Alternative mergers in the Northeast:

[jacksonbarno]

Alternative Mergers in the US

Throughout the 1960's and 70's, railroads in the Northeast were in trouble. By 1976, Conrail had to be created to solve the problem of duplicate lines and bankrupt companies. At this time, the Chessie System wasn't much better. This left the N&W as the only profitable road in this region. I started to think about some other possibilities for mergers that could have occurred that would have been better choices. Do you guys think that these would have worked better?

At the beginning of Part I, the year is 1967.

NKP, Monon, & Erie: Even though the NKP paralleled the western portion of the Erie's route, the Erie had a roundabout way of reaching cities like Cleveland, and Buffalo. For any practical purpose, the Erie only really had Akron as a major city on their mainline, aside from NY and Chicago. The NKP had a more direct route between Buffalo and Chicago, but they didn't have any access to New York. Fitting these two lines together would have solved both of their problems, as the Erie mainline past Akron could have been easily abandoned in favor of the NKP route. With the NY - Chicago mainline secured, these lines would have looked for more business while still trying to find cheaper and smaller lines. The Monon would have been a good fit, as they were not too big or too rich while still providing more access to mew markets.

New Haven, DL&W, Wabash, and LNE/L&HR (Optional): These three (or four) roads all connected end to end and would have provided a competitive Boston - NY - Buffalo - Chicago route. The Wabash had a line through Canada which ran to Buffalo which would have connected with the DLW to New York. In New York, no direct connection with the New Haven existed, which would create a logistical problem and would have either necessitated a reroute over the NYC or PRR to connect. Another option would be to purchase the Lehigh and New England railway and the Lehigh and Hudson River railway, which would have provided an NH - DL&W connection.

B&O, RDG, CNJ/LV: This system would have derived from ties that had already previously been made. The B&O had control over the CNJ and Reading in the pre-Chessie years, and the lines in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York would have provided a sudo-end to end connection with each-other. The LV paralleled the CNJ in Pennsylvania and followed the same route. The CNJ and LV jointly used their parallel trackage in Pennsylvania, so the B&O could abandon the inferior LV New York facilities in favor of the CNJ ones.

NYC, WM, D&H, and C&O: The NYC courted the C&O in the 50's, but the merger plans fell through because of the NYC's shaky financial state. This would have worked because besides the C&O ex PM trackage in Michigan, the C&O had markets in the south that the NYC didn't have. The C&O could have abandoned the PM lines altogether and used the NYC lines in the Midwest and Northeast. The WM would have allowed for a competitive market with the B&O system. The Boston and Pennsylvania markets would prove to be a problem for this newly-created system, so they would seek to acquire the Delaware and Hudson. After merging with the D&H, the NYC/C&O system would have access to central Pennsylvania, as well as access to a new part of Canada: Montreal, where the system could interchange with the CP and CN.

P&LE, W&LE, B&LE, P&WV, and MGA: These Pittsburgh - oriented lines all have intersection points in Pittsburgh. All of these lines were more financially stable than the rest of the larger lines in the Northeast, and would have meshed nicely. The P&LE trackage would have made the P&WV trackage redundant except for the fact that the P&LE would be able to bypass downtown Pittsburgh and the congestion there. The Monongahela would have been a necessity because of their online coal traffic, and the W&LE would have provided connections to cities like Cleveland, Ashtabula, Toledo, Zanesville, and Sandusky. The B&LE would have also provided connections to Conneaut and Erie. This would have been a railroad more focused on coal and ore, and because of its smaller size, it would have less infrastructure to maintain.

PRR & N&W: These railroads had multiple connections and they both served markets that the other didn't have access to. This would have created one large system covering most of the eastern US. Because of their history together, they would have had no trouble meshing operating practices. The N&W was also fairly wealthy at this time, so they could put some of that towards paying off the PRR's debt and putting the company back in the black.

B&M & MEC + BAR: I think that the B&M and MEC would have definitely merged. They were almost together already as it was in the 1950's, and they were perfect for each other. The B&M had short-haul high density commuter business and the MEC had long-haul freight routes. The Central Vermont relied on the B&M to ferry it's trains from one part of it's route to the other to get to New London. Eventually, when the CN absorbed the Central Vermont, CN would have tried to buy out the MEC/B&M to try to get a lock on the Boston area. The ICC denied this takeover plan and set the B&M system free as an independent company again. By 1970, the Bangor and Arstrook was looking for a merger partner. The profitable B&M/MEC was looking for more routes in northern Maine, and the merger was approved by the ICC. This system would have been proftable, as i thad a monopoly on the Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire area.



