Kansas City Southern to purchase...?

BoxcabE50 Jan 25, 2021

  1. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    I was just reading an email from a midwestern railfan. He wrote of reading where KCS was going to buy the Iowa Interstate. I did some searching, and cannot find the slightest mention of such an idea.

    Has anyone else heard such a rumor???
     
  2. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,677
    44,870
    142
    Hadn't read this, but last fall, KCS itself rejected a $20 Billion offer by Blackstone Group and others to take the road private. Perhaps KCS might buy a railroad like Iowa Iowa Interstate to add debt and make themselves less attractive as a takeover target. The IC might have had this in mind when it bought the Chicago Central & Pacific in 1996, after selling it off in the mid-1980s.

    In any case, the railfan rumor mill is always rife with tales of intrigue, most of it unsupported. Even some Internet sites offering financial "insight" are suspect with their "crowdsourced" analysis.
     
  3. Des Moines Rocket

    Des Moines Rocket TrainBoard Member

    82
    193
    8
    I also saw that earlier this morning. That would be interesting, but I have seen no other corroboration online. I have always been a fan of the Iowa Interstate, since they took over the Rock Island east-west main line through Des Moines. Great memories of ex-IC locomotives with patch paint jobs when they were first getting started.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't KCS put in a bid (unsuccessful, alas) for the Rock Island "spine line" from KC to MPLS after the Rock Island shutdown? Or, was that the Soo Line?
     
  4. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    I don't remember who it was, only that there was such a thing in fact. C&NW?
     
  5. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    It may be that a KCS powered train, which I have learned recently ran through on a part of the IAIS, has set the rumor mill running. If so, someone does not understand modern railroading- that foreign power can show up just about anywhere these days. BNSF trains roll across Montana numerous times daily, via Montana Rail Link. But BNSF is NOT buying MRL. In fact they cannot, but that is for another topic....
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  6. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Answering my own question, it was indeed the C&NW, which outbid the Soo for RI's ex-"Spine Line".
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  7. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

    22,210
    49,632
    253
    For a while now, KCS has been walking a tight rope to maintain just enough debt to be unattractive to a buyout from some other railroad but still be able to service that debt.
     
    Helitac, gmorider and BoxcabE50 like this.
  8. Des Moines Rocket

    Des Moines Rocket TrainBoard Member

    82
    193
    8
    That's who it was, indeed. Thank you for following up. I just couldn't remember who was bidding against C&NW for that segment. Interesting, and a topic for another post, how the Union Pacific ended up with so much former Rock Island trackage that was denied in the initial merger proposal.
     
  9. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,677
    44,870
    142
    After a decade of review, the ICC did eventually allow the UP to acquire the Rock Island, but the lengthy time frame brought deepened ruin to the Rock and the UP was no longer interested in it.
     
  10. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

    2,879
    7,585
    71
    Hardcoaler and badlandnp like this.
  11. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    The track you are thinking about was acquired by the St. Louis Southwestern (SP). When SP (and family) fell underneath UP colors, that is how UP acquired the ex-RI track.
     
  12. Reading2100

    Reading2100 TrainBoard Member

    14
    20
    2
    I heard that Union Pacific wants to acquire KCS. They said it was in their budget, and they could do it without making a dent in their bank.
     
  13. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    There is a Wall Street pundit who was pushing this scenario. But nothing is happening.

    https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wi...ern-suitors-have-invested-in-railroads-before

    https://www.railwayage.com/news/kcs-isnt-for-sale-quit-salivating/

    https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/26/jim...-pacific-to-acquire-kansas-city-southern.html
     
    Kurt Moose and Hardcoaler like this.
  14. Reading2100

    Reading2100 TrainBoard Member

    14
    20
    2
    Huh thanks. A friend told me that, and I took it with no research.
    I figured it was an idea of their's
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  15. ddm502001

    ddm502001 TrainBoard Member

    156
    141
    18
    With all the parked machinery I would doubt the UP will be pressing any near time purchases.
     
  16. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

    13,965
    6,903
    183
    I hope UP doesn't purchase KCS. I like seeing Southern Belle GPs in the Gulfport engine terminal and coming through Saucier twice a day. BTW, we occasionally see a Gray Ghost come through Saucier.

    upload_2021-2-11_17-13-43.png

    I think this what y'all are calling a "Gray Ghost". Though it may be this that I saw delivering a transformer to MS Power after Hurricane Katrina.

    [​IMG]
     
    Mo-Pac, gmorider, badlandnp and 4 others like this.
  17. rch

    rch TrainBoard Member

    349
    825
    32
    I think the KCS system complements BNSF more than UP, though I shudder to think what a merger would do to management, philosophy and most of all the operating agreements.
     
  18. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    That SD looks more like the old dirty white scheme. I believe the "gray ghosts" are actually painted a gray color.
     
    Mo-Pac and badlandnp like this.
  19. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

    22,210
    49,632
    253
    More like this. [​IMG]
     
    Mo-Pac, gmorider, digimar52 and 5 others like this.
  20. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Yes. This is their "Gray Ghost" paint scheme.
     
    Mo-Pac likes this.

Share This Page