Western Railroad Discussion > Conrail & Cotton Belt(SSW)

Is it true that the conrail tried to buy the Cotton Belt or
was it just a rumor. I heard it back in 1998.

It was true. That was one response to the UP-SP merger proposal back in '95.

BobE

Conrail figured it needed to get bigger if it was to maintain its identity in a railroad-merger environment. When the regulators rebuffed its proposal to buy the SSW, CR went courting in Richmond, and we ended up with this wishbone job (NS and CSX each grabbed part and pulled).

This interested me when I first heard about it some time ago. Why did this deal not go through? On the outside, it would appear to have been a wise move.

What did the system map of the SSW look like?


Joe H.

jch9596 wrote:
>
> This interested me when I first heard about it some time ago.
> Why did this deal not go through? On the outside, it would
> appear to have been a wise move.
>


UP refused to negotiate it, and the STB refused to order it. Of course, since Conrail had no connection at Memphis, and would have operated out of St Louis only on UP trackage rights, it's hard to say how well this would have really worked.

Check out an old Fred Frailey piece on Trains called "River Wars" on the MoP-SSW relationship on the joint track, featuring a couple of young division superintendents back in the 70s, Dick Davidson of the MoP and Rob Krebs of the SSW. Still one of my favorite Trains articles of all time (hi Fred).



> What did the system map of the SSW look like?


It's the eastern end of the SP...St Louis and Memphis at one end, Corsicana, Texas at the other. Conrail's bid went a little deeper than just the SSW. i.e. Houston to access the chemical traffic.

BobE

did not KCS want SSW too.

gwl
http://photosbygreg.20m.com

KCS wanted to buy the entire SP after the SP-SF failed attempt. The new road would've been called Kansas City Southern Pacific (KCSP). Rio Grande Industries was the winner and the rest is history.

And did you know:

SP and Seaboard Coast Line almost merged...
UP almost bought the Rock Island...