Robert Buckner Claytor (February 27, 1922 – April 9, 1993) was an American railroad administrator. He became president of the

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

in 1981 and was instrumental in the merger of the Southern Railway and the Norfolk & Western in 1982. He was the first chairman and CEO of the new

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

, and is credited with locating the headquarters of the

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

company in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, within sight of the massive

coal pier A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship. The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into ...

Lambert's Point Lambert's Point is a point of land on the east shore of the Elizabeth River near the downtown area of the independent city of Norfolk in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia, United States. It includes a large coal exporting faci ...

on the Elizabeth River at

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

. Robert B. Claytor is best remembered by many

railfan A railfan, train fan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff, anorak (British English), gunzel (Australian English), trainspotter (British English) or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally in ...

s for continuing the Southern's steam program, which went on to rebuild

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s J class No. 611 and A class No. 1218 and operated excursion trips. He occasionally took the helm as

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

with his brother, W. Graham Claytor Jr., who had been president of

Southern Railway (U.S.) The Southern Railway (also known as Southern Railway Company; ) was a class 1 railroad based in the Southern United States between 1894 and 1982, at which time it merged with the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) to form the Norfolk Southern R ...

and later, CEO of

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

. He was the son of W. Graham Claytor (1886-1971), who as vice president of

Appalachian Power American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is an American domestic electric utility company in the United States. It is one of the largest electric utility companies in the country, with more than five mi ...

Company supervised the construction of Claytor Dam and creation of a 4,500 acre (18 km²), 21 mile (34 km) long

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

on the New River at Claytor Lake State Park in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and of

Gertrude Harris Boatwright Claytor Gertrude Harris Boatwright Claytor (October 1, 1888 – August 21, 1973) was an American poet. Biography Born in Staunton, Virginia, she later moved with her family to Roanoke, Virginia, where she was privately educated. In 1908 she married W ...

, a poet. One of his brothers, W. Graham Claytor Jr. (1912-1994), was president of the Southern Railway from 1967 to 1977, a United States Deputy Secretary of Defense and

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

from 1977 to 1979 under President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, an acting U.S.

Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

in the cabinet of President Carter in 1979, and president of

from 1982 until 1993. Robert B. Claytor died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on April 9, 1993, at his home in Norfolk. "The Claytor Brothers: Virginians Building America's Railroad" is a semi-permanent exhibit at the

Virginia Museum of Transportation The Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) is a museum in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia, that is devoted to the topic of transportation. History The Virginia Museum of Transportation began in 1963 as the Roanoke Transportation Museum in Wasena ...

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

References

* John T. Kneebone et al., eds., ''Dictionary of Virginia Biography'' (Richmond, 1998- ), 3:292-294. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Claytor, Robert B. 1922 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American railroad executives Norfolk Southern Railway people People from Roanoke, Virginia American railroaders Deaths from cancer in Virginia

See also

References