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A fascinating thread of good questions and knowledgeable responses. Railroads and baseball ... endless opportunities for "what-if's" and "if only's"! "If only" the ICC hadn't taken twelve years mulling over UP-CRIP. Endless possibilites can be hypothesized about the railroad map had that merger been approved. I won't do that, but rather offer the comment that UP's acquisition of MP was central to UP's current strength. MP was the dominant "chemical coast" carrier in the '60's, '70's and '80's, complementing and enhancing UP's foundational soda ash franchise. Second, MP served many coal-burning power plants throughout its territory. This provided a natural market for Wyoming PRB coal that UP knew it would access through CNW's PRB access. UP-MP was a classically strategic franchise-enhancing merger. (One wishes more record existed of the CEO/Chairman thinking about mergers. What was the thinking in the late 1970's at BN and MP, for example? BN-SLSF was in the works, but why not, rather, BN-MP? (Perhaps because it would have be MP-BN?) BN's franchise in the PRB would have been strenghthened and the MP's chemical business would have be an invaluable enhancement, for BN (and BNSF to this day) had a very weak chemical base.)
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