Railworks America

I'm sure this has been going around for a little bit. E. Hunter Harrison of CP wants to take over CSX. Similar to what they tried to do with NS (I think). Being a CSX lover, I think it's a big . IMO it's just not right having a Canadian railroad running in the U.S.A. You have BNSF and UP out West, and CSX and NS on the East Coast. It just kind fits.

EHH is no longer with CP. Harrison and hedge fund Mantle Ridge are currently negotiating with CSX as Hunter wants to become the next CEO of CSX. Current CEO Michael Ward recently announced he is retiring.

And then what will stop Mr Harrison from approving a merger with CP?

If Harrison gets control of the CSX Then god help you all on the east. I can see a similar thing happening to CSX-CP merger as what happened to the New Haven, And from what i have read New Haven management was LIKED in it's final years.

ErikGorbiHamilton wrote:If Harrison gets control of the CSX Then god help you all on the east. I can see a similar thing happening to CSX-CP merger as what happened to the New Haven, And from what i have read New Haven management was LIKED in it's final years.

I hope not. Harrison seems so determined on getting CSX to merge with CP, it's annoying how much he's trying.

ZekTheKid wrote:IMO it's just not right having a Canadian railroad running in the U.S.A. You have BNSF and UP out West, and CSX and NS on the East Coast. It just kind fits.

Are ya forgetting about CN there?

BoostedFridge wrote:

ZekTheKid wrote:IMO it's just not right having a Canadian railroad running in the U.S.A. You have BNSF and UP out West, and CSX and NS on the East Coast. It just kind fits.

Are ya forgetting about CN there?

Boosted has a point. While CP is in the US it doesn't occupy much of the US like CN does. When the CN got the Illinois Central they gained their own mainline to NEW FREAKING ORLEANS!

If you live next to CSX tracks, now might be a good time to move.

BoostedFridge wrote:

ZekTheKid wrote:IMO it's just not right having a Canadian railroad running in the U.S.A. You have BNSF and UP out West, and CSX and NS on the East Coast. It just kind fits.

Are ya forgetting about CN there?

Yup.

As a CSX railfan living near the River Subdivision, I don't wan't American railroads to be controlled by Canadians. What's going to happen, if successful. I might as well consider myself a Canadian and move to Canada. This merger is a horrible idea, CSX has so much itself, I love its blue and yellow livery. I feel very uncomfortable with the merger and I hope it doesn't happen.

The concern is not about the Canadians owning an American company. The problem is that Harrison is the lap-dog of a bunch of corporate raiders who care nothing about the purpose of a company. They come in, lean it up to the point of failure, suck out all the money they can get, and leave a broken shell behind. Everyone and everything at CSX, which is already lean, will suffer - employees (1000 middle management position cuts were announced yesterday), rolling stock and track maintenence, and customers. If you think i'm lying, do a little studying of Harrison's tenure are various railroads.

To me, the absolute nuttiest thing about all this is that the investor's group that is behind all of this only owns 4.9% share in CSX, and they want 6 people on the 12 member board of directors. I wonder what the larger investors are thinking? And to carry the absurd to the point of extreme, Harrison wants $300 million in bucks and stock, most of it up-front, to do this. Part of this is that he want $58 million in compensation for leaving CP early, which to my knowledge, CSX did not ask him to do.

As it stands right now, barring a shareholder revolt, all this will happen June 1, they day after the current CSX CEO and president retire.

I live very close to the Metro Sub, and the thought of Harrison quite literally killing my childhood is not fun....

JerryC wrote: a bunch of corporate raiders who care nothing about the purpose of a company. .

The same applies to State run companies. I work for the MTA which is state, they run NYCTA. They promised me a pension, healthcare, a good wage. Had to take a test and show two years of mechanic experience. The waste and cost overruns of their capital projects is outstanding.

Then our contract comes around with a minor 2% increase and they blow up the Main Stream Media on how we are bankrupting them. They offered me this healthcare and pension when they hired me. Now you want to go back on what you said when you hired me? Luckily I have 2 years to go to retire and get into the Pizza business with my brother and bank my pension.

Big Gov needs to get out of business, they can't run anything.

CSX looks to be a willing partner in this. They have twice moved deadlines (today was one of them) to give Mantle Ridge more negotiating time. As Spock once said

"You will find that having is not such a pleasing a thing as wanting".

Looking beyond this, if CSX proposes a merger with CN or CP, it will be interesting to see how BNSF and UP will react. In that event, i'm hoping for BNSF.

Burlington Norfolk Southern Fe?

Doesn't really roll off the tongue, does it?