TP&W

I hears that Walter took over in hopes of somehow connecting it to Susquehanna. Is that true? It seems like they dumped it about the time of the CR split.

I thought I had read that WR was trying to create his own Chicago/NJ route for NYSW. He was trying to buy up smaller railroads to eventually create one big main line, but when CR split they lost the container traffic so there was no need to hold onto the small roads since there wouldn't be a chicago/nj main line for NYSW anymore.

TP&W was just an investment deal - Delaware & Otsego only owned 40% of the road. Before the Conrail split, you might have been able to get trains as far as Meadville or even eastern Ohio on the old Erie route, but it would have taken billions of dollars and years of fighting to ever connect the TP&W to the NYS&W.

I was just curious. I got my first job with BNSF in Illinois. The TPW had a job which came into Galesburg, from Peoria. I was there when DO sold out to Rail America. Several of the ex ATSF GP20s are still stored in Binghamton.

Walter was trying to do something, just what he had in mind we will never know. After the TPW deal, he attempted to get control of the Meadville to Corry line by backing other buyers. Conrail found out Walter was behind the deal and they refused to sell. This attempted purchase started the speculation that he was going after lines in Ohio to connect the TPW.