Not BNSF/NS, But BNSF and UP?!?

[Engineer James]

Well, I was crusin on-line like I always do and came across this article....

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:mQ1 ... =clnk&cd=6

This article is Pointing that BNSF and UP might merge, not BNSF/NS as origionally planned.....

Find out for Your Self.....

[pablo]

No way. Never happen. I don't think that they'd be interested, but I am certain that the government would never allow that to happen.

I think their inclusion here was merely hypothetical.

Dave Becker

[pennsy]

Hi All,

Quite some time ago, Santa Fe and Southern Pacific were all set to merge. Never happened, even though some Southern Pacific Diesels were re-painted for both RR's.

So, UP absorbed SP, and since UP had running rights on Santa Fe track on Cajon Pass, the interchange, put in many years before, now was active and UP would come off Santa Fe tracks, onto SP tracks, now UP tracks. Call that progress.

So, now there is talk of UP and BNSF merging. So, where does the competition come from ??? Wouldn't that comprise a monopoly ??? What do we do now ???

[pablo]

There's no talk. It's a rehash of an article from years ago. Let it die...it won't happen for decades.

Dave Becker

[Yonge]

The article says, “In the meantime, both BNSF and UP are making steady progress toward getting the implementing agreements needed to make merger work.”

The phrase “make merger work” makes it easy to misread the sentence as referring to one merger between BNSF and UP, but by reading the rest of the article one can tell the sentence is referring to BNSF and UP implementing separate agreements with their labor unions that will help make the BN/SF merger and the UP/SP merger successful.

[Komachi]

(Best "Bill Lumbergh" Voice) Um, yeah....


If you scroll down to the bottom of said article, you will note that the original copywright date is 1997. NINETEEN NINETY SEVEN. Two years following both the UP/SP/C&NW and BN/SF mergers (not to mention two years following my graduation from high school).

So, as it appears, and as Younge stated, this is an article in regards to the labor adjustments being made at BNSF and UP and not about any pending BNSF/UP merger. Besides, there are laws against monopolistic activities (of which, I can't think of specific ones off the top of my head), which a ginormus BNSFUP entity would be.


(John Cleese voice) So, sorry, SORRY, everyone! False alarm! Nothing to see here! Sorry!


And now, for something completely different...

(Monty Python Theme (Sousa's "Liberty Bell") plays, but instead of the "farting noise" at the end, there's the sound of a prison cell door being slammed shut and locked as your "friendly neighborhood moderator" attaches one of his spiffy, magic locks to the thread.)