"If they wouldn't take it, so be it," a former executive recalled.

"I recommended that they have a headquarters organization for this, and they agreed," the 53-year-old executive recalled.

The executive recalled that even when Iraq offered free oil earlier in the crisis, no one tried to collect it.

He attacked the problem with "evangelical fervor," one executive recalled.

"Twenty-four hours before that incident, it had been smooth sailing," a senior executive at one of the companies recalled today.

One executive recalled being asked to comment on the government's sanctions plan.

"The executive committee made her listen," one executive recalled.

For the railroads, the challenges of the flood are greater than any that executives can recall.

Senior executives recall a place that was hard-driving but fun.

A corporate executive who was divorced four years ago after a 23-year marriage, recalled that her husband would always drive on family vacation trips.