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[Mikeygaw]

id guess the Borg and BNSF would carve up KCS like NS and CSX did to Conrail

[Anonymous]

The biggest four institutional investors in BNSF, are also the biggest four institutional investors in KCS/NaftaRail, CSX, and CN. Follow the money and do the math! Anschutz Corp. has been the biggest institutional investor in UP ever since the UP/SP merger, and has been steadily buying bigger chunks of stock in both CP, NS, and FerroMex. Although individual executives may have many friends and business associates in various of the opposing camps (A lot of BNSF execs like many of the NS execs, etc.), the rapidly evolving changes in major stock ownership percentages by the big multi-billion dollar institutional investors seem to be pointing the way towards Wall Street's preferred combinations leading towards two large continent-wide mega-systems (with many more new short-line spin-offs feeding low-margin traffic to the mainlines of the two resultant mega-systems), so that the major mainline mega-systems will finally earn their needed cost-of-capital AND have the massive savings (from far fewer mainline interchanges AND far fewer top and middle level management personnel) lead towards an eventual operating ratio in the 50 percent range! (CN/IC is already down to 64 percent!)

Best Wishes from Ross R. Moore, Jr.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

This is my opinion and only my opinion -- I do not want to ever see any more mergers ! ! ! NONE ! ! ! NO MORE MERGERS ! ! !

The only way a merger should ever be approved is if the merged road would have to declare bankruptcy and cease operations.

Mergers create chaos within the railroad community. People lose their jobs. And cities lose rail service. Enough is enough, NO MORE ! ! !

I agree completely with you jhhtrainsplanes (then again, you're always right anyway)! As a concerned citizen, mergers are bad. As a railfan, mergers are worse. Seriously, does anybody see anything ironic with a railroad called Canadian National going to the Gulf of Mexico?![%-)]

All mergers do are give me fewer paint schemes to look at, and increase my daily alotment of BNSF Heritage II! Of course, as you can probably tell from my earlier postings on the forum, I like Union Pacific. But I like Union Pacific, not UP/CP/CSX/whatever!!!! What would we call it anyway? Chesapeake Canadian Union and Pacific. Somehow I don't like CCU&P as much as the current railroads! It seems the only railroads that are safe are Union Pacific (it's at the top of the merger food-chain, it seems) and the Cumbres and Toltec (nobody wants a narrow gauge line with four percent grades and 20 degree turns)! (Oh yeah--they're going to have a tough time merging my model railroad into their systems!) But humor asside, this is going to far!!!! The STB (and before it the ICC) exists to prevent monopolies, but if these megamergers happen, there will be a lot more captive shippers, not to mention a lot of railfans who miss the old lines. However, there will be one good thing in all of this: Classic Trains will have a lot more things to talk about in Fallen Flags Remembered. Is this what we want? Certainly not. We don't want the next generation of railfans to say, "I'm a CCU&P fan," now do we? The mighty Pennsylvania (the "standard railroad of the world") used to own the Norfolk and Western. Now, what was the N&W (before it merged with a lot of lines) owns what once was the Pennsy. Here's a solution: make jhhtrainsplanes, SuperChiefFan, and a few others the STB.

STOP THE MERGERS

Most un-mergedly yours,
Daniel

[732mpd]

I look for the BNSF to swallow up the KCS. The UP needs to get its house in order before any more merger talk. When I worked for the Norfolk & Western back in the early 70s, I worked with a fellow who told me that someday there would only be 4-5 major RRs in the USA. Back then I thought to myself what has he been smokin?? But what a visionary, I have long since lost touch with all of the guys I worked with back then but I wish I could run across Bill and hear what his thoughts are now.

[Anonymous]

Well , ........No matter how I voted , The way that I'm seeing things now , Is that being from Wisconsin the class 1s are starting to look like we're living in Canada now . With the golden rodent & the wet noodle roaming around all over kind of makes me lose my appetite a little. But I'll survive. I voted UP / NS , To make the east /west conection a little more uniform like.

[Anonymous]

The UP doesn't merge, it devowers!!!!! But seriously, I think next to fall will be KCS, then CSX and NS. UP and BNSF will be it.

[cpbloom]

I think UP will "devour" CSX forcing NS and BNSF to "merge".

[Anonymous]

MERGERS MAKE ME SICK!!!!!! Railfans can't even enjoy B&O Royal Blue or the Burlington's blackbird diesels because of these stinkin' mergers! Mergers have taken all of the character and romance out of the railroads,and I HATE IT!!!!! SPLIT UP UP,NS, CSX, AND BNSF!!!!!!
[:(!][:(!][}:)][banghead]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Lone Byrd

Hey you never know....CSX and UP??? BNSF and UP or none... (DING-DING-DING Round 1 MERGE!!)

Mergers should only happen when a railroad is bankrupt or in need. even though its 2004, I still think that Conrail should only had merged with one railroad....[banghead][sigh]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cjm89

MERGERS MAKE ME SICK!!!!!! Railfans can't even enjoy B&O Royal Blue or the Burlington's blackbird diesels because of these stinkin' mergers! Mergers have taken all of the character and romance out of the railroads,and I HATE IT!!!!! SPLIT UP UP,NS, CSX, AND BNSF!!!!!!
[:(!][:(!][}:)][banghead]

Same here!

[jeffhergert]

In an old Modern Railroads magazine from the mid 1960s a panel discussion of the state of railroading in the year 2000 had half the panel saying there would be 4 major class 1s, the other half saying just 2.
I think eventually UP/CSX and BNSF/NS will happen. I think right now it is not a priority for the class 1s and that no one wants to go first. It's easier to defend your merger by saying," we have to because they did."

[Anonymous]

[}:)]This new "UP" is not even the original!Its the MO=Pac officials taking over the UP.I want the FAKE UP to dissolve back into the REAL UP[^]!*Sighs*[V]but that will never happen the Mo-Pac will never stop eatin n lyin!

[TrainFreak409]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

This is my opinion and only my opinion -- I do not want to ever see any more mergers ! ! ! NONE ! ! ! NO MORE MERGERS ! ! !

The only way a merger should ever be approved is if the merged road would have to declare bankruptcy and cease operations.

Mergers create chaos within the railroad community. People lose their jobs. And cities lose rail service. Enough is enough, NO MORE ! ! !

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU JIM!

[8]TrainFreak409[8]

[Anonymous]

I think the next merger will be between BNSF and KCS, because it seems KCS is picking up busness but BNSF is doing much much better.

[Anonymous]

If you ask me there shouldnt be any mergers.
But I think it will end up being Csx-Ns.

I wi***hat CSX and NS didnt take over Conrail. I think it should have been Conrail taking over CSX&NS

Any other Conrail fans out there think the same?