Sometime during the mid to late 1970's, the Southern Railway and the Missouri Pacific were discussing a merger. This would have created an end-to-end rail system running roughly from Jacksonville, FL to Pueblo, Co, with the Southern east of the Mississippi and the MoPac west. If this merger had been successfully completed, how would the rail map look today, most especially in the east? Some discussion points:
1. Would Chessie System and the N&W had an all out war for control of the Seaboard System along the lines that NS and CSX had for Conrail?
2. Could the Seaboard System be broken up such that Chessie and N&W ended up with an eastern competitive system, e.g. Seaboard Air Line going with one of the carriers and the ACL going with the other?
3. If Chessie and Seaboard had successfully merged (essentially the CSX system before the Conrail split), would N&W be forced to go after the entire Southern-MoPac system?
4. Would Chessie or N&W look to bring the Illinois Central into their own respective system if the Seaboard were broken up?
5. How would Conrail fit into all of this?
1. Would Chessie System and the N&W had an all out war for control of the Seaboard System along the lines that NS and CSX had for Conrail?
2. Could the Seaboard System be broken up such that Chessie and N&W ended up with an eastern competitive system, e.g. Seaboard Air Line going with one of the carriers and the ACL going with the other?
3. If Chessie and Seaboard had successfully merged (essentially the CSX system before the Conrail split), would N&W be forced to go after the entire Southern-MoPac system?
4. Would Chessie or N&W look to bring the Illinois Central into their own respective system if the Seaboard were broken up?
5. How would Conrail fit into all of this?
