Roger A. Clark

President & General Manager

Roger A. Clark was born on January 20, 1871, in Rochester, New York, the son of Irish immigrants William C. Clark and Isabella St. Helen. William was a boat builder by trade and fought for the Union during the Civil War. Tragically, William died in 1879, leaving Isabella to raise Roger and his seven siblings alone. Roger was just eight years old at the time. Like many working-class children of that era, it’s likely he left school at a young age to support the family.

Clark began his railroad career with the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway (BR&P), a system primarily tasked with connecting the coalfields of western Pennsylvania with the industrial hubs of western New York. He steadily worked his way up and, by the 1890s, had become the Traveling Auditor for the BR&P. In that role, he was responsible for visiting stations across the system to inspect and audit their financial records—a task that required him to travel frequently by rail. Roger Clark narrowly escaped death in 1897 when he was thrown from a moving train he attempted to board.

In 1900, Roger married Mary Amalia Wittman, and the following year their son, George Arthur Clark, was born in Rochester. By then, the family was living in a rented home at 137 Genesee Street in the city’s Eleventh Ward. Roger appeared to be on stable footing with the BR&P, but their life would soon take a dramatic turn—thanks to one of Roger's close friends, Robert H. England, a fellow railroader and serial short-line operator with whom Roger had worked in the BR&P’s auditing department.

In 1907, England—then Vice President & General Manager of the Central Railway Company of Oregon—persuaded Roger Clark to join him out west as Auditor for the struggling short-line. The Clarks packed up and moved 2,500 miles to Union, Oregon, a small frontier town in the Grande Ronde Valley. There, Clark and England tried to make something of the Central Railroad of Oregon, a 16-mile line connecting Union with nearby Cove and Hot Lake. The railroad was isolated and impoverished, and despite their efforts, it never became profitable.

For George Clark, however, those Oregon years left an indelible mark. He considered Oregon his true home, and the wide-open landscape nurtured his love for the outdoors. Later in life, he would fondly recall his time fishing, hunting, and working in the rugged West. A second child, Ruth, was born in Oregon to Roger and Mary Clark in 1909.

Tensions eventually emerged between Roger Clark and Robert England. According to George, “[My] dad was a very heavy boozer and after England stole some of our pigs — Dad let him have it and that was that.” Whatever the actual circumstances, the Clarks left the Central Railroad. Clark took a job as an agent for the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company (an interurban system), first stationed at Bull Run, and later at Boring, Oregon.

In 1919, England—now General Manager of the Rahway Valley Railroad in New Jersey—found himself in another financial mess and reached out once again to his old friend. Roger agreed to take a three-month leave of absence from the PRL&P to act as Special Auditor for the Rahway Valley. He found the railroad in terrible condition: rundown infrastructure, decaying equipment, and a complete lack of financial controls. George stayed behind and ran the Boring station while his father went east.

When Roger returned to Oregon that summer, he’d seen enough of the RV to know he could fix it—and more importantly, that he wanted to. In January 1920, he accepted a permanent position as Auditor of the Rahway Valley and relocated the family to Union, New Jersey.

In the spring of 1920, he helped get George a job as the Agent at Springfield. By year's end, George was made General Freight Agent. The father and son worked side by side in the old Kenilworth depot. Clark became deeply involved in the RV’s management and finances, increasingly stepping into a leadership role as Robert England floundered. England was finally dismissed in October 1920. The railroad's owner, Louis Keller, originally looked to hire Gilbert Van Doren, the CNJ's Shop Superintendent at Elizabethport, as the new General Manager; however, Clark looked into the matter and secured the position for himself.

The death of Keller, in 1922, led to the appointment of Charles Keller Beekman, Keller’s nephew and a savvy New York lawyer, as trustee of the Keller Estate. Beekman was intent on transforming the RV into a profitable concern to repay the estate’s debts. He backed Clark's leadership, and in 1923, Clark was officially appointed President of the Rahway Valley Railroad.

From there, Roger began the long, steady task of resurrecting the railroad. He brought discipline and accounting rigor to the RV’s books, negotiated with tax officials in Trenton, and, working closely with George—who was now General Freight Agent and later Vice President—they slowly pulled the railroad out of its pool of red ink. The RV finally returned to profitability by the mid-1920s.

Clark remained President and guiding force of the RV throughout the Roaring Twenties. Though he struggled with declining health in the final years of his life—he suffered from severe diabetes, which led to the amputation of both legs—he remained engaged in the railroad’s operations.

He died on October 1, 1932, at age 61, leaving behind a strong legacy and a son prepared to carry the torch. George A. Clark succeeded his father as the head of the railroad—a role he would retain for the next 36 years.

Roger A. Clark is remembered not only as a stabilizing figure who brought the Rahway Valley Railroad back from the brink but also as the father and mentor of one of short-line railroading’s most colorful and capable figures. His quiet perseverance, financial acumen, and passion for railroading laid the foundation for everything the Rahway Valley would become.

Service Record:

Special Auditor, May 1919 to July 1919 ?

Auditor, January 1920 to December 14, 1925

Secretary & General Manager, October 15, 1920 to October 1, 1932

President, September 23, 1923 to October 1, 1932