William Riehl Retires After Distinguished Railroad and Military Engineering Career

William S. Riehl, III (Image courtesy of Genesee & Wyomiing)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –– Railway Track & Structures is honored to report on the retirement of Bill Riehl after a substantive and distinguished career in military and railroad engineering.

To honor and celebrate Bill’s retirement, G&W Vice President of Engineering (and RT&S Editorial Board Member), Jeffrey Watson, shared the image below of this week’s retirement dinner in Jacksonville. Bill (center) is pictured with his Bridge Team, and Jeffrey is at the far right.

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Watson

I imagine most readers know who William S. Riehl, III, is. After a long career, Bill retired as Chief Engineer – Structures for Genesee & Wyoming, after nearly 20 years with that railroad. His career began as a Civil Engineer in 1987, and he has been Chief Engineer with the Seminole Gulf Railway, Florida East Coast Railway, and Rail America, as well as President of Riehl Rail Solutions.

In addition to his railroad career, Bill served nearly 42 years in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and retired a Colonel in 2022. Bill was initially an Individual Mobilization Augmentee, and rose to be a Deputy Commander, Air Force Civil Engineer Center.

Bill is an AREMA Life Member, and served as a member of AREMA Committees 7 and 24 (and as Chair of 24) and a previous member of Committee 30, serving as Secretary. He also served on the AREMA Board of Directors as Director, Functional Group Vice President – Structures, then Senior Vice President. He served as President and currently is Past President. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a Fellow of the Society of American Military Engineers, and a member of the Penn State Altoona Rail Transportation Engineering Advisory Board.

Bill holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MS in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Florida. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer.

On a more personal note, Bill served on RT&S‘s Editorial Board while he was President of AREMA for the 2024-2025 term. Bill’s monthly “Message from the President” columns were always excellent, and Bill was always available for advice and counsel to me when I had questions about AREMA or rail engineering.

My first introduction to Bill came in the September 2024 issue, when he was interviewed by an AREMA staff member about his pending service to AREMA (page 21). While all of Bill’s achievements were impressive, I was struck by his summary of his military service.