For Immediate Release

Public Relations Division
Public Affairs Department
1170 Eighth Avenue
Bethlehem, PA 18016-7699
(610) 694-3711 - Phone
(610) 694-1509 - Fax

BETHLEHEM, Pa., May 14, 1996 -- The Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad (PB&NE) today received its 16th national safety award in the past 28 years from the E.H. Harriman Memorial Awards Institute in Washington, D.C.

The PB&NE, one of four subsidiary railroads serving Bethlehem Steel Corporation, received the Institute's silver medal, designating its performance last year as the second safest short-line railroad in the country. Each year the Institute presents awards for safety based on an absence of accidents and a low incidence of injuries. In the 1990s, the PB&NE has received one gold, two silver and one bronze Harriman awards.

The railroad, which services the local Bethlehem Steel operations, won in the switching and terminal group. Switching involves hauling rail cars into and out of the southside Bethlehem complex to outside rail carriers.

"Our winning numerous Harriman awards over the past two decades demonstrates our commitment to safety, which is our most important value and an attribute of a successful business. The PB&NE is successful in serving its customers and in instilling a strong safety ethic among its employees," said Dale H. Boyer, superintendent of the PB&NE, who received the award with J. Michael Zaia, president of Bethlehem Steel's subsidiary railroads.

In addition to the award for the PB&NE, the Harriman Institute also recognized J. Edward Grey Jr., an employee of the Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad serving Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point, Md., division, for his l ong-term efforts to continuously improve the railroad's safety program.

Also attending the awards ceremony were:
From the PB&NE:
Paul T. Buddock, electrician; Santo A. Falbo, trackman; Joseph L. Gartland, supervisor of personnel; Thomas S. Hoffman, division accountant; Richard H. Moser, carman; Ray W. Peters, clerk, and Miguel A. Velez, engineer.

From the Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad:
Michael J. King, superintendent;

From the subsidiary railroads:
Walter J. Lysaght, manager of labor relations, and James C. Matthews, vice president of operations.

From Bethlehem Steel Corporation:
John A. Jordan, senior vice president and chief administrative officer, and Augustine E. Moffitt, Jr., vice president, safety, health and environment.

The Harriman awards were established in 1913 by Mary Harriman in memory of her husband, Edward Henry Harriman, a railroad financier and administrator who reorganized and consolidated railroads in the western part of the United States. He is best remembered for his presidency of Union Pacific Railroad, which he developed into one of the nation's largest transportation companies.