Who owns investment stock in a real RR?

If you have a 401k, chances are there is railroad stock among some of the portfolios.  Looking through all of the different funds that I have, there are several railroads, or railroad related companies among them like gatx corp., citigroup etc. (equipment leasing).  You're right they are not considered high yield, more low yield, and safe investments.

 

Paul

Generally high yield stocks are high risk stocks. The average yield is 3-4%. Often higher yields are reflective of rapid changes in a company's market position.  A good bet is a company with a history of rising dividends; if you hold onto the stock in a few years the yield based on historical cost will be higher than the published yield.

I have seen excellent returns on railroad stock values over the several past, almost 30% higher share price on CSX within the past 18 months alone. Norfolk Southern is also just below its 52 week high.

 

While it might be wonderful to dream of investing in the RR of the past I doubt very much that having been a share hold of many of those defunct companies would have been more than a nightmare. (This comes from a pre-bailout GM share holder, nothing says enjoyment watching your money turn to dust.)

 

 

I own NS, UP, CP, and CSX for years now.  The only one that sucks is CSX.

I own some CSX and also Berkshire-Hathaway which owns BNSF.

My 401k has some RR stocks.

Just saw Union Pacific recommended today! Car loadings are up in virtually all categories, and crude oil has filled in for coal.

I have owned UP twice before, but don't currently.

 

Art

I have a couple shares of UNP (Union Pacific). I've nearly tripled my money, but unfortunately dont own enough of it for that to mean much. It gets me a free calendar though...

When I worked at M K Rail, formerly Morrison Knudsen, now WABTEC, in the nineties, we were given shares which I still have, although not many, only worth a few grand. The value did go up substantially over the years, but at times has also gone down. I go on line and check every so often, and look to see if there are any job openings. That was my dream job, working on locomotives! We had a re-man facility in Mountain Top Pa.

Don

Very interesting....there are conflicting opinions on CSX?  I had read something

financial discussing the oil shipment benefit to UP mentioned above. Is the SP now

buried in another megamerger, for I didn't see it mentioned above (although I admit

I have to think to remember that the ATSF is now buried in BNSF)?  As for high

yields, it was interesting to watch REIT's BEFORE! (and then during) the Great Recession and real estate meltdown.

CSX is flat, compared to the rest. Stuck in the twenties over the past year.  While there has been steady increases in the rest of my RR stocks

I made a nice profit on some NS stock last year.

SP merged with UP about 15-20 years ago.

 

I also have Berkshire Hathaway.

This year, I directed that some of my pension contribution go into UP and NS stocks.  Wish I had started doing this years ago.

 

Andy

I lost interest when the Grande merged into the SP (or with anybody).

If I remember correctly, Philip Anshuch (sp) used his Rio Grange Corp. to PURCHASE the entire Southern Pacific Transportation Co., including all its real-estate holdings. Thus the D&RGW RR would up owning & controlling the SP.

But Philip used the SP name because mure people knew it than "The Grande".

 

If you notice, the year on the Grande UP Heritage unit is the one DRGW bought SP.

Berkshire Hathaway own BNSF. Hard to go wrong with Warren Buffet. 

Was not saying by comparison to the others, but stand alone, CSX was $19.00 a share in November 2012 this afternoon it closed at $28.69, thus I have been happy with the nearly $10.00 a share gain. 

 

I do see the point in that during the same time NSC has gone from $56.00 to $96.00. 

 

I have several hundred shares of UP, bought about eight years ago.

 

 

Kent in SD

My father had Stock in General Electric (Locomotive department) and Norfolk Southern.

When I was a kid my parents bought me a share of railroad stock for my birthday, I suspect largely as a joke.  I signed up for dividend reinvestment and then started dumping my lawn mowing money into it.  The investment ended up paying for about half the cost of my grad school and I still have that original share.

Tell us what railroad.  Is the stock still active?

 

The financial state of the "megamergers" is excellent. The railroad industry is making money on par with the pharmaceutical industry - as God intended (finally)! Do note, the "megamergers" produced efficiencies that have contributed to the profitability of the carriers and the consolidation of the various prior companies has produced an intensification of the ueage of the physical plant that remains. Plus, no one is building new railroads, so the existing roads have a monopoly on the traffic that is best handled by railroads. And they are stealing business from trucking companies. Ha!

         Please append to my comment on Union Pacific, they have ordered 200 new locomotives. Wow!

Got UP and CSX. Also GE.  Had BNSF twice and made 50% to 100% on that stock each time.  Had NS at one time also.  1 to 1 scale helped build a small part of my 48 to 1 scale world.  "BIG OIL" built most of my world in the last 63 years.

Purchased 300 shares of Union Pacific at $52.50 6 years ago. Now it's around $190.00, nice. I chose Union Pacific because it is the oldest class one railroad operating under it's original name. Three months later Warren Buffett's company purchases the BNSF. Union Pacific sends my a calender each year. Two years ago while visiting my cousin in Roseville, CA. I watched the action in and around the Union Pacific yard there. A few days later we drive to Truckee, CA. and while having lunch across the street from the train station and the Union Pacific office located there I started up a conversation with three Union Pacific employees at a nearby   table. I mentioned to them that I was a Union Pacific stockholder and I was invited to come over to their office and there they offered me a choice of two tee shirts. One had a DD40X diesel on it and the other had a big boy on it. I chose the big boy tee shirt.

The quickest way for a railroad to fail, is for me to buy stock. You should all pay me to stay away.

I have BNSF thru Berkshire, have had UP and NS. I think NS is the best to buy when the price is low because they serve the most people per mile of track. Sounds morbid but I buy railroads after they have a bad accident, people bail on there stock, I buy because no matter what that railroad is still going to be there.

I bought some Berkshire Hathaway soon after they bought BNSF, and have done well with it.  Watching NS, but it is too high right now.  Surprisingly, many analysts consider CSX a good investment.