So, what do you guys think?

Also, feel free to put your merger ideas down as well.

 

[jacksonbarno]

Part II

Here's some more ideas of what I think would have happened:

ACL, FEC, C&EI, & L&N: In real life, the ACL and the SAL merged with each-other. The problem with this merger is that these two railroads paralleled each-other almost entirely. I think that for the ACL, the L&N would have been a better merger partner. The only problem with the ACL is that it's mainline didn't cover the eastern side of Florida, so the FEC would have been merged into this system. To be competitive with other systems that I will cover later, the C&EI would have furthered this line to Chicago. The C&EI and L&N were close during the 20th Century, and before the takeover by the MP, the L&N would have snatched this line up. This entire system would have been very competitive in the south, covering both coasts of Florida and stretching to St. Louis, Miami, Chicago, Norfolk, and Richmond. This system's main competitor would have most likely been the SAL system or the N&W PRR/system in the Norfolk - Chicago market.

SAL & IC: To compete with the massive system above, the SAL would have turned to the only other railroad that stretched from it's lines to Chicago: The Illinois Central. This end to end merger would have provided a more direct route from Miami to Chicago than the ACL/L&N/C&EI which snaked through the south to Evansville to connect with the former C&EI lines. This system would have connected the exIC and the exSAL in Memphis and then would have had a straight shot to Chicago. The SLSF lines south of Birmingham would have either been purchased or a joint trackage agreement would have been reached between the two lines.

RI & SOU: The Southern, being surrounded by newly-formed giants would have needed a western connection to compete. The Rock Island would have been the only other railroad in Memphis that both stretched to Chicago and needed a southern connection. With the two mainlines converging in Memphis, this would have become the hub city for this railroad. Nevertheless, this railroad wouldn't have been competitive, as it took a circuitous route from the south through Memphis, west to Omaha, and then back up to Chicago. The main market for this railroad would have been ferrying traffic from the south to Omaha and Denver, as these markets weren't reached by the other major systems... yet.

 

[jacksonbarno]

Part III

With this, the other major roads left in the region that hadn't merged were the SLSF, C&NW, MILW, CB&Q, MP, CGW, SOO, KATY, GM&O, and the Frisco.

The MILW and C&NW would have both submitted merger applications to the MP, but the C&NW would have won because of the fact that at this time, financial problems of the MILW were worse than that of the C&NW, and the deferred maintenance problems were worse on the MILW, as they were trying to prop up their bottom line.

MP & C&NW: The MP and C&NW system would have worked, but the exC&NW portion would have needed to shed branch lines badly, being a granger road. Sadly, this railroad wouldn't be able to escape the debt from the C&NW for a while, and even though this railroad reached areas that were competitive, connecting Omaha, Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City, and St. Louis.

BN, NP, GN, SP&S: This merger of the Hill lines would have gone on as planned. These lines would have merged no matter what, as the NP and GN jointly owned both the CB&Q and the SP&S.

MILW: This line would have been left all by itself, and it would have provided competition as expected by the ICC. Diverging from the actual history of the railroad, they would have emerged from bankruptcy in better shape, with less branch lines in their "trunk" section from Chicago to the Twin Cities. They would have kept the Pacific extension, and would not have been accidentally double-taxed on their operating costs.

With all of these mergers, there would have to be some casualties. Sadly, as need for these routes dried up and connections dwindled in favor of merging to create more direct routes, lines like the SLSF found themselves with no business. The MKT and the SOO lines would have struggled on, but sadly, they would have slowly become abandoned. The Rutland railroad, with it's lines made redundant with the other two major mergers in the Northeast, was relegated to a shorter stretch of Class II railroad operating between Burlington, Rutland, and Bellows Falls.

SLSF: The SLSF would have abandoned and sold off all of it's lines west of Memphis, and then eventually it's St. Louis - Memphis and Kansas City - Memphis main lines. Eventually, all that would be left of this railroad would be it's Kansas City - Springfield, St. Louis - Tulsa, and Tulsa - Dallas/Ft.Worth mainlines. Still, the Frisco escaped a worse fate than most other railroads by being able to effectively trim lines that were not profitable.

The year at the end of part III is 1980.

