Great Lakes and Atlantic-Dream come true?

[GDRMCo]

Junctionfan could you please email me and we could talk about this in private.

[GDRMCo]

Might the australian rail group be called Atlantic Australia, or Pacific North Transport with each state it operating in being called like Pacific North NSW and Pacific North SA and Pacific North NT and Pacific North WA and Pacific North Vic and Pacific North Queensland.

[GDRMCo]

Sure.

[Junctionfan]

I also would like you to be a member of the board.

[Junctionfan]

Absolutely. I am going to consolidate my other railroads with it.

The consolidation will be with ex Rail America owned Freight Australia and ex Genesse and Wyoming owned Australian Railroad Group Pty. Ltd (ARG).

After doing a bit of research, this is going to be one heck of a merger.

[GDRMCo]

I have already posted the idea of calling it Pacific North Queensland, as you can see in my signature I have already done the logo. Well done you are now the owner of queenslands most profitable rail system. Might I order the new locomotives and be CEO of the subsidiary?

[Junctionfan]

I accept. We will need to make the announcement on the freelanced bulletin thread.

I am going to leave it as a subsidiary and name it Queensland Transportation.

[GDRMCo]

Rest assured you will get your money back in 6 months. We operate a fleet of container ships so that all containers will be shipped to you and you can make money using our leasing program over here by leasing the standard gauge locomotives to the NSW rrs and other states as we have finished regauging the track to 3'6" so we can interchange with QR and Pacific National Queensland.

[GDRMCo]

It will set you back $666,000million Aus and serves Cairns, Townsville and all various small towns and villages in North Queensland

[Junctionfan]

What is the offering price?

Which cities or towns does it go to?

[GDRMCo]

The offer is only until December 31 2004

[GDRMCo]

The Great Dividing Range Mining & Manufacturing Company has not been profitable from operating the Rail system and is planning to sell. This would leave GDRM&MCo with having to get commodities brought to it by another operator and this would cost less than having to operate its own RR.

[Junctionfan]

I think I'll buy it next year. I have some railroads from the Rail America or Genesee and Wyoming purchase that might benefit from this.

How come your railroad doesn't want it?

[GDRMCo]

Iron ore, intermodal, export coal, cattle, export produce, sugar cane, a range of minerals including zinc lead and potash, and passengers service

[Junctionfan]

What kind of industries / commodities are on this line?

[GDRMCo]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

Where is the mine rail located?

In Queensland Australia. If you buy/merge with Mine Rail operating here would be like Wisconsin Central operating ATN Access.

[Junctionfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mloik

Uh oh, Junctionfan,

As an expert on weather and climate (and a native of Mississauga, ON), I can see that you're in for a heck of a winter...frozen ports on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, unbelievably frozen switches, snow drifts that defy all plows, &c, &c. This is going to cost you big bucks.

And, just wait until you get my bill as a consultant...

Michael
Ben Lomond, California

No problem, it also means that I'll be running more unit salt trains out of Cleveland, more coal from Toledo and heating fuel from Nanticoke Ontario. The colder and more snow it is, the more profit I make.[:D]

[mloik]

Uh oh, Junctionfan,

As an expert on weather and climate (and a native of Mississauga, ON), I can see that you're in for a heck of a winter...frozen ports on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, unbelievably frozen switches, snow drifts that defy all plows, &c, &c. This is going to cost you big bucks.

And, just wait until you get my bill as a consultant...

Michael
Ben Lomond, California

[Junctionfan]

Where is the mine rail located?

[GDRMCo]

The Mine Rail has acuired some recently rebuilt Auto Maxes which now ride on passenger standard trucks and features three levels which 2 are passenger areas and the other is for baggage. Would this not be a excellent fleet for the passenger runs and tourism? Also we have too many SD70MACs and other locomotives which cannot be retrucked with narrow gauge trucks. We can deliver them right to the railhead where ever you have a intermodal yard on the water seeing as though we operate a fleet of ore boats and heavy transport ships. We could merge the Mine Rail with GA because the GDRM&MCo is going to sell the Mine Rail. The MR could become Pacific North Queensland Rail, a susdiary of GA.

[GDRMCo]

I'll take the Vice President of Motive Power and Leasing. I could employ some of the Mine Rail's lawyers (high priced fellows you win every court case) to fight against the Dewy Cheatam n' Hall lawyers.

