So who will get GE's locomotive business?
No way DOJ allows Cat to buy GE and have a monopoly on the locomotive business. No way the Big 4 sit back and allow that happen too, they want competition when ordering locomotives, not being dictated a price per unit.
Siemens and Alstom may still being to digest the merger, but they would not let such a once in a lifetime oppurtunity pass without bidding on it. Bombardier doesn't have the money to bid.
Why would they do that he also owns 50% of Heinz Kraft foods a big chunk of Coke stock Geico Insurance Dairy Queen and several hundred other compaines he is invested in. He is in the process of buying the Pilot Truckstop chain out also. So in a couple years he is going to own the 2nd largest Railroad and the Largest truckstop chain in the nation.
kgbw49Well, if a certain Oracle decides to purchase it and puts the corporate family stamp on it, every railroad in America will be using Berkshire locomotives once again! Actually, world-wide there is a lot of railroad building still occurring, expecially in countries that don't have well developed multi-lane road systems. And it is a business that is understandable, which is supposed to be another important criteria for acquisitions by the Oracle. So who knows? Now, if they can also get the rights to the branding for Superpower...
Actually, world-wide there is a lot of railroad building still occurring, expecially in countries that don't have well developed multi-lane road systems.
And it is a business that is understandable, which is supposed to be another important criteria for acquisitions by the Oracle.
So who knows? Now, if they can also get the rights to the branding for Superpower...
I have the feeling if the Oracle were to buy the GE Locomotive business, DOJ would instruct hime to sell BNSF - restraint of trade and all that
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Well, if a certain Oracle decides to purchase it and puts the corporate family stamp on it, every railroad in America will be using Berkshire locomotives once again!
ROBERT WILLISON For getting to exit the business they have to find a buyer. Emd/ cat. A long shot?
For getting to exit the business they have to find a buyer. Emd/ cat. A long shot?
One can only hope. I mean that it's a long shot. Most of my co-workers aren't impressed with current EMDs. I am coming around to that view, too. At least the current crop of SD70ACe variants don't have the back door vibrating open every couple of miles like the first batches.
Jeff
10 to 1 it will be a private equity aqusition .. I wonder what the new name will be :)
Kohler could be another possible suitor ..
ROBERT WILLISONFor getting to exit the business they have to find a buyer. Emd/ cat. A long shot?
What would antitrust laws say if Caterpillar would own EMD and GE?Regards, Volker
This could be a good way for GM to re enter the business
Brian SchmidtNews Wire: GE seeks to sells locomotive-building business, focus on three core industries CHICAGO – General Electric announced plans on Monday to focus on three core industries – aviation, power, and healthcare – leading to the sale of its GE Transportation division and its locomotive product line within two years, the C... http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/11/13-ge-seeks-to-sells-locomotive-building-business
CHICAGO – General Electric announced plans on Monday to focus on three core industries – aviation, power, and healthcare – leading to the sale of its GE Transportation division and its locomotive product line within two years, the C...
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/11/13-ge-seeks-to-sells-locomotive-building-business
Sounds like GE is following in the steps of Sears/K-Mart - sell off what is salable and circle the drain with the rest.
News Wire: GE seeks to sells locomotive-building business, focus on three core industries
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
Any chance this will help Cat (EMD} sales?
Seeing as they plan to stay in business....
And given the current administration's antipathy for that company, would it get approved?
A possibility for a buyer would be Bombardier, since the GE diesel portfolio complements theirs (mostly electric traction). A question is, does Bombardier have the money for such a move? The aerospace department is dragging down the whole group.
N.F.
As much as I hate Caterpillar, I would love to see them get GE locomotives if it gets put on the block. It will be the only part getting put on the block, certainly not the jet engine side....
I've been a GM fan all my life but I was PO'ed when they let GE overtake them and when they spun it off.
Least Caterpillar picking up GE locomotives as well will keep an industrial base for railroad supplies in the USA where it belongs...............
I'll dare anyone to put their foreign locomotives thru the freight tonnage they go thru here in the states and dare them to stay together.
I would be quite surprised to see Siemens-Alstom going after GE Transportation, as they are quite busy trying to merge themselves until the end of 2018...
How about a different angle, which I've been thinking about lately.
Quietly, China and India have been pursuing their own railroad technology, which would make sense, particularly for China. We can simply not expect a nation like that not to have their own suppliers and developers. Naturally, there is more competition than ever in the world for large industrial products: locomotives are no exception.
I think what we're seeing play out is a realignmnet from multiple western firms grinding it out amongst themselves to a pivot where they must face their new eastern competitors. GE and EMD can't rely on export contracts since China's firms are more than willing to bid, and bid low.
Recently, we learned at Altsom and Siemens are planning to merge their transportation businesses, creating one of the largest - if not the largest - railroad suppiers in the West - with the stated intention of doing it to go up against increasing competition from China.
I would not be at all shocked if there was further consolidation of the railroad supply business. EMD seems safe under Caterpillar, but if GE's locomotive business is about to be orphaned, I'd think Siemens is a likely pickup candidate, which would give them a firm foothold with which to battle it out with their new rivals.
