Is it just me or....

[Paul Milenkovic]

All I know is what I read in the Wall Street Journal, but the UP analogy is less to the old PRR and a lot more to the old Penn Central. I heard that in swallowing up a lot of other roads that they are having a lot of indigestion. You have a Pennsylvania RR, the Standard Railroad of the World, with a stodgy way of doing things, and then you have a New York Central, trying new things with Flexi-Van intermodal. Each is a functional in its own way, and you would think by merging the two you would have all kinds of savings, but instead you have a clash of cultures and the merged network is nothing but chaos. I get a sense that UP is going through some of that.

I think the way to go is more along the lines of Daimler-Chrysler where you have Chrysler and you have Mercedes, and you pretty much let them do their own thing, but over time you let Mercedes technology filter over into Chrysler products to build up the value of the Chrysler brand, and I suppose you take a Chrysler, stick a Mercedes badge on it and sell it for twice the money (not! Although there is a Jaguar model that is a restyled Ford Mondeo as part of the Ford-Jaguar combine).

The notion that you don't overnight replace Chryslers and Mercedes with a single car model and try to sell it out of both Chrysler and Mercedes dealerships. I think the analogy between auto manufacturing and rail lines is apt because at least with autos, there is a big duplication of capabilities -- engineering, engines, assembly -- among the auto companies, but you have a lot of cultural history in how each original company designs and builds cars along with customer brand loyalty and dealership networks, and you want to merge companies in little baby steps to not wreck all of that.

[AlcoRS11Nut]

QUOTE: Originally posted by macguy

QUOTE: Originally posted by Train Guy 3

I don't hate UP.... I hate that railraod with the yellow locomotives that kills all the cool railraods.

I didn't know CN had yellow loco's......[:-,]

Zing!!! (It's true!)
The WC, then the DM&IR, B&LE, when will this monster be stopped!!!![}:)]

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AlcoRS11Nut

Zing!!! (It's true!)
The WC, then the DM&IR, B&LE, when will this monster be stopped!!!![}:)]

I'm sure that if some people had their way, it will probably be when the motto "Be specific, ship Union Pacific" becomes redundant, as there is no one else to choose from.

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jruppert

I'm sorry, I didn't want to imply that I work anywhere. I just wanted to mention that I am posting here for the first time in a humorus way.

Never apologize for a good sense of humor. But don't ask for chocolate cake, either!

Mookie

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Puckdropper

QUOTE:
I just started here, can somebody point me to the lunch room? Oh, and when do I get my first star?

The lunch room is located in Lincoln, Nebraska. There is a minimum of TWO chocolate cakes to get in, and perhaps a bit of Catnip.

Don't understand? You will when you get two stars.

See how brilliant you have become since joining the forum?

Moo

[locomutt]

YOU have to buy Catnip,or they won't let you out!!!![:)]
Not exactually sure about the chocolate cake,maybe
Mookie can help you out[:D][}:)]

[Anonymous]

I tried catnip once.....didn't feel a thing. Maybe I was gyped!

[philnrunt]

Paul makes a good comparison- but when you think of it, isn't this becoming a problem in ALL facets of life? We focus on UP because railroads are a big part of our lives, but oil companies, banks, insurance companies, etc etc ad infintum give less and less service for more and more money. I have friends building a new house and over the last 3 months I have heard numerous times that workmen didn't fini***he job, didn't come prepared or didn't bring the right thing.
UP is a microcosim - well maybe a MACROcosim, of a problem that is spreading across the entire world, increased prices for less services and companies shooting themselves in the foot by incredibly STUPID means.
Remember Coke II? Vegas, Pintos, Corvairs, Edsels, the Hubble T'scope, NASA missing Mars because someone didn't convert yards into meters, 2 shuttles lost due to frozen O rings and lost tiles, and now UP. All companies seem to go thru times when every decision they make is bad. I'm sure all of you have other examples.
Good leadership, training and treatment of employees has been proven tima and again to put a business on top, but it seems that lesson is lost in today's cutthroat world.
[soapbox] I'll get off, the soapbox is open. Next!
but then again, it could be just you[:P][;)][:P][;)][:D]

[route_rock]

Over managed over working employees.Hell who knows. I will say one thing Nature abhores a vacuum.Therefore we will not just have one great big rail system or two for that matter.Balance in life is cruicial(sorry to get Zen on you all but this is some deep stuff)so catnip is to be sniffed and choclate cake eaten or do I have that backwards?Anyhoo I have eaten the catnip and I can see that if its just UP and CN there will be one outcome.Collapse of both parties and the biggest tourist railroad ever seen.Top heavy companies cant exist and we still have anti trust laws.Look up some history we all act like this is new but youd be suprised how much the old saying of"the more things change the more they stay the same."Anyhoo have to run be well all and for goodness sakes dont eat the catnip!!!!

[Anonymous]

"Crisis Management" - Wait for a crisis, then manage it!!!

"Mind over Matter" - If you don't mind, it doesn't Matter!!!!!

As you grow older, you learn more and more about less and less, until you know everything about nothing!!!

[Anonymous]

Poeple on this page should checkout "UP Breakdown", they're talking about the same thing, many good comments.

[Anonymous]

As a railfan I can't stand UP. But as a UP stockholder I've gotten a decent return on my investment. Uncle Pete does have a tremendous public relations problem, but like the Southern Pacific in California, they just don't give a damn. When you are the onlt game in town and you've got to ship, what are you going to do? I can see the day when the big mergers will be broken up, just like at the beginningh the the 20th century, i.e. Standard Oil. It won't come too soon to suit me.