General Discussion (Model Railroader)

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.

ccaranna:

Wonder 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!!

Bob

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?)

This is what happens when the REALLY big boys decide they want their own layout!

mononguy63:

This 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

If you own any BNI stock, this could be better than winning the MR Sweepstakes.

Bob

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

$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.

 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.

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.

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.

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,

Mobilman44