Mark Merger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Modoc Line died because the STB approved the
> UP-SP merger.
>
> The Tennessee Pass line died because the STB
> approved the UP-D&RGW merger.
>
> The SP&S line between Spokane and Pasco and the GN
> line between Sandpoint and Spokane died because
> the ICC approved the merger that formed BN.
>
> The MP Pueblo Line died because the STB approved
> the UP-D&RGW merger.
>
> There are countless examples. Mergers translate
> into track abandonments. Plain and simple.






Mergers not just create abandonments but reroute traffic patterns
making some rail lines far less important. The Shasta route under SP for example had around eighteen trains a day. Maybe eight a day under UP's control. Same could be said for Rio Grande routes. When is less competition a good thing? When the value of stock is all that is considered . The shippers be dammed. We are witnessing the slow death of American railroading.