So that eastern and western railroads with there customers could get the best rate. If you have one railroad from E/W or W/E there goes all competition. Thats one reason Rock Island is no more as they could not get good rates after the formation of Conrail as well as why there is no Erie.
Is this thread some kind of a joke or have you, ChessieCat123, drank too much Jack Daniels today? You simply are mixing too many things together, including the mixing of time in a bowl, which can’t be done. Consider rephrasing your post in a reply, but please figure out first exactly what you are trying to say …
Back then the ‘rate’ had to be approved by the ICC, so your theory is out the door. The Rock faltered due to the ICC taking forever to review/approve the merger with the UP. By that time, the property was in pretty tough shape and UP backed out of the merger proposal. The Rock was losing money every year starting in 1965. By 1979, they were out of operating capitol and a strike by the clerks union forced the shutdown.
The Erie connection(later Conrail) really had no effect. There was just too many granger lines running across Iowa to the UP connection at Council Bluffs. Add to the fact that there were so many branch lines that no longer provided revenue, it was a done deal. The C&NW and Milwaukee were in the same boat. After the ICC debackle, UP re-established the ‘Overland’ connection with the C&NW, and later purchased the property. You can add the M&StL and CGW to this story…
Jim