heart and soul of this two-century-old industry we call “railroading.”

I’ve been at this for nearly 30 years, and feel humbled and privileged for the opportunity to present to you, our readers, the collective thoughts of some of the industry’s most experienced minds. I anticipate a railwayage.com

BNSF

RAILROAD REVOLUTION?