Western Railroad Discussion > Ben Heineman's proxy fight for Rock Island

Ben Heineman and the C&NW waged a proxy fight for control of the Rock Island in the 1960s. His objective was to form a north-south line centered around both railroads. How serious was Heineman? Were the C&NW's finances able to afford the Rock Island to include getting it into physical shape to compete with such roads as the Missouri Pacific and Santa Fe? What lines would have been retained in the system? The system was largely end to end outside of parallel lines in Iowa and Illinois, so one can assume line rationalization would have been focused there. Would the Union Pacific look to eventually merge with the combined Rock Island-Northwestern system in the 1970s? What made Heineman ultimately give up on the Rock Island?

Northern Wrote:
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> Ben Heineman and the C&NW waged a proxy fight for
> control of the Rock Island in the 1960s. His
> objective was to form a north-south line centered
> around both railroads. How serious was Heineman?
> Were the C&NW's finances able to afford the Rock
> Island to include getting it into physical shape
> to compete with such roads as the Missouri Pacific
> and Santa Fe? What lines would have been retained
> in the system? The system was largely end to end
> outside of parallel lines in Iowa and Illinois, so
> one can assume line rationalization would have
> been focused there. Would the Union Pacific look
> to eventually merge with the combined Rock
> Island-Northwestern system in the 1970s? What
> made Heineman ultimately give up on the Rock
> Island?

What Heineman and the CNW wanted to do was to eliminate the competition. The same thing the did with the CGW and the M&StL. Sure they would have kept a few parts (as they did later) bu for the most part it was to make it go away.

J.

Northern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ben Heineman and the C&NW waged a proxy fight for
> control of the Rock Island in the 1960s. His
> objective was to form a north-south line centered
> around both railroads. How serious was Heineman?
> Were the C&NW's finances able to afford the Rock
> Island to include getting it into physical shape
> to compete with such roads as the Missouri Pacific
> and Santa Fe? What lines would have been retained
> in the system? The system was largely end to end
> outside of parallel lines in Iowa and Illinois, so
> one can assume line rationalization would have
> been focused there. Would the Union Pacific look
> to eventually merge with the combined Rock
> Island-Northwestern system in the 1970s? What
> made Heineman ultimately give up on the Rock
> Island?


The Midwest had way more track than the traffic would support. The goal was to shrink mileage. Just as importantly getting the Rock Island would keep it out of the UP's hands.

Bob Wilcox
Charlottesville, VA
My Flickr Shots



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/17 03:11 by bobwilcox.

Bob Wilcox is correct. Remember that there was a 12 year long attempt by the UP to take over the Rock Island for a direct line into the Chicago market which eventually died off due to all the delays in the hearings. The Rock had so much mainline mileage from Chicago to NM, MN to TX and IL to CO. along with all the branches that went with it. It would have been parceled out no matter who took it over.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Bob3985 Wrote:
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> Bob Wilcox is correct. Remember that there was a
> 12 year long attempt by the UP to take over the
> Rock Island for a direct line into the Chicago
> market which eventually died off due to all the
> delays in the hearings. The Rock had so much
> mainline mileage from Chicago to NM, MN to TX and
> IL to CO. along with all the branches that went
> with it. It would have been parceled out no matter
> who took it over.

Surprisingly, most of the Rock's trackage did survive.  Outside of Arkansas, the line to Colorado in Nebraska and Northeastern Kansas and St Louis to Kansas City most of it is in service in some form.

NYSWSD70M Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Surprisingly, most of the Rock's trackage did
> survive.  Outside of Arkansas, the line to
> Colorado in Nebraska and Northeastern Kansas and
> St Louis to Kansas City most of it is in service
> in some form.

Yes, and most of it ultimately came into the hands of...wait for it...Union Pacific, its one-time suitor. Yes, it did pass through intermediate hands (C&NW, MKT, SP) but for the most part things pretty much wound up as envisioned in 1964, the dismembering of the Choctaw Route being "the one that got away."

Ironically, the one section of the RI UP coveted the most back then, the Chicago-Council Bluffs main, is not in the UP fold, being held by Iowa Interstate, CSX and Metra. Given the later acquisition of the higher-capacity C&NW main between those points, the former RI could have been spun off and in the hands of a regional carrier today regardless.

NZ

The long game in mergers and technology is often controlling resources, and keeping key resources --away-- from competitors.

Posted from Android

The best defense is a good offense. A UP-RI merger would have been fatal to CNW, and Heineman knew it. He had to concoct a credible alternative to delay/disrupt the UP-RI merger. In that regard, I think he succeeded fabulously.

What I don't understand: UP's RI merger proposal seems pretty shallow. If I understand it correctly, all RI lines south and west of KC would go to SP. This placated SP, but was sure engender hostility from other lines. Some of the RI lines south and west of KC were not very useful to SP and could have been offered to other roads to buy off their opposition to the merger, e.g., Give the Rock's Denver - Herington to DRGW and give DRGW trackage rights Herington - KC. There probably could have been some deal to placate ATSF as well.

Best regards,

Rob L.