Railroad History Quiz Game (Come on in and play)

[Murphy Siding]

Weren't all of PRR's lines west of New England?

  Now that you mention it.......

[KCSfan]

Most fans are familiar with the SR's streamlined Southerner which ran between New York and New Orleans. Well into the 1950's (maybe until some time in the '60's) another railroad had a train named the Southerner. What was the route of the other Southerner and on what railroad did it run?

Mark

[al-in-chgo]

Most fans are familiar with the SR's streamlined Southerner which ran between New York and New Orleans. Well into the 1950's (maybe until some time in the '60's) another railroad had a train named the Southerner. What was the route of the other Southerner and on what railroad did it run?

Mark

I'm stumped.   

[KCSfan]

First hint. The railroad that ran the other Southerner is today a part of the UP.

Mark 

[al-in-chgo]

First hint. The railroad that ran the other Southerner is today a part of the UP.

Mark 

Espee? 

[CShaveRR]

I'll be very embarrassed if it turns out to be the CNW, but I'm going to guess Katy.

Sometimes it's a b***h not being allowed to look things up!

[KCSfan]

Sorry not the SP, CNW or Katy. Keep guessing.

Mark

[J. Edgar]

 MP from St.Louis to Texas...???..mebbe...?

[KCSfan]

 MP from St.Louis to Texas...???..mebbe...?

Close enough! The other Southerner was MoPac No's. 7 & 8 that ran between St. Louis and Texarkana. It carried two sleepers, St. Louis - Little Rock and Chicago - Hot Springs (in a GM&O train north of St. Louis). Its consist also included through coaches between St.L and El Paso and between St.L and San Antonio. Below Texarkana the through cars were carried in a connecting train, the Texas and Pacific's Westerner. The El Paso cars ran all the way between Texarkana and El Paso on the T&P. The San Antonio coaches ran on the T&P only to Longview and then over the MoPac owned International Great Northern between Longview and San Antonio.

Your turn to ask a question J. Edgar.

Mark

[J. Edgar]

wow shot in the dark.......

 

ok digging deep now.....Col. William C. Faulkner was\is a well known author of American literature in the 1850's and 60's with such novels as The White Rose of Memphis....he also started a railroad...this line became a major player by the turn of the century (1900)....thru mergers and such this line became known as the  _____  _____ & ____.....as a hint....John Luther Jones a.k.a. Casey jones got his start on this line....

[Murphy Siding]

     Alex:  What is Gulf, Mobile & Ohio?

[J. Edgar]

gee and i thought it was a hard one.....good job...you got it.....

 

i would have excepted the Gulf Moblie & Northern too

[al-in-chgo]

     Alex:  What is Gulf, Mobile & Ohio?

Looks like your turn, Muph.  Are you expecting "Jeopardy" style answers worded as questions?  - a. s.

[al-in-chgo]

Warning:  If someone doesn't post a question here pretty soon, I just might do it myself!!  - al

[J. Edgar]

lol...your not thinkin of line jumping are ya?.....

[Murphy Siding]

     Alex:  What is Gulf, Mobile & Ohio?

Looks like your turn, Muph.  Are you expecting "Jeopardy" style answers worded as questions?  - a. s.

You mean my Wild a_ _ed guess was correct?  Who would have thought?  I knew Casey Jones was on the IC.  GM&O was the next closest line in my mind.

     Go ahead Al.  Be my guest.

[al-in-chgo]

     Alex:  What is Gulf, Mobile & Ohio?

Looks like your turn, Muph.  Are you expecting "Jeopardy" style answers worded as questions?  - a. s.

You mean my Wild a_ _ed guess was correct?  Who would have thought?  I knew Casey Jones was on the IC.  GM&O was the next closest line in my mind.

     Go ahead Al.  Be my guest.

Thanks, Murph.  (See, I don't "line jump," at least not without permission!). 

This is one people will know or not: 

North America has seven Class One railroads.   Of them: 

Name the two that have moved headquarters to a brand new city during or after the mega-mergers and acquisitions of the 1980s and do not operate under a premerger name. 

Name two that have kept their ancestral name and headquarters notwithstanding the mergers and acquisitions of that period.  

Name the one that has kept the headquarters of one of its premerger entities but operates under a new name. 

Name the one that has kept its ancestral name and headquarters and for which mergers and acquisitions were not a factor.   

And finally, name the one that uses a heritage name but moved its headquarters during this period. 

And for all RR systems, please give their headquarters! 

Hint:  Conrail Shared Assets doesn't count. 

GOOD LUCK!! 

[Murphy Siding]

     Al-can you tag numbers on each question please?  Easier on the eyes-and the brain.  Thanks.

