Jerry Taylor was born in Brooklyn, NY, and grew up in St. James, Long Island. He received his high school diploma in June of 1944. He attended Cornell University, receiving his B.A. in 1949 and his LLB in 1952. In November of that year, he went to work for the New York Central Railroad, which in 1968 merged with the Pennsylvania to form the Penn Central. Beginning as a trainee, he held various staff positions on the railroad. Taylor was transferred to line supervision in 1962, rising from assistant trainmaster to general manager of the Southern District in Indianapolis in 1967 and of the New Haven Region in New Haven, CT, in 1969. He resigned in April 1969 to become Vice… President-Operations of the Long Island Rail Road. After retiring from the LIRR in 1977, he moved back to Indiana. His post-retirement pursuits have included hiking more than 3,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail, maintaining a certified tree farm, and authoring four other books on various railroad subjects.