OUR TEAM

Mr. Belke has 45 years of experience in the railroad industry in the areas of executive management, operations, engineering, finance, marketing, strategic planning, government advocacy and public relations.   He possesses a thorough understanding of the railroad industry from both a domestic and international standpoint through involvement in northeast U.S. ports and intermodal development.

His career began in 1973 with the Delaware & Hudson Railway Company where he occupied various engineering, operating and executive positions for an 18-year period as the company transitioned through Guilford Transportation and into Canadian Pacific.  He has also held engineering and operating positions with the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad and domestic and international executive, strategic planning and fleet management positions within the Genesee & Wyoming system of railroads.

He is currently President, Chief Operating Officer of the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad and EVP & COO of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville and B&H Corp Railroads.   He additionally serves as Chief Engineer for these three railroads and Chief Bridge Engineer for the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad. Mr. Belke is a former chairman of AREMA Committee 18 – Light Density and Short Line Railroads.  He also is serving a second 3-year term as a Board member of the ASLRRA and his second term as an Executive Board member and Eastern Region Vice President. Belke is Chairman of the ASLRRA Engineering Committee, past chairman of the ASLRRA Technology Committee and is a member of its Mechanical Committee.  He is a member of the Keystone State Railroad Association of Pennsylvania and a member of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Belt Line Railroad.

Carl resides with his wife of 46 years, Lysanne, in Milford, NJ.  His seven children live in six different states and Africa. Carl has a BS-CE from Lafayette College in Easton, PA.

Frank Onimus is a consultant for Strategic Rail Finance. He has over 37 years of experience in freight transportation and logistics.

He is the founder of Horizon Management and has provided consultation and advising services to transportation companies in the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe since 2004. His expertise includes network and modal optimization analysis, new product and service strategy development, vendor contract negotiations and new terminal development. He has provided consultation to some of the nation’s largest freight companies and their customers. Prior to his work as a consultant, Mr. Onimus worked for CSX Transportation as Vice President of Market Strategy where he was a member of the commercial leadership team for this $8 billion railroad. Over 4 years they grew revenue by $1 billion through new product development, volume growth, and yield management. He led the CSX strategy on high-density industrial park development and helped to implement these projects in Central Florida, Ohio, and Eastern Pennsylvania.

In his earlier years with CSX Transportation, Mr. Onimus led the operating team that developed and implemented a fully automated system that optimized the distribution of the company’s railcar fleet of over 100,000 cars. Additionally, he led negotiation of the division of Conrail’s 40,000 unit railcar fleet and the full re-marking of more than 20,000 CSX allocated railcar fleet prior to Day One operations. Before working at CSX Transportation, Mr. Onimus worked for CSX Intermodal as Director of Business Planning and as a member of the unit’s leadership team. He helped rationalize the terminal network leading to a significant profit improvement and platform for service quality and growth.

He also worked for Consolidated Rail Corporation in the Automotive and Intermodal Business Units. Here Mr. Onimus designed and implemented a terminal and train network for the first intermodal double-stack service in the United States.

Mr. Onimus earned his Bachelor of Arts, Magna cum Laude in 1984 from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and earned his Master of Business Administration, Magna cum Laude in 1988, also from Temple University.

Tom Erickson is a Rail Operations consultant for Strategic Rail Finance. Tom has 35 years experience working in nearly every aspect of the rail industry: sales and business development, project consultation, due diligence studies, and market research.

In 20 years of work with CSX and Conrail, Tom held diverse management positions. At Conrail, he managed market analysis and pricing for automotive and intermodal accounts, headed intermodal bulk marketing for Philadelphia operations, and personally led Conrail’s network of rail-truck transloading terminals. In this last position, he was responsible for the modernization and standardization of transloading assets and procedures, and oversaw a doubling of both tonnage and profits from the division.