 

[jacksonbarno]

Part IIIb

I came up with an interesting story about the WP:

Background:
Western roads were also looking for new markets: The UP was eyeing the MKT, and as it entered bankruptcy, the UP put in a bid to absorb it. The SP wanted to do away with the WP and the competition of the inside gateway, and the ATSF wanted to protect the WP and it's interests.

The WP Affair: The WP and D&RGW were close (they even contemplated merger in the 1960's in real life). As the 1980's advanced, the D&RGW needed a connection to the west coast to be competitive with the SP, ATSF, and the UP. As the D&RGW announced merger plans with the WP, all of the other western roads jumped. First was the SP. Fearing competition between Salt Lake City and the Bay area, the SP started buying stock. The ATSF, not wanting the SP to be competitive, also bought stock to try to prevent the SP from taking over it's connection to the Rio Grande. The ICC rejected both takeover attempts, and turned the WP loose as an independent railroad again. Before the SP or ATSF could react the ICC accepted the DRGW/WP merger request.

DRGW & WP: The DRGW/WP system would have been an efficient one. The two DRGW routes west of Denver handled the increased traffic well, and the exWP connection with the exGN now BN provided for competition with the SP in every market. The "inside gateway" was continued with the ATSF and the BN, and as a result, this line was both a terminal carrier and a bridge route.

SP & GM&O: With the D&RGW and Rock Island connections to Chicago gone, the SP set out to find a Chicago line of it's own. The now bankrupt GM&O connected with the SP at New Orleans and went to St. Louis, to Kansas City, and to Chicago. With little choice, the two roads merged. The SP found itself with a route to Chicago, but as with some other systems discussed here, the route to Chicago was circuitous and indirect compared to the ATSF and it's more direct route. This situation worked well for the SP in the end, however, as it allowed it to directly compete with the ATSF.

 

[H222]

It's hard to tell if any of these would have worked better, due to the unpredictable nature of railroads. No one would have guessed the PRR was to go downhill so fast in the late 1940s and etc. I would've loved to have seen a real life WP and DRGW merger though

 

[jacksonbarno]

I set up all of the mergers with end to end routes in mind, while still keeping the interests of the ICC in mind. The ICC wanted to keep railroads form merging in the 50's and early-mid 60's, but when they started to become more pro-merger, they favored end to end mergers and mergers that would both keep other lines competitive and open up new markets. I do agree that the unpredictability of railroads would have had a large impact on how these mergers would have turned out though.

 

[JCitron]

Interesting thread...

The New Haven, LH&HR, LV, DLW, and ERIE all worked together via the Poughkeepsie bridge. The smaller LH&R and LNE which were still alive at the time, used to run trains up to the NH Maybrook Yard to interchange with the New Haven. Maybrook was the end of their western line. When the bridge burned in the early 1970s, just after PC merger, this spelled the end and demise of the through traffic along the line, and this killed the business for these companies. Imagine what would've happened had that bridge not burned. Many people still claim it's suspicious and I wouldn't doubt it because the PC could very well have used this as a way to kill off the competition, namely the Erie, and Lehigh Valley who used to also connect with the New Haven via trackage rights up through Campbell Hall and Warwick on the Lehigh and Hudson River. By removing the in between connection, direct Northeast traffic was forced to go either via the former New York Central, or over a roundabout D&H to B&M connection. These companies already served the New York/New Jersey metro region and the south, but the New Haven provided a connection to Boston and north through partnerships with the B&M, MEC, CV, CN, CP, and BAR. This forced traffic over the Penn Central or the Delaware and Hudson, which didn't have any direct western connection since it's partners were to the east - the B&M and Rutland which was still alive until 1961, and this would have meant more handoffs for the goods to reach the destination.

During this time, the B&M and MEC worked very close with each other including sharing paint schemes, offices, etc. It was almost a merger, but more of a partnership. They did connect with the GT which was also a subsidiary of the Canadian National (It is the Grand Trunk, not Grand Trunk Western) up in Portland, and the MEC had other connections with the CN as well as the Canadian Pacific way up in northern Maine where it also connected to the BAR. There was interest at one time by the CN to take over the old Northern Railroad of New Hampshire which ran from White River Junction to Concord, but for some reason they couldn't get their act together and never did buy the line. It's too bad because now that's a snow mobile trail. This connection probably would have been run by the Central Vermont which was also a CN subsidiary.