[al-in-chgo]

     Al-can you tag numbers on each question please?  Easier on the eyes-and the brain.  Thanks.

Roger Wilco!  Let's pose the question again with question numbers. I also realized that one of the questions was a little ambiguous so I tightened up the language.  So here's the Question:  

North America has seven Class One railroads.   Of them: 

(1) Name the two RR companies that have moved headquarters to a brand new city during or after the mega-mergers and acquisitions of the 1980s and do not operate under a premerger name. 

(2) Name the two that have kept their ancestral name and headquarters notwithstanding the mergers and acquisitions of that period.  

(3) Name the one that has kept the headquarters of one of its premerger entities but operates under a new name. 

(4) Name the one that has kept its ancestral name and headquarters but often appends that ancestral name in a language that is not an official language in the U.S. or Canada; and finally,

(5)  name the one that uses a heritage name but moved its headquarters during this period. 

And for all these RR systems, please give the location of their current headquarters! 

Hint:  Conrail Shared Assets doesn't count. 

GOOD LUCK !

 

[Murphy Siding]

:  

North America has seven Class One railroads.   Of them: 

(1) Name the two RR companies that have moved headquarters to a brand new city during or after the mega-mergers and acquisitions of the 1980s and do not operate under a premerger name. 

BNSF / Fort Worth Texas,  CSX / Jacksonville, FLA

(2) Name the two that have kept their ancestral name and headquarters notwithstanding the mergers and acquisitions of that period.  UP / Omaha, NEB   NS / Norfolk(?) VA

(3) Name the one that has kept the headquarters of one of its premerger entities but operates under a new name. 

CPRail / Calgary, Alberta Canada?

(4) Name the one that has kept its ancestral name and headquarters but often appends that ancestral name in a language that is not an official language in the U.S. or Canada; and finally, CN / Montreal Cananda?

(5)  name the one that uses a heritage name but moved its headquarters during this period.  Conrail? (just kidding)

And for all these RR systems, please give the location of their current headquarters! 

Hint:  Conrail Shared Assets doesn't count. 

GOOD LUCK !

 

[al-in-chgo]

:  

North America has seven Class One railroads.   Of them: 

(1) Name the two RR companies that have moved headquarters to a brand new city during or after the mega-mergers and acquisitions of the 1980s and do not operate under a premerger name. 

BNSF / Fort Worth Texas,  CSX / Jacksonville, FLA

(2) Name the two that have kept their ancestral name and headquarters notwithstanding the mergers and acquisitions of that period.  UP / Omaha, NEB   NS / Norfolk(?) VA

(3) Name the one that has kept the headquarters of one of its premerger entities but operates under a new name. 

CPRail / Calgary, Alberta Canada?

(4) Name the one that has kept its ancestral name and headquarters but often appends that ancestral name in a language that is not an official language in the U.S. or Canada; and finally, CN / Montreal Cananda?

(5)  name the one that uses a heritage name but moved its headquarters during this period.  Conrail? (just kidding)

And for all these RR systems, please give the location of their current headquarters! 

Hint:  Conrail Shared Assets doesn't count. 

GOOD LUCK !

 

"Cananada"?  From a Cananadian?? 

Anyhoo, Murph, question (1) has one error; question (2) has one error, and the remainder are in error.

As an exercise in logic, though, in cases like this it is sometimes better to be very wrong than almost right. 

One hint:  Think of ALL seven Class I railroads.  Which one would have opportunity or need to communicate in a language that is not English and not French?  There is more to the continent of North America than the USA and Canada . . .

Another hint:  While there once was a freight road called the "Norfolk Southern," that is ancient history.  The two companies that merged to form the Norfolk Southern in 1982 were called . . .   and their respective headquarters were in . . .  ?

 

[KCSfan]

     Al-can you tag numbers on each question please?  Easier on the eyes-and the brain.  Thanks.

Roger Wilco!  Let's pose the question again with question numbers. I also realized that one of the questions was a little ambiguous so I tightened up the language.  So here's the Question:  

North America has seven Class One railroads.   Of them: 

(1) Name the two RR companies that have moved headquarters to a brand new city during or after the mega-mergers and acquisitions of the 1980s and do not operate under a premerger name. 

(2) Name the two that have kept their ancestral name and headquarters notwithstanding the mergers and acquisitions of that period.  

(3) Name the one that has kept the headquarters of one of its premerger entities but operates under a new name. 

(4) Name the one that has kept its ancestral name and headquarters but often appends that ancestral name in a language that is not an official language in the U.S. or Canada; and finally,

(5)  name the one that uses a heritage name but moved its headquarters during this period. 

And for all these RR systems, please give the location of their current headquarters! 

