{"id":6536,"date":"2011-01-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utu.org\/2011\/01\/19\/a-railroad-quiz-remember-when-6\/"},"modified":"2011-01-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-19T00:00:00","slug":"a-railroad-quiz-remember-when-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/a-railroad-quiz-remember-when-6\/","title":{"rendered":"A railroad quiz: Remember when?","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

When we talk about Class I railroads (the largest of railroads with annual freight revenue of at least $378.8 million), most of us can name the carriers in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n

They are BNSF, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific — seven, in all.<\/p>\n

When some of our older heads signed on, back in the\u00a01960s, the list was quite\u00a0longer — and occasionally we see a couple of those names, barely visible, painted on\u00a0old boxcars or even an aged\u00a0yard locomotive.<\/p>\n

In fact, for rails beginning their careers in 1970, there was 58 separate Class I railroads — 51 more than today.<\/p>\n

Following is a list of those 58, with an explanation of their fate in parenthesis. How many do you recall?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (now part of BNSF)<\/li>\n
  2. Atlantic Coast Line (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  3. Baltimore & Ohio (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  4. Bangor & Aroostook (downsized and absorbed by a shortline)<\/li>\n
  5. Boston & Maine (now part of Pan Am Railways)<\/li>\n
  6. Bessemer & Lake Erie (now part of Canadian National)<\/li>\n
  7. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (now part of BNSF)<\/li>\n
  8. Clinchfield (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  9. Central RR of New Jersey (merged into Conrail* and New Jersey\u00a0Transit)<\/li>\n
  10. Chesapeake & Ohio (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  11. Chicago & Eastern Illinois (now part of CSX and Union Pacific)<\/li>\n
  12. Chicago & North Western (now part of Union Pacific)<\/li>\n
  13. Chicago Great Western (now part of Union Pacific)<\/li>\n
  14. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (now part of Canadian Pacific)<\/li>\n
  15. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (now part of Union Pacific and regional Iowa Interstate)<\/li>\n
  16. Delaware & Hudson (now part of Canadian Pacific)<\/li>\n
  17. Denver & Rio Grande Western (now part of Union Pacific)<\/li>\n
  18. Detroit, Toledo & Ironton (now part of Canadian National)<\/li>\n
  19. Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range (now part of Canadian National)<\/li>\n
  20. Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (now part of Canadian National)<\/li>\n
  21. Erie-Lackawanna (merged into Conrail*)<\/li>\n
  22. Florida East Coast (no longer a Class I railroad)<\/li>\n
  23. Fort Worth & Denver (now part of BNSF)<\/li>\n
  24. Georgia Railroad (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  25. Grand Trunk Western (now part of Canadian National)<\/li>\n
  26. Great Northern (now part of BNSF)<\/li>\n
  27. Gulf, Mobile & Ohio (now part of Canadian National)<\/li>\n
  28. Illinois Central (now part of Canadian National)<\/li>\n
  29. Kansas City Southern<\/li>\n
  30. Lehigh Valley (merged into Conrail*)<\/li>\n
  31. Long Island (now wholly a passenger railroad)<\/li>\n
  32. Louisville & Nashville (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  33. Maine Central (now part of Pan Am Railways)<\/li>\n
  34. Missouri-Kansas-Texas (now part of Union Pacific)<\/li>\n
  35. Missouri Pacific (now part of Union Pacific)<\/li>\n
  36. Monongahela (merged into Conrail*)<\/li>\n
  37. Monon (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  38. New York Central (merged into Penn Central; then Conrail*)<\/li>\n
  39. New York, New Haven & Hartford (merged into Penn Central; then Conrail*)<\/li>\n
  40. New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate) (now part of Norfolk Southern)<\/li>\n
  41. Norfolk & Western (now part of Norfolk Southern)<\/li>\n
  42. Northern Pacific (now part of BNSF)<\/li>\n
  43. Pennsylvania Railroad (merged into Penn Central; then Conrail*)<\/li>\n
  44. Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  45. Reading Railroad (merged into Conrail*)<\/li>\n
  46. Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  47. St. Louis San Francisco (Frisco Lines) (now part of BNSF)<\/li>\n
  48. St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt) (now part of Union Pacific)<\/li>\n
  49. Seaboard Air Line (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  50. Soo Line (now part of Canadian Pacific)<\/li>\n
  51. Southern Pacific Lines (now part of Union Pacific)<\/li>\n
  52. Southern Railway (now part of Norfolk Southern)<\/li>\n
  53. Texas & Pacific (now part of Union Pacific)<\/li>\n
  54. Toledo, Peoria & Western (now part of BNSF, and also\u00a0shortline)<\/li>\n
  55. Union Pacific<\/li>\n
  56. Wabash (now part of Norfolk Southern)<\/li>\n
  57. Western Maryland (now part of CSX)<\/li>\n
  58. Western Pacific (now part of Union Pacific)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    * Conrail was created by Congress to absorb bankrupt Penn Central. Conrail susequently was returned to the private sector and split apart — its separate portions acquired by CSX and Norfolk Southern.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When we talk about Class I railroads (the largest of railroads with annual freight revenue of at least $378.8 million), most of us can name the carriers in a matter of seconds. They are BNSF, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific — seven, in all. When some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,45,9,18],"tags":[],"member_types":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA railroad quiz: Remember when? - SMART Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/a-railroad-quiz-remember-when-6\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A railroad quiz: Remember when? - SMART Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When we talk about Class I railroads (the largest of railroads with annual freight revenue of at least $378.8 million), most of us can name the carriers in a matter of seconds. 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