The owner of both the D&H and N&W were looking into merging the two companies together, but that didn't happen soon enough. They were both controlled by Dereco Corp by this time. When I was younger I remember seeing N&W cabooses on the end of D&H freights. This lasted right through their merger into the Guilford. Remember too that the D&H by this time was a bridge route, having lost its Anthracite business earlier, between Scranton, Philadelphia, New York City, Mechanicsville, NY for a B&M connection, and Rouses Point on the Canadian Border where it connected to the Canadian National. They also ran through trains, via partnerships with the Pennsy and later Conrail to Washington DC where they had southern connections. They very well could have connected to the N&W down in that area so this would have been a long North-South connection.

John

 

[jacksonbarno]

OH NO! I forgot the BAR and D&H. Hmm... How will I incorporate these into my alternate timeline?

 

[JCitron]

The BAR served northern Maine and had connections to the CPRail, CN, and MEC. They could easily be part of the New England/New York grouping.

The D&H could also be part of the same grouping as well as the Rutland which served across Vermont and connected to the D&H at Eagle Bridge, NY and the B&M at Bellows Falls. The B&M also connected to the D&H at Mechanicsville, NY.

John

 

[jacksonbarno]

The only problem with including the D&H in the B&M/MEC group is that trackage would not only be redundant in some areas, but it would give those roads stronger control over their near monopoly in Boston. I may include the Rutland with the group that the D&H goes to to try and break up that monopoly.

 

[JCitron]

Interesting... I never thought of that. The D&H could join the Norfolk & Western just as Dereco had planned originally back in the late 1950s through early 1980s.

John

 

[jacksonbarno]

I was thinking about that, and I had it all typed out and ready to go, except for one thing. Looking at the PRR and D&H maps, they don't appear to interchange anywhere except for Wilkes-Barre. The problem with Wilkes-Barre is that it is at the end of a PRR branch that was increasingly downgraded in the 60's, so much so that the cost to upgrade it to become a mainline may have been prohibitive. Hmm... Also, my Wabash/DL&W plan has one fatal flaw... The Wabash enters Buffalo by barge, so there is no real connection between those two roads. I will have to rethink my northeastern mergers a bit.

 

[JCitron]

The D&H also connected to the DLW in Scranton along with another lost Class 1 - the New York Ontario and Western which disappeared in the late 1950s. They came in from the east to a small interchange yard near where Steamtown is today. Their tracks are now a bike path along the river, if that helps much. This small yard was shared by the CNJ as well. Once in the valley there, there are also connections to the DLW, Erie, and LV.

In the past, they may have used trackage rights via Pennsy and Conrail to reach Washington DC and south. They did also have an interchange now that I think of it in Sunbury, PA with the Erie or DLW. I was looking at some older topo maps dating back to that timeframe and both of these companies also came into the same area. The DLW came out of the north from Coxton Yard where it connected with the Lehigh Valley. There was also a branch from there up to Taylor Yard where they may have connected to the D&H who owned that.

John

 

[jacksonbarno]

The thing about the O&W is that it was doomed from the start. Interchanging with the NYC, L&HR, Erie, and NYNH&H in Maybrook was nice, but the NYC and Erie didn't need the O&W's business, and the New Haven was more focused on ferrying through traffic to the L&HR than the O&W. Because of this, the O&W was not needed. The LV and CNJ was much the same situation, but because of the amount of traffic, and the railroads that owned them (PRR for the LV and B&O/RDG for the CNJ), they were able to also compete as terminal lines, as they both served the ports of New York. The CNJ was also part of the Alphabet route, which ferried traffic to the CNJ to terminate in New York. The O&W didn't even have a NY terminal, they used the NYC's Weehawken terminal. The NYC didn't want to operate the facility after 1955, so the O&W was not wanted. The DL&W and O&W had a connection near the western end of the yard, by the freight terminals which were demolished after the EL was mostly abandoned. Coxton yard was owned by the LV, and the O&W used it, but didn't own the yard.
What I am getting at is that the O&W was outdated, and it not only owned few facilities of its own, but the few that it did own it couldn't afford. The D&H served scranton at the end of a branch, so Scranton was mostly a secondary city for the D&H. The CNJ ended at Scranton, so they were also very much a secondary player in that market. Another railroad that served the Scranton/Pittston/Wilkes-Barre area was the PRR, although like most PRR lines in this area, it was heavily downgraded by the 60's. The railroads that brought the most business to Scranton/Wilkes Barre area were the Erie, the LV, and the DL&W. The DL&W had their major fast freight yards and engine facilities in Scranton (only fast freights used the Scranton yard, other freights used the other DL&W yards), and were the main player in the city. The LV's mainline ran around the outskirts of the town, and Coxton yard was a major interchange yard for the LV. The Erie's mainline just passed through Pittston.

