The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1929-12-26
Ice. HAS MONSTER
RAIL MERGER PLAN
C. N. and N. P. Would be
Linked Under Gigantic
Proposal for Roads
BURLINGTON SEPERATE
Federal Plan Would Group
Almost Every Railroad
in the Country

Washington, Dec. pa plan
for merging practically all the
steam railroads of the United
States into 10 giant operating
units was laid down by the Inter-
state Commerce commission to-
day in compliance with a congress
sional mandate.
Five eastern trunk lines would be
formed, headed by the Pennsyl-
vania, Baltimore & Ohio, Wa
bash-Seaboard, New York Central
and Chesapeake and Ohio. The
Boston and Maine and the New
Haven would form the key sys-
tenn in New England.
In the South there would be
three systems headed by the At
lantic Coast line, the Southern
railway and the Illinois Central.
Other key systems under the
plan were as follows: The Great
Northern Pacific, the Chicago Mil
waukee, st. Paul and Pacific, the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy,
the Union Pacific. The Southern
Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe, the Missouri Pacific and
the Chicago Rock Island and Pa
cific, and Chicago and North
Western.
Two Canadian groupings were
also allowed but were not included
in the list of trunk systems.
Many long established relation
ships between existing carrier
systems would be disrupted by the
carrying on of the proposal, but
the commission said it represented
the attempt to create transpor-
tation system in the country
which would maintain competition
and give every important trans
port service.
Without specifying the actual
local treatment necessary, the
commission declared that any rail-
road consolidation should be &C
companied by unification of all
terminal leins in the respective
terminals, so all terminal proper
ties should be thrown open to all
users on flair and equal terms
regardless of terminal ownership.
Commissioner Eastman in a
concuring opinion to the docu-
ment today declared "the plan is
very little more than a procedure
STEP" He added there is nothing
compulsory about it nor even any
assurance authority will be sought
- D,,f h. I@1
which it proposes. The import
ant time will come when we take
action upon definite applications,
to bring about rail consolidation"
r. For the Illinois Central the COM
mission proposed the addition of
a large number of short lines in
southern territory including the
Gulf and Ship island, the Yazoo
and likewise the Minneapolis and
st. Louis now Independent line
running into the northwest.
In the west the commission
proposed to take the Burlington
system away from the Great
Northern and Northern Pacific,
which now owns it, and to erect
by addition of the Missouri Kan
sas-Texas to the Burlington, a
new and extensive railroad struc-
ture. The Burligton system pro-
jected will include a half inter-
est in the Great Western and
likewise a half interest in the
Trinity and Brazos Valley and
would run from the Canadian
border to Mexico. The Great Mort
ern and Nothern Pacific would be
merged in another consolidation
including most of their present af-
filiated and connecting lines.
Around the Chicago, Milwaukee,
St.-Paul and Pacific the commission
proposed another single system by
inclusion of the Duluth, Missabe
and Northern, the Duluth and Iron
Range half interest in the Butte,
Anaconda and Pacific, and track
age rights and partial interests in
several short lines which would
be associated with other merger
systems as well.
The Atchison, Topeka and San
ia Fe was assigned a number Of
short lines including half of the
Chicago Great Western, the Min
neapolis, Mortified and Southern
and the Minnesota Western rail-
road carrying it's system far north
of territory it now serves.
With the announcement of it's
rail road linking scheme, the COM
mission initiated some notable in
novations to the organization of
the transportation structure. Par
ticularly notable among these were
the provisions looking to the ex-
tension of northern lines into south
ern territoy, and conversely of
southern lines into northern ter
ritory.
The PRONUNCIATION of the plan
further foreshadows disapproval Of
the pending project of the Great
Northern, Northern Pacific and
Burlington companies for merging.
These corporations were thrown
into separate alignments by the
commission scheme announced
Mrs. T. p. Steffes IL quite serious.