Many of the threads here would benefit by the use of accurate historical data, financial and operating, for the major carriers. Reams of such data are available at the Surface Transportation Board web site for the years 1997 through 2003. The data are from the Form R-1 that each road is required to file annually. The data are organized in tables in PDF format and are readily printed. Here is the link:
http://www.stb.dot.gov/econdata.nsf/66a333195e0491c885256e82005ad319?OpenView