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Trains Magazine 1965 May F means Freight Hudson to Albany
Trains Magazine 1965 May
May 1965Volume 25 Number 7
NEWS ----3
RAILROAD NEWS PHOTOS10
STEAM NEWS PHOTOS -14
IT COULD HAPPEN HERE18
3:52 A.M., APRIL 30, 190020
HUDSON TO ALBANY -24
HOW TO REPLACE A RAILWAY 26
ONE 0-4-0T, 21/2 MILES --29
PHOTO SECTION- -31
OUR GM SCRAPBOOK - 640
THE BIG ENGINE-48
Railway post office 50Running extra 56
Second section53Interchange58
COVER: A galaxy of EMD F's dominated by Espee F7 cab unit No. 6370. Collection of Al Kamm Jr.
I.C.C. CHANGE OF HEART?
THE Locomotive Engineer, tabloid official weekly of the BofLE, headlined its reaction: "Surprise! I.C.C. rejects a merger for a change." Across the land many a railroad shared the union's astonishment, if not its pleasure, as the Interstate Commerce Commission told both of the 1184-mile Western Pacific's suitors, Santa Fe and Southern Pacific, that the gal was not for marrying. The regulatory body nixed a 1963 recommendation by its Examiner Paul C. Albus in favor of Santa Fe and found instead "no compelling reason" why Santa Fe needed any help against Espee (as Albus had found) or why, conversely, SP-WP rivalry should be ended. Moreover, the Commission not only continued but broad-gauged an investigation into the legality of rail purchases of WP stock (20 per cent by Santa Fe, 10 per cent each by GN, SP, and UP) and further asked what, "if any," action is being taken to unload these securities.
Western Pacific advertised its relief within less than a week of the decision, declaring, "On February 3, 1965, the Commission handed down its unanimous decision: to continue Western Pacific as an aggressive, independent compe t it o r among the two giants, Southern Pacific and Santa Fe." As for the giants themselves, they put the best possible face on the I.C.C. turndown. Espee Chairman D. J. Russell observed that he had bought into WP in the first place to effect operating economies between the two parallel properties and that several such coordinations had indeed been implemented during the 41/3-year control contest. Santa Fe prexy Ernest S. Marsh saw a moral victory in the fact that at least rival Espee had been denied WP control, which was why he had jumped into the fracas. But he was disappointed that Santa Fe had been turned down on its bid to permanently resolve WP's "future."
In a larger reference, however, the I.C.C. decision caused some observers to wonder if the regulatory body was returning to an only-the-weak-may-merge tack. If so, the future for mergers in the comparatively affluent West is bleak, and Great Northern Pacific & Burlington Lines, in particular, is in trouble despite an examiner's O.K. In affirming WP's independence, the Commission a gr e ed that the rails no longer enjoy a monopoly of transportation, but added that nonrail competition "isn't as effective" in the West. There are two reasons to assume that the Commission has had no change of heart, however. First; in approving a merger of in-the-black Coast Line and Seaboard by an 8-to-2 vote in late 1963, the agency all but beat the drums for
open-mindedness on the money issue. It declared that "the [Interstate Commerce] Act draws no distinction as between the strong and the weak. . . . There is no requirement in either the statute or judicial precedent which limits the Commission's authority to approve mergers to those involving carriers which are insolvent or on the verge of bankruptcy." Second, the disposition of Western Pacific is a tricky issue failing an end-to-end merger with D&RGW or UP in Utah. Give WP to Espee and you reduce rail routings between Utah and northern
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