dallashistory

Clyde, you are The Railroad Man Know that you and Carlie will have a wonderful vacation and thanks for the tips on the routes! We would like a berth but are willing to work up to that. Anyway, my little sprite adores the train

Again, ya'll have fun The glorious, Grand Canyon ... wow! And the perfect time of year ...

Well, the Heartland Flyer (OKC-Fort Worth and return. daily) is a coach-only train, about four hours each way and i understand it is pretty good about keeping time.

Leaves OKC every morning at 8:25, gets to Fort Worth at 12:39. Leaves Fort Worth at 5:25 PM, gets to OKC at 9:39 PM. Which would probably mean an overnight, probably two. Could look around OKC, either day of arrival or departure, of course.

If you live within a reasonable drive to Pauls Valley (150 miles north of Ft Worth) or Ardmore (105 miles north), it comes through PV at 9:31 AM and Ardmore at 10:20 AM, return at 7:22 PM to Ardmore, 8:11 PM at Pauls Valley. That might make an easier or more practical trip.

That would give around four hours in Fort Worth, which isn't a real long time, but long enough to look around some. How well that would work sort of depends on your energy level and age and tolerance for travel of your little one, of course.

Link to Article: http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/d ... 1f5a7.html

Article:

Berkshire To Buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $34B

07:47 AM CST on Tuesday, November 3, 2009
By BRENDAN M. CASE / The Dallas Morning News
bcase@dallasnews

Warren Buffett, the second-richest American, agreed to acquire Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. for $34 billion, in what would be his largest acquisition ever.

Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., agreed to pay $100 a share for the 77.4 percent of BNSF it doesn’t already own. The cash and stock offer represents a 31 percent premium over BNSF’s closing price Monday.

Berkshire Hathaway would also assume $10 billion in debt from BNSF, the nation's No. 2 railroad.

Buffett described the transaction as a huge bet on the railroad business and on BNSF chairman, president and chief executive Matthew Rose and his team.

“Most important of all, however, it’s an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States,” said Mr. Buffett. “I love these bets.”

The boards of both companies have approved the transaction. The deal also requires approval by holders of two-thirds of BNSF’s outstanding shares, other than the shares held by Berkshire Hathaway.

It’s also subject to other closing conditions, including review by the U.S. Department of Justice. The deal is expected to close in the first three months of 2010, according to a statement by Berkshire Hathaway and BNSF.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to become a part of the Berkshire Hathaway family,” Rose said. “We admire Warren’s leadership philosophy supporting long-term investment that will allow BNSF to focus on future needs of our railroad, our customers and the U.S. transportation infrastructure.”

End of Article

Very interesting news. We saw a good number of BNSF trins on our trip, and also a number of sidings with substantial numbers of stored cars. Especially significant, i think, was the number of stored stack cars (for containers) and TOFC flats. There is business, but it is still down. Still - Warren Buffett and Bershire-HAthaway aren't known for making losing bets. And BNSF is a good road, with tracks to places that will generate traffic as the economy improves (which it will, though just how fast I wouldn't care to predict).