[fuzzybroken]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

Even today there's no buisness on the former Milw electric lines or the NSL. I doubt either could have survived any longer than they did. The Sheboygan line is parelleled by the CNW> The Watertown line is parelleled by the MILW road. The MRK line was parelleled by 3 other RRs. The Burlington line has ZERO online industry and the East Troy line has all but dried up. The NSL would have suffered badly from Too much competition and would have been at the mercy of the MILW and the CNW in setting rates.
Why would you deiselize these things anyhow with fuel costs going wild, I think alot of RRs today would like to have some electric RR infrastructure.
Randy

Randy,

Can't disagree with you on these points! TMERL had a little on-line freight traffic, which actually prevented some saving funds from the state legislature, IIRC. The Sheboygan line would not have been part of the package, especially since this line would be hard to reach over streetcar trackage. MRK would have been abandoned soon after the CNSM purchase (parallel track), and the Watertown line may have been abandoned due to lack of traffic by now.

But who knows? Look at the WSOR. They took over a bunch of dead and dying lines, attracted a bunch of customers to add to the relatively few that they had, and are slowly turning the property into a classy railroad! And they have succeeded where predecessors have failed, e.g. MILW/ICG, CM&N, WIWR/CWWR!

So, basically, my theory is as follows: new operators, with a bigger-picture mentality, seize opportunity, make progress and profits where others have not, encourage industrial development (read: customers) along the lines, etc. And heck, if nothing else, it's a dream in my head, and committed to a few pieces of paper scattered here and there amongst the pages of books, magazines, and atlases...

This is fun! [swg]
-Mark
"Milwaukee Central RR"
http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken

[Junctionfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

I need signalmen, train crews, mow crews, office staff, police. Since I operate in Canada as well as the U.S it might be several than just the four unions. Any recommendations on how I should do this?

I think you need to read into this more and make some decisions based upon your research. There is no "right" answer. Just remember that the choices you make may have consequences such as strikes or jurisdictional disputes that will cost you money in the long term. These are just part of the problems you will face and although you will have Labor Relations and General Counsel (and their staff) to help you, the ultimate decision will rest with you. We are literally talking about large stakes so it is a CEO decision.

Also, I question your need for a police department. RR police are very expensive and don't produce any revuene. Why have them at all? Your insurance rates will be significantly higher for liability coverage with armed police on staff. Insurers see police and think "Rodney King"...

LC

Which unions have a history of poor negotiations and which ones are good at negotiations?

What is the railroad to do about security?

[Randy Stahl]

If you think you need all those unions, you need to can your managers. In my view a class one is the only one that really needs unions, because class ones don't give a damn about the employees
Randy

[Anonymous]

You might do better starting with a smaller railroad and working larger rather than building such a large system right out of the gate.

LC

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

I need signalmen, train crews, mow crews, office staff, police. Since I operate in Canada as well as the U.S it might be several than just the four unions. Any recommendations on how I should do this?

I think you need to read into this more and make some decisions based upon your research. There is no "right" answer. Just remember that the choices you make may have consequences such as strikes or jurisdictional disputes that will cost you money in the long term. These are just part of the problems you will face and although you will have Labor Relations and General Counsel (and their staff) to help you, the ultimate decision will rest with you. We are literally talking about large stakes so it is a CEO decision.

Also, I question your need for a police department. RR police are very expensive and don't produce any revuene. Why have them at all? Your insurance rates will be significantly higher for liability coverage with armed police on staff. Insurers see police and think "Rodney King"...

LC

[Junctionfan]

I need signalmen, train crews, mow crews, office staff, police. Since I operate in Canada as well as the U.S it might be several than just the four unions. Any recommendations on how I should do this?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

Who should I keep and who should I can?

What would suggest about the unions? What dictates which union has jurisdiction and where?

It isn't so much a question of who to keep or can, it should be a question of whom is on the board to begin with. You need to carefully analyze how your company was formed and who has ownership (equity) interest and how much. Remember it is the equity that elects the directors. You also need to decide if your company will have "straight" voting or "cumulative" voting of shares as this can dramatically affect who is elected director. Then you need to pick whom is likely to be elected by each group of equity holders and you have some idea what the composition of the Board will be.

As to Unions I suggest you take a look at some of their websites such as www.ble.org, www.utu.org, www.bmwe.org, www.brs.org and others to answer the jurisdictional question.

LC

[Junctionfan]

Who should I keep and who should I can?

What would suggest about the unions? What dictates which union has jurisdiction and where?