John W. Barriger III

John Walker Barriger III (December 3, 1899 – December 9, 1976) was an American railroad executive; he successively led the Monon Railroad, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad. In 1969, he was chosen as Railroader of the Year by industry trade journal Modern Railroads (which was acquired by Railway Age in 1992).

Barriger was born on December 3, 1899. He was a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His first railroad jobs were with the Pennsylvania Railroad. He worked as a rodman, as a shop hand, as associate editor of an employee magazine and as an assistant yardmaster. In the late 1920s he worked in investment houses. He helped author the controversial Prince Plan of railroad consolidation and achieved instant fame in doing so. For eight years from 1933 to 1941 he worked in federal service as the railroad chief of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. He worked for the Office of Defense Transportation during World War 2. Barriger was the federal manager of the troubled Toledo Peoria and Western Railroad. He help launch Fairbanks-Morse into the diesel locomotive business. And he was reorganization manager of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad and the Monon Railroad.

Barriger succeeded L.F. DeRamus as president of the Monon Railroad on May 1, 1946. As president, Barriger followed an aggressive policy of modernization. He was succeeded on December 31, 1952 by Warren W. Brown. Barriger left the Monon Railroad for a Vice President position on the New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

John Barriger wrote Super Railroads for a Dynamic American Economy in 1956. The 91 page book was published by Simmons Boardman Publishing Company of New York, New York.

He died on December 9, 1976.

Barriger's papers, photos, and railroad library of 10,000 volumes and 600 feet (180 m) of documents are included in the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library at the University of Missouri at St. Louis. Over 27,000 of John Barriger's railroad photographs have been shared with the public on the internet.