In 2013, Progressive Railroading launched the “Rising Stars” program to identify North American individuals under the age of 40 who were making a difference in the rail industry. The magazine defined a “Rising Star” as someone under 40 years of age who has made, or is making, a positive impact on his or her company, organization, department or team, and is viewed by others — peers, colleagues, supervisors, clients or associates — as an up-and-coming leader in the rail industry. RailTEC is honored to have had two previous recipients of this award, J. Riley Edwards (2015) and Rapik Saat (2016), and now there is a third.
Tom Roadcap, currently a Senior Engineer, Design and Construction with AECOM, was nominated earlier this year by Brightline West, where he worked as a Senior Design Construction Engineer. He started working at RailTEC as a freshman and worked with the infrastructure group while earning both his bachelor’s (2017) and master’s degrees (2019) in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Click here to read Tom’s interview in Progressive Railroading. He was chosen from a pool of 115 individuals who were all nominated based on their contributions to railroading, as well as their career achievements, demonstrated leadership, professional association activity and community involvement. The 25 people chosen to be 2026 Rising Stars were honored during a virtual celebration in July and are featured in the September issue of the magazine.
Here is a list of this year’s Rising Stars and the organizations they work for:
Alyssa Boecker, Railserve
Luis Carrasquero, Metrolink/Southern California Regional Rail Authority
Timothy Chung, CN
Cameron Ginther, Watco
Annie Harris, RailPros
Rebecca LaRocco, Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
Julia Leone, Short Line Safety Institute
Tim Luchini, Intramotev
Jessica Lynn, Watco
Derek Maier, Amtrak
Julianne Meijaard, AECOM Canada
David Miller, BNSF Railway
Cole Nelson, The Greenbrier Cos.
Emily Peters, Union Pacific Railroad
Tom Roadcap, AECOM (nominated by Brightline West)
Angelica Robinson, Union Pacific Railroad
Justin Smith, MTA Construction & Development — Long Island Rail Road Business Unit
Omar Shakoor, Railspire
Kiera Sobolewski, CPKC
Kylie Steel, Olsson
Wesley Thomas, Loram
Agostino Van Wetering, Union Pacific Railroad
Luis Vazquez, CSX
Josh Williamson, Norfolk Southern Railway
Brian Yeager, Norfolk Southern Railway