John W. Ingram (April 6, 1929 – January 27, 2008[1]) was the President of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in its final years, from 1974 to 1979.
Ingram was Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Administrator from 1971 to 1974,[2] and took over the Rock Island in 1974, and resigned in November 1979, only several months later on January 24, 1980, the Rock Island was ordered to be liquidated in federal bankruptcy court.
The Interstate Commerce Commission ordered the Kansas City Terminal Railway to take over operations, and Ingram resigned.
While there he was one of the founders of the Transportation Research Forum (TRF) along with Herbert Whitten of the Chesapeake & Ohio RR(C&O).
Soon he developed what became known as the "Big John" covered hopper car to transport bulk grain at low freight rated from the Midwest to poultry farms in the Southeast which led to fast growth of that industry and became the primary means of grain shipment by rail throughout the nation.