1970'S COULD-HAVE-BEEN RAILROAD MERGERS

[@charlessmileyvideos]

A super look at the "What Might Have Been" when it comes to railroad mergers! www.cspmovies.com

[@JohnGillis-b1l]

I worked in the State Assistance Office of FRA in 1975 and 1976. That was a crazy time. If Saint Michael and the Archangels had MIT engineering degrees and MBAs from Northwestern, they couldn't have run the eastern railroads at a profit in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The work rules, the discriminatory state taxes, the commuter burdens, moronic regulation by the ICC, the subsidies to the truckers and the St Lawrence Seaway all worked against the carriers. People blamed railroad management. Ridiculous!

[@maestromecanico597]

Probably the best summation of the situation.

[@billkraemer4710]

Over regulation by greedy politicians… Got it.

[@RetiredEE]

60's - 70's railroads were glorious!

[@darrellsmith4463]

40’s-50’s were even better for railroads.

[@charlessmileyvideos]

@@darrellsmith4463 You are both right! Railroading was way better then for many reasons! Thanks for watching!

[@ChessieKitten]

YES! I was a young girl who loved trains! Was nothing like it and seeing that "cat" on the side of railcars!

[@ChessieKitten]

A "could have been merger" almost between Southern Pacific and Seaboard Coast Line occured. At first, Southern Pacific was talking to the Chessie System, and then SCL was brought in to fill in the southeast. A merger of Southern Pacific with Chessie and SCL would have resulted in a massive transcontinental system. This fell apart when Southern Pacific got too greedy in the relationship ...but, to put it simple, Chessie and SCL continued to talk about their future relationship, which would lead to the formation of CSX in 1978-80.

[@myexpressways4106]

Thanks for this video showcasing the complexities of rail operations. So many issues surround transportation during this era. My passion has always revolved around trucks and trucking in general. But I also love trains and railroading. The conflicts of interest between rail and road transportation for freight and for passengers continues to this day to include airfreight and buses. I sure do not have the answers for what is in the best interest of the public at large. All I know is that improvements in all sectors are necessary to address the costs and the environmental impacts of transpotation of all modes. Thank you, Charles, for offering all these facinating and informative videos that focus on the majestic railroad industry, from modeling to monumental machines.

[@maestromecanico597]

I have a copy of the Final System Analysis Report for ConRail from 1975. In it is a foregone conclusion that the Norfolk & Western would acquire the former Erie from Marion, Ohio, west to Chicago. So imagine an alternate universe where the Erie west of Marion and east of Akron still exist. Still have no idea why the N&W didn’t pull the trigger on this.

[@railfanlynx]

Management possibly had a hand in preventing that.

[@maestromecanico597]

@ Whose management? The final report states (repeatedly as it goes rail line by rail line) that N&W wanted the lines to Chicago. When the CR dust settled someone in the Roanoke C-suite said of the Erie Lackawanna, “It’s a great property but too much debt.” Hence they couldn’t get away from DERECO fast enough. But buying the line in a fire sale without taking on the entire railroad (minus the corporate debt) seemed doable. Someone close to the situation back then told me that I would have to talk to the then EL president but would not elaborate any further.

[@WM7471.]

That's like the N&W wanted the Western Maryland Railway but as history goes that didn't happen either

[@maestromecanico597]

@ That is a new one on me. The PRR tried to get the WM in 1929 but their owner, B&O, wasn’t interested.

[@BlackMan614]

The ICC/FRA caused more problems than solutions. It enabled the bankruptcies and to think of them dictating mergers is a scary thought. "We're from the government and we are here to help"

[@williamlloyd3769]

What an interesting video

[@charlessmileyvideos]

Thanks williamlloyd3769 we appreciate your support, glad you enjoyed it!

[@sshadetree]

sweet!

[@charlessmileyvideos]

Them were the days for sure!

[@tudwortyjmcguern5689]

in 1905 the gument declared there would be 5 rrs in the country. it did so about every 10 yrs since until it happened. penn central was named but not cmstp&p was not

[@paulcastillo1310]

Iwas a baby back in 1970 when this was happening

[@charlessmileyvideos]

Crazy how much has changed in railroading! There was a lot more variety back then and each railroad had their own personalities!

[@paulcastillo1310]

@charlessmileyvideos yes that's True

[@davidfuller581]

You know... at this point, I'm thinking the rail lines probably should've been nationalized.

[@charlessmileyvideos]

That is a good point! Not sure if they would all have given up their own identities though!

[@선규황-k5n]

쪽문옆에 서울발 여수엑스포행 무궁화호 1517호 탈선사고로 사고현장에서 과다출혈로 안타깝게 숨진 양모 기관사님이 순천역에서 탑승했다.

[@stlrfn3190]

Poco loco