Now that Hunter Harrison at CSX is dead will things for Amtrak improve

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
How the heck should we know? It is never wise to demonize the soundrel in power too much; far wiser to spend ones time studying the scoundrel replacing him.

And I dont know who he is, what he wants, or if he is any better! Wall Street is full of morons like Hunter Harrison, Bruce Berkowitz and Eddie Lampert who have the business accumen of a Newcastle coal importer.
 
Well since EHH picked a replacement team when he went on medical leave, they'll probably handle operations in the short term. CSX will probably pick another CEO that'll serve stockholders not the railroad. Another businessman instead of a railroader.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Amtrak Forum mobile app
 
GLM , I really agree with you, But CSX was so messed up lately I wonder what the board will do short term as well as the long view regarding Amtrak.Trains mag thinks CSX is now more stable and about to improve service. Time will tell.
 
Don't care what it brings for Amtrak right now.. Right now my focus is on getting CSX back to where they were. A railroad that focused on safety and not terrorizing their train crews with threats of being pulled out of service for following rules and not being on the train within a certain amount of time. And being a Railroad that understands they have customers to serve.

EHH did nothing short of create a mess there at CSX. Close yards, layoff workers, delay customer shipments to the point where customers were done using CSX as their RR and switched to NS.
 
Things on CSX were messed up before EHH . Why should they get better ? LSL Albany - Cleveland; Southern services Richmond - Savannah; Crescent service --CSX fouling NS main just south of ATL station.
 
fixj said:
GLM , I really agree with you, But CSX was so messed up lately I wonder what the board will do short term as well as the long view regarding Amtrak.Trains mag thinks CSX is now more stable and about to improve service. Time will tell.
Click to expand...
With, or without EHH, I don't think Amtrak would be important on their agenda.
 
The railroad is still under the control of the Wall Street hedge fund that put Harrison in control. They'll continue to suck as much money out of the company as possible without concern for shippers, employees or the public.
 
MikefromCrete said:
The railroad is still under the control of the Wall Street hedge fund that put Harrison in control. They'll continue to suck as much money out of the company as possible without concern for shippers, employees or the public.
Click to expand...
Well said.
 
west point said:
Things on CSX were messed up before EHH . Why should they get better ? LSL Albany - Cleveland; Southern services Richmond - Savannah; Crescent service --CSX fouling NS main just south of ATL station.
Click to expand...
Yes. But he made it much worse. And I'm talking things that aren't related to Amtrak. At least the previous CEO actually cared about the employees safety.

MikefromCrete said:
The railroad is still under the control of the Wall Street hedge fund that put Harrison in control. They'll continue to suck as much money out of the company as possible without concern for shippers, employees or the public.
Click to expand...
The sad part is.. It's true.
 
I suspect that with EHH out of the picture, there will be some improvements. The company is facing all sorts of scrutiny and pressure for (among other things) the messed-up employee relocation affair alongside the delivery stuff. My guess is that if EHH had been alive the team would've done what he wanted, but with him out of the way they'll actually try to fix what they can on some of these fronts.
 
CSX was a good railroad when I was a kid. It was severely mismanaged by John W Snow in the late 1980s, mismanaged differently by Michael Ward in the 1990s, and Harrison brought in a new type of brainlesss mismanagment. Now CSX will be totally disorganized and flailing for a while, until they hire a new CEO.

With the Trump administration's love of giant monopolies, this might be the time for BNSF or UP to make a buyout offer, which the hedge fund would be likely to take. I don't think eithe of them will do it though.
 
MikefromCrete said:
The railroad is still under the control of the Wall Street hedge fund that put Harrison in control. They'll continue to suck as much money out of the company as possible without concern for shippers, employees or the public.
Click to expand...
The people on Wall Street own the corporations like CSX and will do anything to see that profits are kept high and returned to the investors. They don't care about people, they don't give a rats azz about Amtrak. You can put Jesus and Moses in charge of CSX and it won't make a difference.
 
Acela150 said:
I don't see BN buying anyone out for one reason. They're not a public company. Warren Buffet seems to want to keep it that way.
Click to expand...
He can. Market cap of CSX: $47 billion. Berkshire Hathaway cash hoard: $109 billion, and he seems to be having trouble finding things to do with it. An all-cash buyout would be easy peasy.

It's not the sort of acquisition he'd normally make though; Matt Rose would have to pitch it to him, and although Rose has spoken positively about the possibility of coast-to-coast mergers, I don't think he's ready to pitch such a merger to Buffett, so I think it seems unlikely at this point.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
dlagrua said:
MikefromCrete said:
The railroad is still under the control of the Wall Street hedge fund that put Harrison in control. They'll continue to suck as much money out of the company as possible without concern for shippers, employees or the public.
Click to expand...
The people on Wall Street own the corporations like CSX and will do anything to see that profits are kept high and returned to the investors. They don't care about people, they don't give a rats azz about Amtrak. You can put Jesus and Moses in charge of CSX and it won't make a difference.
Click to expand...
Until that changes, the corporations will continue running themselves into the ground at the expense of absolutely everybody- including eventually the wall street morons. Excellent business reading suggestion: Did You Boscov Today?, which is available at your local Boscov's.
 
Green Maned Lion said:
dlagrua said:
MikefromCrete said:
The railroad is still under the control of the Wall Street hedge fund that put Harrison in control. They'll continue to suck as much money out of the company as possible without concern for shippers, employees or the public.
Click to expand...
The people on Wall Street own the corporations like CSX and will do anything to see that profits are kept high and returned to the investors. They don't care about people, they don't give a rats azz about Amtrak. You can put Jesus and Moses in charge of CSX and it won't make a difference.
Click to expand...
Until that changes, the corporations will continue running themselves into the ground at the expense of absolutely everybody- including eventually the wall street morons. Excellent business reading suggestion: Did You Boscov Today?, which is available at your local Boscov's.
Click to expand...
Why, yes I did.
default_wink.png
 
I knew Al personally, and I miss him terribly. But that man knew exactly how to run a business, to the advantage of everyone- including, of course, himself. He made himself and his family immeasurably rich with that little chain. But he also knew how to treat his customers, his employees, and even his suppliers, so that a lot of people have gotten very comfortable.

He once told me the key to success is sincerity. And the key to sincerity is being sincere.

And that was Al. Nuts, happy, and sincere.
 
Green Maned Lion said:
I knew Al personally, and I miss him terribly. But that man knew exactly how to run a business, to the advantage of everyone- including, of course, himself. He made himself and his family immeasurably rich with that little chain. But he also knew how to treat his customers, his employees, and even his suppliers, so that a lot of people have gotten very comfortable.

He once told me the key to success is sincerity. And the key to sincerity is being sincere.

And that was Al. Nuts, happy, and sincere.
Click to expand...
*Like*
 
I’ve been following Buffett for decades and I can’t visualize him paying the current price for CSX. If the price falls substantially, maybe.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum
 
Yeah, it did get trashed pretty good on Friday after the medical leave news. Still way up from when Harrison started bidding for the company. The pre-Harrison price would probably get Warren’s attention.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum
 

Latest posts

Back
Top