Texas ZepherjwhittenWhen you're already a billionaire, what difference does a salary make? He could make a million a year and it would still be chump change to him. Well that is a difference in attitude of the very wealthy. They don't consider anything "chump change". In a recent experiment a fake rebate check was mailed to unsuspecting people with various incomes. The check was real. It was the "rebate" part that was not. The amount of the check was intentionally very small I believe it was for something like $0.38. They then monitored the account to see who actually cashed the checks. The results showed that the greater the person's wealth the more likely they were to cash the check. Every single extremely wealthy person cashed the check. On the other hand, almost none of the poorest people in the test cashed the check.
jwhittenWhen you're already a billionaire, what difference does a salary make? He could make a million a year and it would still be chump change to him.
That's because the poor people knew the bank would charge them some outrageous fee if the check wasn't good, put a hold on their paycheck for a month to cover the funds, and charge additional outrageous fees for every check that caused to bounce as a result.
The rich people on the other hand didn't care one way or the other. If it cashed, great, if not, well no big deal, it was worth a shot. It wouldn't ruin their lives either way.
mobilman44 However, when the BN "merged" with the Santa Fe, the logos & colors have obviously changed, and that ATSF identity per se is GONE !!!
However, when the BN "merged" with the Santa Fe, the logos & colors have obviously changed, and that ATSF identity per se is GONE !!!
Actually that's one place that having a billionaire for an owner might come in handy-- Mr. Buffet might be amenable to a letter-writing campaign from railroaders to repaint the locos and rolling stock (or at least some) in older liveries, including liveries gained through mergers and acquisitions. Good PR is good for business.
rclangerHis salary is 100 hundred thousand dollars. He is a very smart man. Read his bio and you will admire him.
His salary is 100 hundred thousand dollars. He is a very smart man. Read his bio and you will admire him.
When you're already a billionaire, what difference does a salary make? He could make a million a year and it would still be chump change to him.
mobilman44 When the Santa Fe became Santa Fe Industries, it was transparent to most folks. The locos & cars still had the ATSF logos and color schemes and the routes were pretty much the same. Frankly, for this ATSF enthusiast, it was pretty much a non-event. However, when the BN "merged" with the Santa Fe, the logos & colors have obviously changed, and that ATSF identity per se is GONE !!! All that being said, my layout and collection of locos & cars still remain in the transition era, and will be that way until the heirs sell them off on Ebay! ENJOY !!!!! Mobilman44
When the Santa Fe became Santa Fe Industries, it was transparent to most folks. The locos & cars still had the ATSF logos and color schemes and the routes were pretty much the same. Frankly, for this ATSF enthusiast, it was pretty much a non-event.
All that being said, my layout and collection of locos & cars still remain in the transition era, and will be that way until the heirs sell them off on Ebay!
ENJOY !!!!!
Mobilman44
I agree with you. When BNSF came and Santa Fe died, a part of me died with it. I had been brought up in a Santa Fe family, I worked for them summers while going to college/seminary, I worked for them full time in the computer systems department in Topeka in the 60's when the church I was pastoring couldn't afford my salary. Today I model the Santa Fe in the 1989--90 period because I did wanted a little red and silver warbonnet and a lot of blue and yellow warbonnet. There is a BN line, the Avard sub represented on my layout but only because in my time period, the Santa Fe Enid district was abandoned in favor of trackrights from Enid to Avard on the BN.
Bob
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
mobilman44I was not happy to see the Santa Fe & BN "merger" take place, for it put an end to one of my two favorite RR entities - the AT&SF.
And as fate would have it even though I sold BNI at $30 a share (after making about 50% profit), but I just happen to be a Berkshire Hathaway share holder. So it sort of came back to me.
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Jimmydieselfan Santa Fe all the way! Warren Buffet is a self made Billionaire. No money from Daddy and Mummy. I gained alot of respect for him when, on a nationaly televised interview, he said," the lady that cleans out the trash can in my office is taxed at a higher rate than I am" "Theres something wrong with that"" The rich have never had it any better than the last 10 years." He is a billionaire,but he's still down to earth enough to tell it like he sees it. No BS. I like that. This guy is an old school billionaire. Up until a couple years ago he was driving a ten year old Oldsmobile. I'm not sure what he drives now but I bet it cost under $40,000 new.
