It would have been tough for anyone to follow in D.J. Russell's footsteps. He began his Espee career as a timekeeper in 1920, and had extensive experience in operations before moving into the headquarters. Russell presided over Espee during its' most successful period, and handled the many challenges well. The Steam to Diesel transition, the Tehachapi Earthquake and City of San Francisco snowbound episodes of 1952, the New Lucin Causeway, the Northwestern Pacific flood of 1964, and the passenger train problems all occured during Russell's tenure. Biaggini by contrast, had to deal with the loss of Western lumber traffic and PFE perishables traffic. There was speculation that Vice President - Operations J.W. Corbett would have been a more worthy successor to Russell, however he was also nearing retirement age as well.