Siemens is a proven railway suppier already, obviously, and as I recall, has been furnishing equipment for GE and/or EMD for years.
Could we be seeing the rise of a new signalling, train-control, and locomotive empire?
The market will decide, but I sure think it's sliding that way!
Per Paul of Covington's comment...
I think Ed King wasn't the only one saying that at the time.
It reminds me of my boss when I worked for a gun company. He had a lot of high-powered contacts who were always inviting him to buy into whatever enterprises they were looking at, and he always refused. Why?
Well, as he put it "I understand the business I'm in, at least I think I understand it. I don't understand these other things I'm invited to get into, so I'd rather not. Better to stick with what you know than try to learn something else the hard way."
It struck me as very wise. It's why I've never believed in the concept of the "interchangeable executive." Sounds good in theory, but doesn't necessarily work in practice.
Shadow the Cats ownerWe just hired his new apprentice fresh out of UTI which is supposed to be a good tech school. This kid doesn't know what the hell he is doing in the shop.
I'm sure when that mechanic first hired with a shop the old timers complained he didn't know what the hell he was doing, either. Nobody is born into a vocation.
I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll have to say it again: I've known managers with experience, and those that hired out of college. There were ones from each avenue that were great, and others that sucked. It's not a condition for success or failure either way. So let's stop with the gross generalizations. They should be beneath us.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
BaltACD Even when I was in college in the late 60's there was a theory floating around that if you were 'trained to manage' you could 'manage' any enterprise without having to understand the fundamentals of that particular enterprise. Can't say that I agreed with it then or now.
The same idea has been applied to OTR driving when it comes to dispatching. My senior drivers and my husband can tell you horror stories about their college educated ones that could not figure out why they got laughed right out of the drivers room with some of their demands. My husband had one that wanted my FIL and him to go overnight from LA to Chicago I am not talking Lousiana when my hubby asked where the cargo plane was for the truck to load it on the dispatcher said it was only 2 inches on the map they could be there by 9 am when it was 4 PM at the time. They were not loaded yet and 2000 miles away yet. What became of said moron he married the bosses daughter and now runs that company and wonders why he has a 400 percent turnover rate.
These kids that go to college forget that the people that have been in the real world know more than they ever were taught. I have a mechanic in the shop that can tear down an engine rebuild it in a week and that includes hot tanking it to remove the crud from a failed EGR cooler. We just hired his new apprentice fresh out of UTI which is supposed to be a good tech school. This kid doesn't know what the hell he is doing in the shop.
Paul of Covington There was an editorial piece in Trains, I think by Ed King and I think around the early or mid '90's, that really stuck in my mind because at the time I felt that I was living with the result of what he was talking about. He mentioned that traditionally companies had promoted from within, and after working their way up through the ranks, by the time they reached the upper levels of management, they had a thorough understanding of the business. But many young people wanted to start right at the top, so colleges obliged by starting to teach management as a separate course. Now, many managers know about formulas (formulae?) and how to plug the numbers in, but don't understand the basic business. Think obsession with one formula like operating ratio. That was a long time ago so my memory may be clouded a little, and I may have added to it a little with my own opinions, but I think it's close to what he said.
That was a long time ago so my memory may be clouded a little, and I may have added to it a little with my own opinions, but I think it's close to what he said.
Even when I was in college in the late 60's there was a theory floating around that if you were 'trained to manage' you could 'manage' any enterprise without having to understand the fundamentals of that particular enterprise. Can't say that I agreed with it then or now.
There was an editorial piece in Trains, I think by Ed King and I think around the early or mid '90's, that really stuck in my mind because at the time I felt that I was living with the result of what he was talking about. He mentioned that traditionally companies had promoted from within, and after working their way up through the ranks, by the time they reached the upper levels of management, they had a thorough understanding of the business. But many young people wanted to start right at the top, so colleges obliged by starting to teach management as a separate course. Now, many managers know about formulas (formulae?) and how to plug the numbers in, but don't understand the basic business. Think obsession with one formula like operating ratio.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
MiningmanMore important for the decisions are the prospective development and eventually necessary investments. Regards, Volker Oh...you mean like marriage! ( which actually is the most important economic decision you make in your lifetime ...who you choose to marry) Or guessing about the future and using rationale thought to justify that and more often than not blows up in your face.
Regards, Volker
Oh...you mean like marriage! ( which actually is the most important economic decision you make in your lifetime ...who you choose to marry)
Or guessing about the future and using rationale thought to justify that and more often than not blows up in your face.
Artists and Financiers see things in their minds that others don't Artists commit their visions to paint & canvas or movies or statuary - Financiers see things in numbers that others don't - successful ones profit, those without success go bankrupt. Any wonder that a high number of both meet their ends at their own hands. Seeing beyond reality must be maddening.
I’ve seen a few comments in this thread talking about aviation. Just to be clear - GE Transportation is rail, mining, and marine. Aviation was moved into its own business (GE Aviation) several years ago.
More important for the decisions are the prospective development and eventually necessary investments.Regards, Volker
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.