Which railroad's flag is going to fall next?

[Anonymous]

Although AMTK doesn't really fit with the rest, it still has potential to go away, so I stuck it in there anyway. If you vote, include why you chose that RR.

[coborn35]

You forgot SOO LINE properties. I.E Canadian Pacific etc

[Anonymous]

Alright the vote options have been altered to include the Mexican and Canadian railways, so everyone can be happy now.

[trainboyH16-44]

Well, a few there have already fallen. SOO is now CP, they were officially merged a little while ago, I think. CP always had a major holding.
GTW has been CN for a looong time now..
And, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't KCS do something with TFM to make it not exist anymore?

[Kevin C. Smith]

I think it's going to be one of the big US lines-BNSF, CSX, NS or UP-not one of the smaller ones. If it's one of the two eastern carriers, I think they would approach UP-and, when the dust settles, it WON'T be the UP name to go away. They've hung onto that since Day One, I can't imagine they're going to erase it in the future. If BNSF goes after someone, I think they might try CSX. Once the battles are joined, I would think that UP would want NS and will fight for it. Unless CSX can get the upper hand with NS before the news breaks, I don't think BNSF is going to want to get involved in a war with Uncle Pete. Just try to get as many conditions & concessions as they can.

I don't think the smaller roads will really fall until after that. Firstly, no one knows how well they will fit into a post-transcon merger world and, secondly, they are big enough to spend their own time bogged down in the usual court and regulatory machinations of a merger. If one of the big east or west lines is busy with that, they're going to have an overflowing plate when someone else fires the starting gun on the transcontinental mergers.

Not prophecy! Just guessing!!

[Anonymous]

I am aware of the CP's possession of SOO stock. The SOO is a subsidiary of the CP which serves as the US leg of the CP, but as the years slip by, just about everything SOO has been repainted in CP schemes erasing the SOO as a subsidiary operation.

The GTW like the SOO, is a subsidiary of another railroad, the CN in this case, and therefore its own operation, although since 1995 the GT logo and name have been largely replaced by CNs, just like the SOO.

I believe TFM was sold to KCS by TMM, but KCS and TFM are still to remain as separate corporations. KCS is still run out of Kansas City and runs the US part of the line, while TFM is still run out of Mexico City and operates the North-east part of Mexico. "The combination of KCS and TFM creates the most efficient shipping route between the U.S. and Mexico." (taken from the Grupo TMM site)

So I suppose TFM, SOO, and GTW don’t really fit in this poll, but neither does Amtrak.

[nssr9169]

BNSF why your ask, I just don't like them!

[route_rock]

Are we talking fallen flag or merger? A fallen flag to me is someone whos gone defunct not merged into a super system.
And to anwer the poll.... M none of the above STB isnt allowing mergers just to merge. Railroads stock is up(unless your CN) and traffic is good wht ruin a good thing?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by route_rock

Are we talking fallen flag or merger? A fallen flag to me is someone whos gone defunct not merged into a super system.
And to anwer the poll.... M none of the above STB isnt allowing mergers just to merge. Railroads stock is up(unless your CN) and traffic is good wht ruin a good thing?

Read the poll question it says "through merger or bankruptcy" etc.

I'm not trying to "ruin a good thing", this is just a poll. I'm not talking about what will happen to the railroads in the next few months, I mean in the next few decades. Do you really think in 30 years from now all of the major Class Is will still be around? That's what I meant to address with this poll.

[Anonymous]

I think its going to be Kansas City Southern tell you the truth, its the smallest of the class I railroads and would certainly be a tie breaker between BNSF and UP

[wctransfer]

Actually the SOO's engines arent being repainted like you think! None of the SD60s have been touched, most of the GP38-2s havent been touched. The only stuff that was repainted soon was the SD40-2s. Plus, the CP still sells SOO Line stuff at the company stores, and they havent ERASED anything really. SOO LINE is still on most the bridges too.

Alec

[Trainmaster.Curt]

Yeah, Central Manitoba Railway has acquired an ex SOO-Line SD40 738

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=149912

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=147864

[espeefoamer]

Union Pacific. It is now so large and cumbersome it will soon collapse under its own weight.

[Lord Atmo]

UP has as much of a potential to die out as any other class 1. if there is ever a senator who decides to break the class 1s up through legislatures, UP will be the first target. but i dont think UP will be buying out any other class 1s. the government would never allow it. i mean how big can a corporation get before the government steps in and says "you cant get any bigger or you would be a monopoly". i KNOW that they wont be able to merge with BNSF for those reasons alone

my guess would be the next move, if any, would be BNSF buying out KCS. then they'd be about the same size as UP. and it's good to have a balance between 2 railroad corporations of the same size

[Anonymous]

<BLOCKQUOTE><table class="quoteOuterTable"><tr><td class="txt4"><img src="/trccs/Themes/default/images/icon-quote.gif">&nbsp;<strong>Lord Atmo wrote:</strong></td></tr><tr><td class="quoteTable"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="100%" valign="top" class="txt4">UP has as much of a potential to die out as any other class 1. if there is ever a senator who decides to break the class 1s up through legislatures, UP will be the first target. but i dont think UP will be buying out any other class 1s. the government would never allow it. i mean how big can a corporation get before the government steps in and says "you cant get any bigger or you would be a monopoly". i KNOW that they wont be able to merge with BNSF for those reasons alone<br><br>my guess would be the next move, if any, would be BNSF buying out KCS. then they'd be about the same size as UP. and it's good to have a balance between 2 railroad corporations of the same size<br></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

You can only have a monoploy when one area is only served by one railroad, since UP and BNSF, CSX and NS pretty much follow their respective reglional competator a east meets west merge wouldn't be a monoploy because there would still be a least one other price from another shipper.
There is no reason why the goverment would break up UP. At its very core the anti-trust laws where made to allow start up companies to compet on a market. When Class 1 spin off branch lines they are starting new companies. Thus, new comapnes can compet and exsist, thus, there is no violation of the anti-trust laws.