Hint:  Conrail Shared Assets doesn't count. 

GOOD LUCK !

1. BNSF - Ft. Worth and CSX - Jacksonville

2. UP - Omaha and KCS - Kansas City

3. NS - Norfolk

4. KCS (KCSdeM)

5. Canadian National - Woodcrest (Chicago)

Mark

[al-in-chgo]

     Al-can you tag numbers on each question please?  Easier on the eyes-and the brain.  Thanks.

Roger Wilco!  Let's pose the question again with question numbers. I also realized that one of the questions was a little ambiguous so I tightened up the language.  So here's the Question:  

North America has seven Class One railroads.   Of them: 

(1) Name the two RR companies that have moved headquarters to a brand new city during or after the mega-mergers and acquisitions of the 1980s and do not operate under a premerger name. 

(2) Name the two that have kept their ancestral name and headquarters notwithstanding the mergers and acquisitions of that period.  

(3) Name the one that has kept the headquarters of one of its premerger entities but operates under a new name. 

(4) Name the one that has kept its ancestral name and headquarters but often appends that ancestral name in a language that is not an official language in the U.S. or Canada; and finally,

(5)  name the one that uses a heritage name but moved its headquarters during this period. 

And for all these RR systems, please give the location of their current headquarters! 

Hint:  Conrail Shared Assets doesn't count. 

GOOD LUCK !

1. BNSF - Ft. Worth and CSX - Jacksonville

2. UP - Omaha and KCS* - Kansas City

3. NS - Norfolk

4. KCS (KCSdeM)*

5. Canadian National - Woodcrest (Chicago)

Mark

No. 1 has one error.

No. 2 has one error.

No. 3 is in error.

No. 4 is correct.

No. 5 is in error.

HINTS:  *Kansas City Southern should only fit in one answer, just like all the others.  

There may be CN ops in Illinois, but the corporation's headquarters are where? 

The Southern Rwy. was headquartered in Atlanta and the Norfolk & Western was headquartered in Roanoke, VA.  The merged entity (1982) has its hdqtrs in Norfolk, VA.

When the SAL and the ACL merged to form SCL in 1967, what became SCL headquarters?  Does that have any relevance to today? 

Good luck to all!  Is there a Canadian in the house?  - al

 

[nanaimo73]

Good luck to all!  Is there a Canadian in the house?  - al

Probably several. 

Number 5 would be Canadian Pacific.
Using W's logic (?!) that the HQ of the Iraqi army was Sadam himself, perhaps CN's HQ is in Chicago, where I believe Mr Harrison usually runs the railway from.

[al-in-chgo]

Good luck to all!  Is there a Canadian in the house?  - al

Probably several. 

Number 5 would be Canadian Pacific.
Using W's logic (?!) that the HQ of the Iraqi army was Sadam himself, perhaps CN's HQ is in Chicago, where I believe Mr Harrison usually runs the railway from.

Dale's right, so no. 5 has been answered correctly.

I'm not looking for a pragmatic company dept. but its actual headquarters.  Which one of the big seven Class One's is still headquartered "back East"? 

No. 4 is KCS because it's the one that has "appended" Spanish:  KCS de Mexico.  Sometimes their locomotives say "TFM" instead of "KCS" because TFM was the Spanish-language name of a Mexican line they bought.  But you didn't have to know that fact to get this question right.

No. 5 is indeed Canadian Pacific.  It up and moved from Montreal to Calgary a few years ago.  That was a brand-new headquarters for them; not a part of a previous merged entity.

Now that there are only five RR's left it should be easier to juggle them.  Also, pls look above for answers that are wrong.  Some knowledge is still required, but it has become much easier.

Thanks, Dale! 

al

 

[al-in-chgo]

 

Clarification:  In my post above, "back East" does not refer to a United States city.   

[snagletooth]

Okay, it's been a while, but here it goes...

1. BN, after Frisco, from Chicago to Ft. Worth, now BNSF

  and Soo Line, after MLWK, from....aaahhh..Minneapolis? to Milwaukee, now CP  

2. UP (Omaha) and CN (Montreal?)

3. BNSF [opps, i forgot former and location, edit: Ft. Worth, former BN HQ]

4 & 5. already answered

[al-in-chgo]

Okay, it's been a while, but here it goes...

1. BN, after Frisco, from Chicago to Ft. Worth, now BNSF

  and Soo Line, after MLWK, from....aaahhh..Minneapolis? to Milwaukee, now CP  

2. UP (Omaha) and CN (Montreal?)

3. BNSF [opps, i forgot former and location, edit: Ft. Worth, former BN HQ]

4 & 5. already answered

There are only seven slots to fill for each of the seven megasystems.

