The Blanchard Company--Week in Review First Quarter 1998

The Railroad Week in Review:
First Quarter 1998

Week ending March 28
STB sets April 2, 3 for testimony on rail access and competition issues; UP's Laredo embargo is adds to the competition's revenues and to the public's ire; Purported beneficial effects of traffic flow changes as a result of the CR transaction; Schoolbus redux: making highway crossings on our railroads safe with bozos like these on the streets will remain a challenge as long as bozos abound; Conrail and NS freights collide in Butler, Indiana; Stock evaluation Spotlight compares the Big Four class I roads.
Week ending March 21
CSX and NS reach agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on the CSAO concept; Readers respond on the topic of the four drivers of shortline profitability; Threatened UP embargo of Mexico traffic averted; UP testing the first new refrigerated boxcar in 27 years; PWX moves 240,000 shares dropping 4.7% with new share offering; NS tops all rails in Fortune 500's "Most Admired Companies" series; New Industry Spotlight shines on WCLX -- RTEX, GNWR, and PWX are runners-up.
Week ending March 14
Running more numbers on KCS railroad spin-off; freight train and school bus collide, feds propose fines for commercial operators fouling crossings; DM&E track application reaches STB, schedule proposed; UP to throw more resources at Texas Gulf; Joint BNSF-UP dispatch center opens near Houston; FRA fines UP $131,000 citing fundamental breakdown in safety; STB sets June 4 for oral arguments in the Conrail merger; grain group seeks competitive access.
Week ending March 7
Industry Spotlight on Harmon Industries; discussion of whether to buy Union Pacific at $50; Politicians risk turning Cleveland turn into another Houston; details on Providence and Worcester stock offering.
Week ending February 28
UP cuts this quarter's dividend and projects loss for the quarter; Further comment on Micheal Price and FEC; FRA audit critical of CSX safety practices; DM&E effort to access PRB gathering steam; New England Central and Chemical Leaman open Palmer (MA) facility; New York Regional Railroad converts $1.75 million of company debt into NYRR equity; links to Paul Tupaczewski's old railroad photos.
Week ending February 21
MotivePower Industries under the industry spotlight; Wisconsin's new two-man crew law spreads to Illinois and Vermont; Emons doubles quarterly net on flat revenues; Florida East Coast Industries (NYSE: FLA) draws comments from investor Michael Price in Barron's; Texas Rail Commission loses in shootout with the STB; Wall Street investors say IC has topped out at $39; Providence & Worcester files SEC registration for stock offering.
Week ending February 14
Krebs to Davidson: UP's attempts to relieve congestion have failed; UP and BNSF agree to set up joint Texas Gulf regional dispatching center; Wisconsin Central, FRA sign operational practices agreement; Genesee & Wyoming joins the "record quarterly and annual results honor roll; O'Tool, Nelson, Batory tapped for CSAO; First look as MPO as investment.
Week ending February 7
Illinois Central sells itself to Canadian National; Kansas City Southern Railroad is now more definite about being spun off from its holding company; HUB: if you manage your resources, you can weather almost anything; RailTex racks up some nice numbers for the quarter and year with record carloadings; BNSF and NS step up efforts to integrate shortline operations and marketing with their own; MotivePower Industries posts record earnings.
Week ending January 31
NY senators join a chorus of local complaints over the "east of Hudson" and Buffalo issues; New FASB rule requires earnings to be reported two ways, basic and diluted; Johnstown Industries seems finally to be making money on freight cars; Wisconsin Central revenues, earnings increase for quarter and year; Norfolk Southern has yet another record quarter and year, still up after CR merger costs but no record; Railroad stocks up 0.3% in January.
Week ending January 24
Economics of transloads vs shortline rail direct; David Goode named Railroader of the Year by Railway Age; Earnings week -- BNSF, CSX, IC, UP and CN, average revenue per car down.
Week ending January 17
Shortline miffed as class I connection end-runs with bulk terminals; NS 1998 capex program described, NS sells NAVL; CSX ahead of schedule on B&O rehab; UTU endorses CR merger; Newark Airport monorail to connect with NEC; WNC gets $25 mm Road Railer order from Triple Crown; GE Harris sells dispatch system to NS; Greenbrier 1Q98 results; Gruntal upgrades IC, downgrades BNSF.
Week ending January 10
UP may lose some customers permanently and is named in a shareholder class action suit; STB declines to decree UP must supply cars to certain shippers; contrast/parallel between rail and ocean shipping industries; RTEX results for December; ABCR acquires rail-hardening process.
Week ending January 3
Comments on the Conrail merger rebuttals just in; Draft EIS misses the mark on crossing closings; railroad and rail vendor stocks tepid in final quarter.
Index for April - Dec 97
Index for Dec 96 - March 97

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