THE BLANCHARD COMPANY

The Railroad Week in Review:
Fourth Quarter 1998


  • December 31, 1998
    Year-end ranking of rail stocks' YTD performance; STB decrees UP should keep what it has in Houston; CN-IC merger fallout; NS capex plans for 1999; Aussies eat into US coal producers' offshore market share.
  • Week ending December 26, 1998
    Christmas; no issue.
  • Week ending December 19, 1998
    WC stock performance outlook; Rip Watson on pending APL sale; new KCS website; CSX announces new Chicago-NY schedules; Chicago pulls a Cleveland; Possible rail passenger franchises in Canada; UP tells STP Houston "back to normal."
  • Week ending December 12, 1998
    CSX Intermodal contracts put trains on NS; BNSF reorganizes merchandise business unit; DM&E wins STB approval for Powder River Basin line; Greenbrier gets $50 mm order for double-stack platforms.
  • Week ending December 5, 1998
    Railroad relevance to public at large; CSX opens "Arsenal Connection" in Philadelphia; CP vs. CSX New York to Montreal; Wisconsin Central in Jordan rail consortium; Shortline car supply.
  • Week ending November 28, 1998
    Thanksgiving: no issue.
  • Week ending November 21, 1998
    More on the AAR "Town Hall" meetings; Conrail split set tentatively at 3/1/99; Norfolk Southern's Jim McClellan re passenger trains on freight railraods; Union Pacific stock performance YTD; RTEX opens another Canadian line.
  • Week ending November 14, 1998
    Grossman on growth at Emons; Providence & Worcester cuts debt load and interest expense; Aden Adams back at CSX; Union Pacific hiring 60,000; STB enviro impact study blesses CN+IC; Shippers tell AAR they need better communications with railroads.
  • Week ending November 7, 1998
    Emons posts 24% revenue increase for the quarter; GNWR revenues up 47%; RAIL posts 50% revenue increase; RTEX sells half its Brazil interests; Trans-con perishables then and now; More on mix courtesy of CSX.
  • Week ending October 31, 1998
    Earnings Week: CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Wisconsin Central; commentary on revenue per car as a measurement of yield; relationship between yield and customer satisfaction.
  • Week ending October 24, 1998
    Earnings: BNSF, UP, Railtex, CSXT, CN; Hub. CSXT's Aden Adams; CP/NS bridge route; grain prices and car supply; Wisconsin Central tentative UTU settlement; Kansas City Southern backs off spinoff.
  • Week ending October 17, 1998
    Recent stock performance among railroads, vendors; potential stack train shakeup; Union Switch & Signal signs with Britain's Railtrack; Westinghouse Air Brake's new acquisition; Trinity Industries; Conrail T&E employees on the [new] job; shortline rail access issues deadline October 30; correction re GNWR ownership.
  • Week ending October 10, 1998
    Earnings Week preview; South Orient abandonment nixed by STB; AZRC profile; Kansas City Southern spinoff plans in limbo?; Genesee & Wyoming expansions; RailTex carloading growth;
  • Week ending October 3, 1998
    Third quarter results and market commentary; Norfolk Southern on shared asset area management; New York Stock Exchange history; Tales from the Abyss--short lines and Class Is on their interrelationships.
  • Index for Jul - Sep 98
  • Index for Apr - Jun 98
  • Index for Jan - Mar 98
  • Index for April - Dec 97
  • Index for Dec 96 - Mar 97

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