What would of happened if say, C&O merged with the New York Central? Let’s also put in there B&O and N&W. What would of things looked like today? Put in other mergers that did not happen. I’ve wondered just what the railroading industry would of looked like today. Any thoughts?
In the 50’s and 60’s the N&W was partly owned by the PRR and the Nickel Plate was partly if all owned by the NYC.
That said the B&O and the NYC were in serious merger talks before the PRR-NYC merger talks began.
The Nickel Plate (New York, Chicago and St. Louis) was partially owned by the NYC from 1882 until the Van Sweringens bought it in 1916.
The NKP, Wheeling and Lake Erie, Erie, C&O, Pere Marquette and Hocking Valley almost merged in the 1920s and in the 1940s. C&O, HV and the PM merged in 1947 and the NKP got the W&LE in 1949.
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western then went after the Nickel Plate but ended up merging with the Erie in 1960.
The B&O had the Western Maryland and the Reading, which had the New Jersey Central.
I would have liked the Pennsylvania to merge the Wabash, Lehigh Valley and Ann Arbor and add the Norfolk and Western and the C&O, NYC and the B&O group to merge as well. I guess I would put the Erie Lackawanna with the C&O+B&O+NYC and the Nickel Plate with the PRR+N&W.
That would leave things pretty close to how they are now though.
I beleive if there were a merger between C&O and NYC it would of been called Chessie Central. Just think the reporting marks would be CC. I don’t think C&O and NYC would of gone bankrupt right away like Penn Central. Maybe this merger would of lasted as long as C&O really did or maybe a little longer.
I do know that if B&O and N&W merged Norfolk Southern would of goten B&O’s old Mountain Sub that CSX now owns. Hay I wonder if Norfolk Southern would of even existed now days??///
With so much manufacturing in the North & East, these lines may have gone belly up as well. I think a lot would depend on how much coal would be required to keep the enterprise afloat. Frankly, it may have taken the bankrupcy of so many railroads to get Congress & the state’s attention for deregulation & detaxattion. Revenue from the passenger side dropped so rapidly, then you add the loss of mail & express traffic. A lot of that went into truck trailerrs. It would be impossible to compete with the completed Interstate highway system. Cracks would appear as each segment was completed.
If you look at the shift in population & industry, the smart mergers involve mergers with lines further South. I think the Family Lines of L&N+SAL& others had been formed. This left Southern to get some other partners.
Slight correction for you, Nanaimo: C&O merged with Hocking Valley back in 1930. The 1947 date is correct for PM. Add the Manistee & Northeastern in 1955.