Can anyone tell me what happened to the SP to cause it to be taken over by UP. Any articles I could read would be appreciated. The SP downfall happened before I got back into the hobby so I missed all the talk in Trains[?][:(][:D]
There was a good article in the March 2005 issue of Trains on this topic.
It is a very long and complicated story. Starts back in the 1960’s. Involves some very hard headed “my way” railroad presidents (not just SP). Includes the stripping from the SP all but the railroad property during the SP-ATSF merger attempt. These other properties had been covering SP’s operating losses. Time. Time. More Time. The purchase of the SP by the DRGW. Then, when that failed to fix things, the UP tried to digest the SP. Bad case of indigestion.
Books have been written. Articles also. Try a GOOGLE search for publications on the subject.