What RR line in the US has had the highest number of owners as in bought and sold many times? And I don't mean the number of owners/investors of one line at the same time.
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Interesting question. Some threshold clarifications:
Within or during what time frame ?
Would you count a merger as such an event ?
Would you count a foreclosure or bankruptcy sale and corporate reorganization as such as event ? Those events typically replaced the former stockholders with the former bondholders, and changed the name from Railroad to Railway, or vice-versa, etc.
I suspect the 'winner' would be a short-line in either the MidWest or the Deep South that was amalgamated into a Class I system during the 'regulated" era, was spun-off during the 1980's, and then was re-acquired as part of a modern acquisition by one of the Big 7 US railroads during the 1990's and later. But we'll see . . .
- Paul North.
I'll throw out a nomination: the Chicago & Alton. I'm not sure about its pre-GM&O history, but I'd suggest that B&O control was probably distinct from C&A, or just Alton (somebody can set us straight on that).
Of course, it became part of the GM&O in the late 1940s. Then Illinois Central Gulf in 1972, but that's a merger and probably doesn't count, since the whole GM&O was swallowed up.
However, its spinoff to Chicago, Missouri & Western has to count, as does its transfer (after bankruptcy) to SPCSL (or, alternatively, to the Gateway Western). The absorption of SPCSL by UP or the GWWR by KCS probably wouldn't count, either--but I've gotten at least four for this stretch.
Carl
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I'm betting some shortline would take the honors (or be close). There's a couple near here that change hands more than most guys change their underwear.
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The winner within a timeframe of the past 40 or so years has to be the old Milwaukee Road trackage westward from Chicago to Kansas City.
It was the Milwaukee Road up until 1985, merged into the Soo Line after that. For a time it was the CP "Heavy Haul" Division until it was sold off to the I&M Rail Link in 1997. The IMRL only lasted five years until the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern took over in 2002. The IC&E and the DM&E sort of combined after the CP bought them both. Now the lines are probably officially the DM&E, but under CP ownership. Actually there is a stretch of trackage from Muscatine, IA to Washington (I think) that was originally Rock Island trackage--until the MILW bought it after the CRIP went bankrupt--and follows all that same ownership as above. So that would be six different owners over the past 30 years, and seven for the stretch that was originally the RI trackage in eastern Iowa.
Lance
The rail line running from Davis Junction, IL through Rockford, Beloit WI and Janesville has had a number of modern day ownership changes. The 1921 Miluaukee Road valuation charts put the line in the Racine and Southwestern Division. I am not sure if the line was actually built by the MILW or predecessor Racine, Janesville and Mississippi.
At any rate, in 1986 the line was acquired by Canadian Pacific's U.S. subsidiary Soo Line. In 1997, the Soo Line sold the line to I&M Rail Link. In 2002 the Line was sold to Cedar American Rail Holdings operated under the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern flag as a sister company to the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern. Then in 2007 the Canadian Pacific reacquired the line when it purchased the Cedar American properties.
At the time of the last change, IC&E was merged into DM&E and Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation now formally exists as a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited which is the parent of the operating railroad entities.
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Without doing an exhuastive title search for each and every line segment we will never know.
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LWales The winner within a timeframe of the past 40 or so years has to be the old Milwaukee Road trackage westward from Chicago to Kansas City. It was the Milwaukee Road up until 1985, merged into the Soo Line after that. For a time it was the CP "Heavy Haul" Division until it was sold off to the I&M Rail Link in 1997. The IMRL only lasted five years until the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern took over in 2002. The IC&E and the DM&E sort of combined after the CP bought them both. Now the lines are probably officially the DM&E, but under CP ownership. Actually there is a stretch of trackage from Muscatine, IA to Washington (I think) that was originally Rock Island trackage--until the MILW bought it after the CRIP went bankrupt--and follows all that same ownership as above. So that would be six different owners over the past 30 years, and seven for the stretch that was originally the RI trackage in eastern Iowa. Lance
Between Clinton and Davenport that was originally the Davenport, Rock Island and Northwestern, aka the Dri Line. Jointly owned by the CB&Q and the MILW. MILW had trackage rights over it.
Between Davenport and Washington was original RI. Before the RI shut down the MILW had rights Davenport to Muscatine. After shutdown the MILW bought this line and from Muscatine to Washington. Muscatine to Washington was originally built by the Mississippi and Missouri RR, one of RI's Iowa predecessor lines.
Jeff
Hmm, for Locomotives, Railpace magazine used a notation of x-count, to indicate ownership - for example, an owernship trace of a hypothetical GP35 could be LTEX, ex-NS, exx-CR, exxx-PC, exxxx-PRR - thus, say the Northeast corridor in NJ could be AMTK, ex-CR, exx-PC, exxx-PRR...and that brings up a different question - when should you cut off ownership (for example, prior to 1900), and should you include routes that were surveyed, graded, and eventually built by various companies as they came and went bust, only for the route to be brought out by different companies?
jeaton The rail line running from Davis Junction, IL through Rockford, Beloit WI and Janesville has had a number of modern day ownership changes. The 1921 Miluaukee Road valuation charts put the line in the Racine and Southwestern Division. I am not sure if the line was actually built by the MILW or predecessor Racine, Janesville and Mississippi. At any rate, in 1986 the line was acquired by Canadian Pacific's U.S. subsidiary Soo Line. In 1997, the Soo Line sold the line to I&M Rail Link. In 2002 the Line was sold to Cedar American Rail Holdings operated under the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern flag as a sister company to the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern. Then in 2007 the Canadian Pacific reacquired the line when it purchased the Cedar American properties. At the time of the last change, IC&E was merged into DM&E and Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation now formally exists as a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited which is the parent of the operating railroad entities.
Actually the Milwaukee Road never owned the portion from Rockford down to Davis Junction, IL. The segment was built by a predecessor of the Chicago, Burlington & Qunicy and the Milwaukee Road had trackage rights from Rockford southward. Before the 1981 cutbacks, the Milwakee Road ran on the CB&Q/BN all the way down to Flagg Center and then through Rochelle down to Steward where they once again had their own line down through Mendota to Ladd, IL. After the line south toward Mendota was abandoned, they only ran northward from Davis Junction up to Rockford--where their own line continued through Beloit, WI and up to Janesville. So on the line south out of Rockford the CB&Q/BN/BNSF/Illinois RailNet, now Illinois Railway owned the trackage and the MILW/SOO/CP/I&M Rail Link/IC&E/DM&E/CP had trackage rights. And the old IC mainline through Rockford was then operated by the Illinois Central Gulf/Chicago Central & Pacific/Illinois Central/Canadian National.
Lines that were other railroads merged in the New York Central.
NYC-PC-CR-NS or CSX
Then the lines were spun off by NS and CSX into shortlines.
Those would be examples of many owners.
Andrew
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