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UP + Rock Island, MP + ATSF or Southern? BN + SP?

In the current September 2015 issue of TRAINS magazine, writer Dan Machalaba lists his top 13 railroad blunders of all time. Sitting at number 6 is Union Pacific’s failed bid to acquire the Rock Island. UP wanted to solidify its reach in to Chicago, and also St Louis, and in the early 1960s, filed a merger application with the ICC. With the recent happenings regarding the old Rock Island STL-KC line, particularly the proposed conversion of the west end of the unused line to a trail west of Windsor, reading this article got me to thinking “what would the Missouri railroad scene look like today if that merger happened?” It would have had a huge impact, or “butterfly effect” if you will, on the entire western railroad scene.

 

– above:  westbound Rock Island train @ Belle, MO October 6, 1972. Photo by Paul Dalman and can be found on page 178 of Rails Around Missouri.

Let’s start with the Rock’s STL line. Had the UP-RI merger gone through, would we see heavy freights rumbling through Eldon, St Albans (gasp!) Chesterfield and on past Creve Coeur Lake into Lackland? Where would they have gone from there? Belt line into downtown? How much traffic could that line have handled, even if rebuilt to modern, Class 1 standards? Would trackage rights been negotiated over the MP at Labadie to St Louis? IF Union Pacific had funneled as much traffic over the RI STL line as it does the former MP today, major upgrades and even double tracking would have been required. It would be fun to see. Alas, this merger failed, as did the Rock Island, of course, and as we all know, the RI STL line is dead west of Chesterfield (essentially).

If the UP-RI merger had gone through, what impact would that have had on the Missouri Pacific? Also in the early 1960s, according to Craig Miner’s book, “Rebirth of the Missouri Pacific”, the MP was actively seeking a merger with 2 major railroads: the ATSF, and the Southern Railway. The MP definitely felt threatened by the UP-RI talks, and began talking with the Santa Fe in 1963. MP began acquiring ATSF stock. ATSF was at first receptive, but talks ended in late 1964. Then the MP again went after the ATSF, buying more stock, in what could be viewed as a hostile take-over. The ATSF rebuffed this effort, drove up the stock price, and the MP eventually gave up in 1966. What would that have looked like had it gone through? Who’s image would have survived? Some sort of combination of red, blue, yellow? MP Blue carbodies with yellow chevrons? Screaming Eagles on Cajon Pass?

 

-above: ATSF, RI, UP & KCT meet in Kansas City, May 5, 1979. Dale Hearn, photo, found on page 69 of Rails Around Missouri

I honestly believe that BN would have still merged with the Frisco, regardless. That merger made sense from end to end. SP wanted access to Chicago, as well as another route to STL. Would a merger with BN made sense for both roads? BN would have realized all of the same rewards as it gained from its eventual merger with ATSF: access to SoCal & the Texas Gulf coast, and Chicago-LA direct route, though double-tracking the Brookfield line would have been necessary.

It’s very interesting to think about how different things would be today if even one of these mergers had happened. Who would be the superpower? Would it still be UP? Would STL has survived as more of a gateway than it is today? Thanks for reading.

“Rails Around Missouri” was published as a hard-cover book in 2013 and quickly sold out. Print-on-demand versions can be found on amazon.com, split into a volume 1 and a volume 2. Volume 1 covers Chapters 1-4 of the original, and Volume 2 covers Chapters 5-8.

Time to hit the road to the Transcon, a place I hadn’t been in a while. In fact, I hadn’t been to Marceline since working my way from there to LaPlata in October 2013 while touring with Rails Around Missouri.

First up, a ballast train @ Bucklin around 8am;

Next, the first of many stack trains on the day passes thru the signal bridge @ milepost 342 west of Bucklin. The signals are still in service, with no ‘Vader’ hood signals anywhere around.

After that, it’s on to Marceline to catch Amtrak #4 speeding thru around 930am. I missed a westbound manifest freight while relocating here, so the score is 2-1 caught/missed.

Next, 3 intermodals from the overpass west of the station. A welding crew is working just below on the switch from Main 2 into the Marceline yard, plus a ballast/tamping crew is occupying Main 2 between Bucklin and West Ethel, so BNSF is fleeting trains in 1 direction at a time.

 

On to West Marceline, and I missed a westbound UP stack train while getting lunch, so the score is 6-2 caught/missed. First up, an eastbound that was waiting for the welding crew to clear gets a yellow. It could cross over at East Marceline to Main 1.

A westbound grain train comes through West Marceline just after the eastbound clears.

Next, an eastbound UP stack train passes thru West Marceline

Next I moved on to the signal bridge east of Marceline, just west of the US36 overpass. Nothing snuck by, so the score is 10-2 with the passing of this eastbound grain train. It crossed over at East Marceline to Main 1 to get around the MOW activity east of Bucklin.

Moving back to Bucklin, MP 342, I missed an eastbound UP stack train, so 3 missed on the day there. BNSF is still fleeting eastbounds around the MOW, and a satck train passes thru the signal bridge. The camera went nuts on me, and no amount of Photoshop cleaned it up.

With the length of the stacker, I had time to move to the sunny side of the signal bridge in time for the DPUs to pass.

Next, an eastbound manifest rolls thru MP 342.

 

The former BN Brookfield sub also passes thru Bucklin, and upon hearing an eastbound,  I moved to the Main St overpass to catch it, led by an SD70MAC. BNSF seems to have banned all EMD power from the Transcon, so you have to go elsewhere to find them.

 

After a bit of a lull, the MOW equipment started to clear, heading back to the yard at Marceline. These guys wanted the same attention the trains get, it seemed, with lots of horn blowing and waiving as they went by, almost wanting to be on camera.

 

Next, the same ballast train as before heads back to Marceline.

Then a fleet of westbounds, beginning with 6706 oassing thru the bridge @ MP 342.

Then another….

Then a parade of westbound MOW pieces on Main 2, tho I only took pictures of this one.

Then a westbound UP vehicle train.

UP trains on the BNSF Transcon always run at the back of the pack, so this signaled there would be a good lull before the next batch. With the knowledge of when a KCS train would make an appearance in Mexico, it was time to move on. After missing a westbound NS train as I arrived in Centralia, I set up on the KCS just in time for the eastbound grain train.

This isn’t the Transcon where trains run in batches. This is the KCS’ former GM&O line from Roodhouse, IL to KC. Speed was slow enough to catch it again in Mexico, below.

After a crew change in Mexico, I caught the train as it departed, passing over US54.

 

As an added bonus, here is the former Columbia Star dinner train, awaiting pick-up in Centralia for delivery to its new owner in Wisconsin.