 

[JCitron]

I agree the O&W was a gonner right from the beginning. They had initially set their sights on Lake Ontario then switched and set out for the Anthracite region. Their main business, however, was passengers going to their summer homes up in the Catskills. When automobiles became affordable, they then lost that business too.

The LV, CNJ, DL&W, PRR, RDG, and Erie all went to Scranton and other parts of the region for Anthracite coal. This was their mainstay, and for the CNJ a big part of their business. The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company was the coal mining operation of the CNJ. They operated this as a wholly-owned subsidiary that hired the CNJ to pull the coal out of the mines and to market. They made the money on both ends of the deal. The Old Company, later New Company after reorganization as it was known as, is still in existence and operating, albeit, in a much smaller form. Frank Bartus and I traveled down through that region over the summer. We have some routes planned for that area some day. The Lehigh Valley and CNJ were both partners and foes at the same time and even shared the trackage along the Leigh Valley gorge. In 1965 they abandoned sections of their own routes and combined them in various places such as in Whitehaven, Jim Thorpe, Weise, and Lehighton.

The D&H also came down through Carbondale, PA into the Scranton area. This line existed and was operational until Guilford bought them in the 1980s. This was more than a branch line too, and represented a big part of their route, and typical of Guilford, they embargoed the line first and ripped up portions of it before letting someone else take over. Today the southern end is still in operation while the rest of it is a bike trail. This is the line that ran under the famous Starrucca Viaduct. Today they come down to Taylor Yard which was once part of the DL&W route south which continued down towards Sunbury, PA along the river. They also owned a subsidiary coal-railroad operation in the Wilkes-Barre, Pittston area called the Wilkes-Barre and Eastern. This was operated as a switching operation in and around the vicinity. Their presence in this region was for the same reason as the others - Anthracite coal.

Now there's another player too who we forgot about. Yet another Anthracite road - the old New York Susquehanna an Western. This too operated in the same vicinity as the other roads and interchanged with the CNJ, LH&HR, and LV in various places. In the 1970s they almost went under then magically came back to life. Their route isn't quite as long as it used to be but they are quite successeful. They may have very well have interchanged with the D&H or its subsidiary WB&E in the same vicinity as we've been discussing.

John

 

[n8phu]

Here is something that should fit in right here....

There was an alternative plan to take all of the bankrupt railroads that went into Conrail and make TWO railroads out of them...

Let the speculation begin.

 

[jacksonbarno]

To make two systems from what Conrail was, maybe you could divide up PC and have one system based on the former EL lines (The EL was still solvent when Conrail took over, and had the option to continue operations) split up the PRR lines between the two, and then have the other based on the exNYC? The exNYC and EL were the two lines that were in the best shape at that time. The thing about Conrail was that the lines that it took over were extremely redundant. It had three New York - Chicago mainlines, and two of them paralleled each-other through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

On the previous topic, the NYS&W and the O&W shared systems with other railroads: the NYS&W with the Erie at their Pavonia Terminal, and as previously stated, the O&W at Weehawken. When most of the coal traffic died out after a bunch of Anthracite mines in the Scranton area were mined out during WWII, the anthracite roads were instantly made redundant. The LV and CNJ, who had dedicated New York terminals, were able to survive by combining PA operations and acting as terminal carriers for systems such as the Alphabet Route. Even if terminal carriers were not very profitable, both railroads earned enough to survive, even if in debt. The NYS&W was able to survive because it served as a shortcut through New York and PA, versus the O&W which took the "scenic route," so to speak. Even if the mergers that I outlined came to fruition, there is no guarantee that they would work, especially the ones among the Anthracite roads. All of the anthracite roads were redundant, and the same job could have been done by a single railroad in my opinion.

Also, I think that Guilford's slogan (and now Pan Am's for that matter) should have been "Yesterday's Freight Today!"