As head of his own rail consulting firm, Rail Cents Enterprises, Tom focuses on advising Class II and III railroads and shippers in operations, market research, industrial development, network design, and commercial and right-of-way agreements. Tom has drafted feasibility studies for Amtrak, Canadian Pacific, and local government bodies, and has advised on rail privatization projects in Europe, Central America, and Africa.

Tom has been published in both Transportation Journal and the Journal of Transportation Law, Logistics and Policy, and also holds a patent on a railroad operating system.

An expert in supply chain management, logistics, and planning, Jonathan Gilbert comes to Strategic Rail Finance with over 25 years of experience in improving service, reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and integrating new technologies in diverse industries.

Specializing in strategic sourcing, network optimization, and operations improvement, Jonathan is a founder of the Gilbert Sachs Group and has advised major national and international retailers, distributors, manufacturers, and service companies on transportation, logistics and infrastructure development.

Recent clients include Modesto & Empire Traction, Con-Way Truckload, Clean Earth, Commercial Metals Company, United Technologies, Celanese Corporation, Tenneco and Marathon Oil. Prior to his work as a consultant, Mr. Gilbert served as Vice President of Logistics and Planning for NuCO2 of Stuart, Florida, a $135 million company supplying carbonation and Co2 to the food and beverage industry. Mr. Gilbert managed all forecasting, planning, and scheduling of product delivery and field services.

Before his work with NuCO2, Mr. Gilbert held leadership positions at MF Electronics, BOC Group, and Pyle Corporation building his career in logistics, supply management, marketing and planning. Additionally, Mr. Gilbert is a Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals member and former Vice President of the New Jersey and New York Chapter of the American Society of Transportation and Logistics.

Mr. Gilbert holds a B.S. from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University and an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Avi Eden is an Executive Consultant for Strategic Rail Finance. Avi specializes in corporate structure and operations, mergers & acquisitions, financing, and strategy with a specialty in international business development.

He has spent significant time in the People’s Republic of China working with various governmental and private-sector companies including the development of a mine and a refinery for Tantalum, an element used in the manufacture of electronic components.

Previously as Executive Vice President and Vice Chairman of the Board of Vishay Intertechnology, Inc., Avi negotiated, structured, and led the teams that consummated more than $1.5 billion in transactions.

On the finance side Avi directed Vishay in the issuance of stock and notes with a face value also in excess of $1.5 billion. Before his years with Vishay, Avi was a Senior Associate with Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads in Philadelphia, PA.

Avi got his BA from University of Cincinnati and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is on the board of the Delaware River Port Authority.

Ken Foxx is a Senior Consultant at Strategic Rail Finance with 44 years of railway experience and expertise in locomotive manufacturing, technology and repair, financial administration, operations development, and strategic planning. He has advised on rail operations throughout the world on industrial services, business process management, and end-product improvements.

Mr. Foxx’s independent consulting has followed an impressive 30-year career with General Motors Electro-Motive Division from 1974 to 2004. He started as a student at GM’s High Potential Employee Cooperative Education Program where he was first introduced to locomotive systems, product design and manufacturing. From there he was promoted seven times, developing many successful business lines, including $21 million in annual locomotive overhaul business with the Santa Fe Railroad and bringing in $100 million in annual sales as a liaison between EMD and BNSF, Kansas City Southern, and Union Pacific. In his later years with the company, Mr. Foxx managed the return of EMD’s $50 million remanufacturing service operation to profitability and served as EMD’s Fleet Manager for the SD90MAC locomotives operated on the Union Pacific Railroad.

He retired from GM as the Managing Director of Global Warranty in 2004 with experience in all aspects of new locomotive manufacturing, rebuild, maintenance, repair, customer support, commercial sales, leasing, warranty, reliability, design, and domestic and international program management.

Mr. Foxx earned his BSME from the University of Illinois and his MBA from Northwestern and the GM Institute. Mr. Foxx is a member of the Benton City Arkansas Planning Commission, a community development and athletics mentor, a NCAA baseball umpire and a Six Sigma Black Belt. He is also involved in animal rescue and care, and is currently learning Spanish.