While reading an old issue of Trains Magazine tonight, I saw this interesting note in the news section from August 1998.
Did Union Pacific refuse to interchange this traffic and short haul themselves, forcing Wisconsin Central out in favor of a shorter all-UP routing? Or was it actually just not profitable for WC, with them voluntarily wanting out?
Wisconsin Central has come to terms with UP on moving the Geneva (Utah) iron-ore trains to an all-UP routing from northern Minnesota, which took place in 1997, over a year before the contract expires.This is intriguing for several reasons. First of all, this was a big deal for WC in 1994 to win this contract in conjunction with Southern Pacific and the Missabe Road, which makes it unlikely that they'd of wanted out just a short time later. Secondly, this news piece reads as if Union Pacific did this by force after gaining control of SP, since the 1998 settlement occurred a year after the traffic shift actually had happened.
Did Union Pacific refuse to interchange this traffic and short haul themselves, forcing Wisconsin Central out in favor of a shorter all-UP routing? Or was it actually just not profitable for WC, with them voluntarily wanting out?
