In 1937 he became assistant to the general manager at Southern Pacific's headquarters in San Francisco; in 1939, he became superintendent of the Los Angeles Division.

[5] While he was in leadership positions, Southern Pacific began a $3 billion modernization program, which included full locomotive dieselization.

In 1952, Russell directed rescue efforts for passengers stranded on the City of San Francisco when it was marooned by record snow in the Sierra.

[3] Also in 1952, Russell led the reconstruction of 25 miles of line in 25 days after the Kern County earthquake in the Tehachapi Mountains.

[3] Russell also funded research and development; he served as a member of the Stanford University Board of Trustees and was also a long-time board member of the Stanford Research Institute (SRI), and helped connect technical challenges at Southern Pacific with researchers at SRI starting with a project to design a new coupling system in 1954, resulting in the development of the SRI Hydra-Cushion freight car, designed by William K. MacCurdy.