Illinois Central with Canadian National, and they call the company Illinois Central.

 

Might not get many points for originality on that one.

N&W and C&O. It almost happened. Close only counts in Horse Shoes and Hand Grenade throwing. If it have been up to me, I would have kept the tricolor paint jobs. Would have been an improvement over Pevler Blue!

Milwaukee Road and Rock Island!

 

Oh wait they did try that and failed 

Decades before this thread was started, I have always thought the SP and Rock Island would make good music together.
And, if my home road (SLSF) just had to merge with some other line, it should be Uncle John Santa Fe...after all, they cooperated on fine transcontinental trains for decades. Then let BN, inc gain the Southeast some other way.

Santa Fe + Conrail

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...2-b0c9-c64430f51757/

 

It almost happened.

 

Santa Fe Industries Chairman John Schmidt made one of the great blunders in railroading history and doggedly pursed Southern Pacific if nothing more than for history's sake. The blunder almost destroyed the Santa Fe financially and ultimately got Schmidt fired. 

The N&W-C&O merger proposal came about in the late 60's as a response to Penn Central.  Once Penn Central went bankrupt, the powers that be had second thoughts.  The Pennsylvania had to divest its share of N&W as a condition of Penn Central merger.  While this took some time to totally play out, I don't believe the PRR had any real control over the N&W past 1964 or 65.

I always wondered if the UP and the Pennsy merged how cool that might have been....

 

<--hence the moniker

 

 

Offering coast to coast delivery of goods and services on the same line, maybe smoothing out passenger runs without changing trains. (Advertisement:  New York to LA. in 4 days; See the country in all it's splendor!! ) All kinds of possibilities there......

 

 

Maybe could've named it the Union-Penn RR ?

 

It took a few extra years, but the old Atlantic & Pacific still ended up together. 

I always thought a merger between the Western Maryland and P&LE would be cool. They could call it the Western Maryland and Lake Erie (WM&LE)

Hello, Penn-pacific I was thinking along those lines but had the Pennsylvania and Southern Pacific teaming up.

 

Also how about the New York Central hooking up with the James J. Hill Lines, NP, GN, CB&Q, and SP&S.

 

Southern Railway and Southern Pacific would be cool instead PRR & SP.

 

 

Northwestern & Santa Fe. This is a "merger on paper" designed as a defensive move against hostile actions by Union Pacific and Burlington Northern. NWSF consolidates the administrative functions of both roads while retaining separate equipment rosters, but sharing maintenance facilities and trackage. Locomotives and freight equipment would retain their original reporting marks, but MoW equipment would be repainted silver with a combined logo -- basically the ATSF cross in the center of the CNW diagonal bow tie.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I've wondered about what would have happened if:

 

     In the 70's, rather the consolidate the entire northeast into Conrail, the Penn Central and the Lehigh & Hudson River had been reorganized as one government-supported entity, the Reading, Jersey Central, and Erie-Lackawanna into another, and, perhaps, give the Lehigh Valley to the Delaware & Hudson.

 

I think that covers everything.

 

Could this have saved many of the lines which were abandoned under Conrail?

The book The Men Who Loved Trains puts a most interesting light on the merger happenings with the N&W, VGN, PRR, PC etc.

 

A very good read too.

 

George Lasley

this is going to be incredibly complex but the up ri merger. what was idea in 1974 but in 1964 first the rock becomes part of the up. the Choctaw line along with the MKT is sold to the santa fe. the golden state line is sold to the sp  and finally the spine line is is sold to the cn&w along cgw.  

 

 

I always thought of the Prr and Milwaukee road, great for juice jack fans

The basis of the PRR relationship with N&W was PRR received a significant financial benefit in return for their investment. They owned a significant amount of N&W stock(~38%), but not controlling interest. N&W was never "controlled" by the PRR per se.

 

PRR wisely left N&W alone. They operated as separate and independent companies. PRR divested it's N&W stock to cover losses associated with PC in the late 60s. The loss of N&W revenue was one of many events that damaged PRR.

Imagine if the Penn Central and Burlington Northern came together. Just think of how big that RR would be! The Burlington Central.

I'll second that one.

 

But who would change their electrification standards?

The New York Central would have been better merging with Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville & Nashville in 1960. 

 

Norfolk & Western and Southern taking control of the Pennsylvania in 1959 and reworking it is better scenario than what happened.

 

The Milwaukee Road and the Illinois Central merging in 1972, then being completely restructured.

 

Andrew