Santa Fe all the way! Warren Buffet is a self made Billionaire. No money from Daddy and Mummy. I gained alot of respect for him when, on a nationaly televised interview, he said," the lady that cleans out the trash can in my office is taxed at a higher rate than I am" "Theres something wrong with that"" The rich have never had it any better than the last 10 years." He is a billionaire,but he's still down to earth enough to tell it like he sees it. No BS. I like that.
Warren Buffet is a self made Billionaire. No money from Daddy and Mummy. I gained alot of respect for him when, on a nationaly televised interview, he said," the lady that cleans out the trash can in my office is taxed at a higher rate than I am" "Theres something wrong with that"" The rich have never had it any better than the last 10 years." He is a billionaire,but he's still down to earth enough to tell it like he sees it. No BS. I like that.
This guy is an old school billionaire. Up until a couple years ago he was driving a ten year old Oldsmobile. I'm not sure what he drives now but I bet it cost under $40,000 new.
I agree on both counts, Mr. Buffet is an intelligent, down to earth business man, he made his fortune by smartly investing in the right companies. He still lives in a modest home he purchased when he was young, nothing fancy, very middle class. I wish we had more people like him in business and government.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Santa Fe all the way!on a nationally televised interview, he (Warren Buffett) said," the lady that cleans out the trash can in my office is taxed at a higher rate than I am" "Theres something wrong with that"" The rich have never had it any better than the last 10 years."
on a nationally televised interview, he (Warren Buffett) said," the lady that cleans out the trash can in my office is taxed at a higher rate than I am" "Theres something wrong with that"" The rich have never had it any better than the last 10 years."
mononguy63 This is what happens when the REALLY big boys decide they want their own layout!
This is what happens when the REALLY big boys decide they want their own layout!
Well said
Hi!
Like a lot of railroad nuts, I was not happy to see the Santa Fe & BN "merger" take place, for it put an end to one of my two favorite RR entities - the AT&SF. But, that was significantly better than seeing my other favorite RR - the Illinois Central - being bought by the CN. That really bothered me, having a "foreign" company running "my" railroad!
Soooo, having an American Icon (Mr. Buffett) buying the BNSF really makes me smile - for he will certainly be good for the RR, and he keeps the ownership in America!
Please, I'm just stating my thoughts on the situation, and have no desire to argue or push my views on anyone. So if you agree, that's fine. And if you don't, well that's fine too!
ENJOY,
N Scale Diesels......I like 'em
As the Hunt brothers once said, "A million here, a million there. Pretty soon you're talking about real money." Extrapolate that forward 30 years and here we are with Mr Buffet. Crap, he could buy his own Margaritaville in 1 to 1 scale.
$44,000,000,000,00 here, $44,000,000,000.00 there, my, my what to do with all this spare change, does it really mean this guy with more money than most countries in the world really worked that hard to amass this much loot? Maybe my 0.9 share of BNSF will put me up there with Warren baby.
here is the reason for this purchase.
“This is all happening because my father didn’t buy me a train set as a kid,” Mr. Buffett said.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
If you own any BNI stock, this could be better than winning the MR Sweepstakes.
mononguy63This is what happens when the REALLY big boys decide they want their own layout!
Wonder if we can get invited over for an operating session?
Enjoy
Paul
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Apparently Mr. Buffet believes the ol economy is about to flip, and that BNSF is about to become very busy. Good news from my perspective (or prospectus?)
ccarannaWonder if this acquisition will work out better than his purchase of NetJets. But when you're worth $267 billion, what difference does it make.
I keep thinking of the Santa Fe stock I bought through payroll deductions while working for Santa Fe in the 60's developing the first 360 applications in Topeka. I changed employers, moved to KC, sold a lot of my stock to help finance a new house. Oh well!!
Interesting article here http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091103/ap_on_bi_ge/us_berkshire_burlington_northern
It will be interesting to see how this pans out.