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[xx(]
That’s easy. Right Now? - The Union Pacific.
Horror Stories in the West.
Most of their SP engineers and conductors have opted out.
Most of their trains are running dead on the clock.
Shippers can’t get delivery or cars
Oh yes, they want royalties from Athearn and other manufacturers for use of their name.
What’s NOT to like?
My option is not really on there. I don’t like the Santa Fe. They merged with the BN, causing locos to be repainted and the BN to “disappear” from the tracks. I guess I could go with the BNSF.
Reed
After the UP / Athearn / Lionel meltdown that is probably still fresh in most folks minds here…what purpose does this accomplish?
I like some railroads better than others. I don’t hate any.
I don’t like putting together Details Associates horns, but I don’t hate it. I could buy another brand.
I don’t like doing wiring, but I don’t hate it. It needs to get done or all I have are static displays.
Hate has no real purpose in a hobby.
Well at first thought its UP but Guilford and or New Jersey Transit (AKA Nazi Jermany Transit) might beat UP in my least favorite list.
Guilford screwed up northeast railorading, NJT has the two ugliest engines on earth, the ALP46 and the worst of them all… The PL42AC, NJT also has a Nazi syle photograph ban. Then again those PL42AC’s are so ugly that I’d never take a pic of one anyway!
How I can I hate a thing that I love? If we didn’t like trains there would be no Model Railroading…I do not get into the politics of railroading as it is of no consequence to me in the long run as I am not a share holder,employee or customer…It is true I once worked for the PRR/PC then the C&O under Chessie and then CSX…I loved the work.
Whether it’s the U.P. or the Frisco I LOVE ALL TRAINS!!
well said!!!
This topic is yet another thinly veiled attempt to bash UP. [zzz]
[%-)] As someone who lives in the heart of Guilford’s territory (their corporate offices are just across town from where I work), I’m curious about how they screwed up railroading around here?
Well first off they bought the D&H and put a railroad in fair shape bankrupt, secondly they took over some great railorads (B&M, MEC, and the D&H), third they had a huge strike in the late 90’s, fourth they are cheaper than Norfolk Southern, fifth they have an ugly paint scheme, sixth I haven’t heard a single employee or railfan say anything good about them, seventh if I can’t wait for NS of all railroads to buy them they must be bad!
Hey Doug:
I’m not trying to give you a hard time, but you should consider these things about Guilford before declaring that they ruined NE railroading:
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It seems to me that Guilford bought B&M, MEC, & D&H after those companies got into big trouble to begin with.
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I’m not familiar with the “big strike in the late ‘90’s”, but it seems to me that unions tend to do that. You should see what the Boston Patrolman union has been doing to the DNC these days. [:0] Welcome to Boston! [xx(]
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Cheaper than NS?? Is that possible? [;)] Seriously, you have to keep in mind that a railroad is a business and can’t afford to keep everything looking good for rail fans. Besides, I think they have an interesting loco roster to model.
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Guilford has an Ugly paint scheme? Looks okay to me. A little more color than NS, but not as obnoxious as DT&I dayglo orange. [:0][;)]
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I can’t speak for how their employees or rail fans think about them, but I think you could find plenty of RR employees from other companies that think badly of their RR too. That’s life in most companies.
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I’ve been hearing about the alleged pending NS buyout of Guilford for a long time now. I’m thinking of submitting this tale to the “Urban Legends” website… [:P][(-D]
Guilford did all of those things. B&M and MEC were both in financial trouble…pretty much all Maine railroads were when GRS stepped in. BAR is no longer around as BAR either. Like anyone else, they trimmed back unprofitable trackage and have kept RR service in Maine when it might have dried up. They are cheap or frugal or maybe cash poor, RRs in that area are not big cash cows, so their margin isn’t real big. Notice that all of thier locos are second hand. And remember they are not in business for you the railfan or philanthopy, they are a business and trying to maximize profits from a rail system. They did have a big strike and used the Springfield Terminal as a basis to fight the unions over wages. It was not pretty, so depending on how you look at it, they are truly a mean spirited company or a company that survived a labor dispute and is still in business.
From a railfan perspective, they have not be fan friendly until recently, and I would say that was more of a warming than friendly. They were and still are fun to watch. They have more standardized their power pool lately, but had some real cats and dogs of power.
You can’t fault a company for doing what it has to do to make it. Guilford isn’t so bad and they certainly didn’t screw up railroading in the NE…the NE railroads were doing a pretty good job of that before Guilford came along.
This is about one stupid topic…I don’t know about ya’ll but in the long run, trains are trains and you can’t hate something you really like…I really don’t think there are too many of us here that have to wonder about when the next delivery to our warehouse is due from the railroad…or how slow the trains are running now-a-days, who is who on the railroad executive board, or what railroad is next in line to be eat’in up by UP or something like that…I say we delete this particular opinion pole and put it in the category of “dumb opinion poles entered on the MR forum”…Chuck[:D]
[#ditto]
Heeey! Why did you put “anything Canadian” in the options!?!?
Life’s waaay too short to waste any of it on hate, especially about something about as inconsequential as a railroad.
I agree, there is probably just an agenda at work here. Why not just be upfront and tell us what your gripe is?
Wayne
I like all railraods, never had a problem with any of them…
Though I know a lot of guys that are working for CN that don’t like it.
[bow]BNSF RAILROAD[bow]
Be Specific–Hate Union Pacific!!!
I don’t hate UP’s trains–many of them are very nice indeed–and I certainly don’t hate their train crews. But I have problems with the company and its organization…