It'll never happen - CSX would never consent to a merger that would see UP 844 and 3985 run on their rails, lol.

Kidding aside, I don't see it as truly anti-competitive since most of the systems do not compete outside the midwest. Do you think someone in Seattle will oppose BNSF merging with NS or someone in Tampa raising issue with CSX merging with UP? In those cases costs would likely come down.

As for ending interest in railfanning - perhaps to a degree, but I would imagine we see a resurgence in shortlines - both in interest, and likely in expanded track rights.

Airlines are different in that the majority compete with all point to points, only the hubs are different.

Of course, this is a generalization and there would surely be several issues to work out.

/Mitch