 

[JCitron]

To make two systems from what Conrail was, maybe you could divide up PC and have one system based on the former EL lines (The EL was still solvent when Conrail took over, and had the option to continue operations) split up the PRR lines between the two, and then have the other based on the exNYC? The exNYC and EL were the two lines that were in the best shape at that time. The thing about Conrail was that the lines that it took over were extremely redundant. It had three New York - Chicago mainlines, and two of them paralleled each-other through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

On the previous topic, the NYS&W and the O&W shared systems with other railroads: the NYS&W with the Erie at their Pavonia Terminal, and as previously stated, the O&W at Weehawken. When most of the coal traffic died out after a bunch of Anthracite mines in the Scranton area were mined out during WWII, the anthracite roads were instantly made redundant. The LV and CNJ, who had dedicated New York terminals, were able to survive by combining PA operations and acting as terminal carriers for systems such as the Alphabet Route. Even if terminal carriers were not very profitable, both railroads earned enough to survive, even if in debt. The NYS&W was able to survive because it served as a shortcut through New York and PA, versus the O&W which took the "scenic route," so to speak. Even if the mergers that I outlined came to fruition, there is no guarantee that they would work, especially the ones among the Anthracite roads. All of the anthracite roads were redundant, and the same job could have been done by a single railroad in my opinion.

Also, I think that Guilford's slogan (and now Pan Am's for that matter) should have been "Yesterday's Freight Today!"

This is becoming more and more interesting.

That is a perfect slogan for Pan Am and definitely a sign of their business. Up until the formation of the Patriot Corridor, and Pan Am Southern, they took more than a day to make it from North Maine Jct. to Mech'ville. This was due to slow orders all the way with some speeds as low as 10 mph causing outlawed trains all over the line. With the NS taking over the west end, things are now a bit better.

Now... Speaking of which... this maybe a good match for the New England roads. The NS is essentially the former PRR line and part of the old EL, plus the P&WV, NKP, and some Lehigh Valley and CNJ lines. This again goes back to what we've been trying to puzzle together, and if you think about it, these former Anthracite roads are now part of a single system. The only line to spin-off from this grouping is the new RBMN which took over some of the unused LV and former RDG lines in PA.

John

 

[jacksonbarno]

Also, I seem to recall Pan Am commandeering one of CSX's AC6000s. They "couldn't find it," but when CSX remotely shut it down, they basically said "hey... we found your locomotive... It's broken, can you fix it?"

About the Anthracite roads NS and the RBMN are pretty close. The RBMN gives trackage rights to NS over some of their mainline, and NS owns the rest of the Lehigh line. The funny thing is that when all of those railroads in that section of the country were built, they were needed, and now that they are gone, there are problems that are just now being solved because railroads haphazardly abandoned any lines that they could to cut costs. Now some of those lines are needed again: for example, NJT is planning to reopen much of the Lackawanna cutoff, and Ohio, which was openly against railroads in the 60's and 70's, is now looking for a passenger service connecting Youngstown, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. We also left out a small railroad in Scranton if we are talking about modern roads: The Delaware Lackawanna, which operates some former DL&W trackage in PA.

The anthracite roads outlived their usefulness after the anthracite stopped flowing. Also, the concentration of railroads in Jersey City/Hoboken didn't help the redundancy. I think that if they had all combined operations into a terminal railroad, they could have dodged the overhead costs at New York, which is part of the reason that the New York operations weren't profitable towards the end: because the costs kept increasing in the terminals. The formation of PC was the final blow though. The ability to bypass railroads at Maybrook and New York ruined the L&HR and would have ruined the New Haven even more had it not been merged into PC. The PC killed off the Bangor and Arstrook by leaving trainloads of potatoes that the BAR had delivered in the Selkirk yards for so long that they rotted. Farmers never shipped with the BAR again after that, and that ruined that railroad. I never understood why the ICC approved the PC merger. It merged two completely opposite systems that served the exact same areas as each-other and expected it to work? It makes even less sense when you consider that all three railroads were in debt, and the fact that the PRR and some of the NH was in pretty bad shape.

Also, I think that the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company was owned by the Lehigh Valley and not the CNJ.

 

[jacksonbarno]

I just came across this: At one time in the mid-60's, there were plans forwarded by the ICC to create four separate rail systems in the northeast based on the EL, NYC, PRR, and B&O. These systems would have absorbed the other railroads and would have been organized competitively. There were also plans in the 1920's to do this. Both times they fell through, in the 20's do to arguments and strife between railroads, and in the 60's because of financial problems and deferred maintenance.