PROFILES OF AMERICAN RAILROADING presentation copy leather slip case GE engines

Description

Limited edition commissioned by General Electric Locomotive works for their 1965 Railroad dinner. Presentation copy with ornate calligraphy presentation page. Leather with gilt lettering and frame, matching surfaces to the slip case. Light wear.
The book is scarce in commerce in any form, being a limited edition. The presentation copies were further limited to the top executives of General Electric and their most important customers for the locomotive division. It is important to note that at this time diesel electric systems were rapidly replacing the coal powered steam locomotives of the past.
The book is presented to W[alter] J[oseph] Tuohy, who died of a heart attack shortly after receiving this book.
His obituary, in the Chicago Tribune:
WALTER TUOHY, CHIEF OF C. & O. RAILWAY, DIES
Suffers Heart Attack in Cleveland
Walter J. Tuohy, 65, vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, died last night in a Cleveland hospital.
The Chicago-born railraod executive suffered a heart attack in his Cleveland office yesterday while he was preparing a speech he was to give later in the day to stockholders of the C. & O. urging their approval of the rail's merger with the Norfolk and Western Railway. The proposal subsequently was approved by the stockholders.
Headed B. & O. Railroad
Mr. Tuohy had suffered several previous attacks. He had held his present posts since 1964 and since 1963 had been chairman of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which is controlled by the C. & O. He had lived in Cleveland since 1943.
The son of a Chicago police sergeant, Mr. Tuohy had attended DePaul University for 10 years at night. His rags to riches career spanned 49 years in the coal and railroad industries. In 1961 he was a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award.
Mr. Tuohy was graduated from De LaSalle institute and went to work as a clerk for the Illinois Central Railroad in 1917. A short while later he began attending night classes at DePaul.
He received his bachelor's degree in 1925 and his law degree in 1929. From 1924 to 1939, he was a coal sales official with the Consumers Company. In 1939 he became president of the Globe Coal Company, a Chicago affiliate of the C. & O.
Heads Railroad at 47
Four years later he left Chicago for Cleveland and became vice president in charge of the C. &. O's extensive coal traffic. In 1948, at the age of 47 he became president of the C. & O. He held that position until he was elevated to vice chairman and chief executive officer two years ago.
He was a director of the Association of American Railroads, the National Coal Policy Conference, and the Cleveland Indians Baseball club.
Surviving are his widow, Mary Frances; two sons, Walter and John; two daughters, Mrs. Mary Ann Kundtz Jr. and Mrs. Patricia Jane Fenton; and six grandchildren.
Tuohy was instrumental in the merger of the Chesapeake and Ohio RR with the Baltimore and Ohio, forming the "Chessie" system which further merged to form the Seacoast Lines, and then even later were combined into CTX and Amtrak. In fact, he died while preparing a speech to the stockholders for this monumental merger, which was successfully executed after his passing.