Therefore CP does not work in the first instance because it has been more adequately explained by its moving headquarters -- without changing names.  That is the already-answered question (5).

So you're half wrong on question (1)

Question (2) if PERFECT!  Good goin' !

Question (3) Again, no need to name BNSF twice.  BNSF let Mpls and ATSF left Chicago for Fort Worth, Texas.  A merged entity with no preservation of headquarters (though there certainly may be offices there).  This is not what question (3) is looking for; but perhaps if you apply some of the same historical analysis as before, you might get it.  It shocks me that nobody has mentioned this RR company to my knowledge. 

(4) and (5) are correct but remember they're taken and not to be used elsewhere. 

Hint:  When Norfolk Southern merged in 1982, N&W moved from its corporate headquarters  from Roanoke and Southern Rwy left Atlanta.  They have a "merged" HQ in a new city.  HINT:  That city is in Virginia.

 

[oltmannd]

     Alex:  What is Gulf, Mobile & Ohio?

Looks like your turn, Muph.  Are you expecting "Jeopardy" style answers worded as questions?  - a. s.

You mean my Wild a_ _ed guess was correct?  Who would have thought?  I knew Casey Jones was on the IC.  GM&O was the next closest line in my mind.

     Go ahead Al.  Be my guest.

Thanks, Murph.  (See, I don't "line jump," at least not without permission!). 

This is one people will know or not: 

North America has seven Class One railroads.   Of them: 

Name the two that have moved headquarters to a brand new city during or after the mega-mergers and acquisitions of the 1980s and do not operate under a premerger name. 

Name two that have kept their ancestral name and headquarters notwithstanding the mergers and acquisitions of that period.  

Name the one that has kept the headquarters of one of its premerger entities but operates under a new name. 

Name the one that has kept its ancestral name and headquarters and for which mergers and acquisitions were not a factor.   

And finally, name the one that uses a heritage name but moved its headquarters during this period. 

And for all RR systems, please give their headquarters! 

Hint:  Conrail Shared Assets doesn't count. 

GOOD LUCK!! 

1. BNSF and NS

2. UP and CN

3. CSX

4. KCS

5. CP

I believe Southern's official headquarters was Washington DC, although most depts were in Atlanta.  NS really has it's headquarters spread out in Norfolk, Roanoke and Atlanta, but the top execs and some depts are in Norfolk.

CSX had a small headquarters in Richmond VA for a while before retreating to Jacksonville.

[al-in-chgo]

     Alex:  What is Gulf, Mobile & Ohio?

Looks like your turn, Muph.  Are you expecting "Jeopardy" style answers worded as questions?  - a. s.

You mean my Wild a_ _ed guess was correct?  Who would have thought?  I knew Casey Jones was on the IC.  GM&O was the next closest line in my mind.

     Go ahead Al.  Be my guest.

Thanks, Murph.  (See, I don't "line jump," at least not without permission!). 

This is one people will know or not: 

North America has seven Class One railroads.   Of them: 

Name the two that have moved headquarters to a brand new city during or after the mega-mergers and acquisitions of the 1980s and do not operate under a premerger name. 

Name two that have kept their ancestral name and headquarters notwithstanding the mergers and acquisitions of that period.  

Name the one that has kept the headquarters of one of its premerger entities but operates under a new name. 

Name the one that has kept its ancestral name and headquarters and for which mergers and acquisitions were not a factor.   

And finally, name the one that uses a heritage name but moved its headquarters during this period. 

And for all RR systems, please give their headquarters! 

Hint:  Conrail Shared Assets doesn't count. 

GOOD LUCK!! 

1. BNSF and NS

2. UP and CN

3. CSX

4. KCS

5. CP

I believe Southern's official headquarters was Washington DC, although most depts were in Atlanta.  NS really has it's headquarters spread out in Norfolk, Roanoke and Atlanta, but the top execs and some depts are in Norfolk.

CSX had a small headquarters in Richmond VA for a while before retreating to Jacksonville.

DING!   DING!    DING!    DING!    You got it!

(1) BN - Minneapolis + Santa Fe - Chicago  =  BNSF Fort Worth, TX  and

  Norfolk & Western - Roanoke  +  Southern Rwy. - Wash D.C. = NS Norfolk.

(2) Union Pacific - Omaha; 

     Canadian National - Montreal, Que.

(3)  CSX - Jacksonville, FL (location of predecessor SCL's headquarters).

(4) Kansas City Southern (stayed in K.C., acquired Mexican division now called "Kansas City Southern de Mexico"). 

(5) Canadian Pacific - moved from Montreal to Calgary about 10 yrs ago.

Thanks for participating! 

Oltmannd, you're up!