What is your guys favorite railroad company that either still exists or no longer exists? My 3 favorites are in order is Burlington Northern (now BNSF), Union Pacific and Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe (now BNSF), I can't get enough of the BN and ATSF logos, at least that Union Pacific hasn't changed much throughout the years.

 

d l e&w and later erie as my gp and dad both worked for them as tug boat captains. the erie men bring some stock up by me 2 times a year for rides and its always fun esp. when the steamer runs going up the big grade

 

Erie Lackawanna, and of course the great Pennsylvania RR.

When I drive around the small towns and backwoods of PA, I'm amazed at how many abandoned r/r beds there are...PRR had a tremendous network that served pretty much everywhere.

Maybe someday we'll go back to that.

 

Grew up alongside the UP, so they were always my favorites. Until I actually had to do business with them. Horrible experience. For me, it's Willamette & Pacific/Portland & Western. They know how to run a railroad!

 

Has to be the old Illinois Central and Gulf, Mobile and Ohio for me. I live about 200 yards from the old IC main line that runs from Memphis to Grenada(Grenada sub) At the most, there is maybe 3 trains a day now.....Memphis/Grenada local and empty Nissan auto rack trains heading to Canton MS.

 

Norfolk & Western now known as Norfolk Southern! My Grandfather and father worked for them for many years.

 

I loved the big blue and white Conrails, but ever since they got divided up between NS and CSX, I like UP. I also had a fondness for Southern Pacific and BN before the mergers they got involved in.

 

I had a Pennsylvania and Lake Erie Railroad hat as a kid. Given to me by my grandfather who worked for Union Switch and Signal in Homestead/Munhall area of Pittsburgh. It had a cool P&LERR logo.
Wish to heck I knew what I ever did with that hat. It is kind of a shame as kids we don't realize how keeping something like that and taking care of it to have later can bring back fond memories.
So...my vote is for P&LERR!

 

I've liked BN for a few years now. I got a chance to step up into a Norfolk Southern SD70 a few months back. My friend was taking pictures of engines parked at the Laurel yard entrance when the engineer came out and asked us if we had ever been inside the cab of one of those big S.O.B's. You know we couldn't pass that chance up. Ever since then, NS is a big second choice for me.

 

Erie Lackawanna. also Conrail(which is now CSX). Train goes through my town a few times a week.

 

B & M railroad (Boston and Maine)

 

Reading Railroad, B & O Railroad, Short Line Railroad or maybe Pennsylvania Railroad. Cant chose.

 

Best of the best was the Denver & Rio Grande Western RR (Main Line Through the Rockies), until the Southern Pacific snarfed it up, then the final blow was when the U.P. snarfed them up. Of course my bias is due to my dad working for the D&RGW for 43 years. Grandfather worked for the Burlington For 42. An old friend of mine from high school has worked for the Kansas City Southern for 30+ years now as well.

With all the mergers/buyouts I predict there will be at best 4 railroads serving the U.S. in the near future. That is a real pity.

 

M & E here in NJ - a shortline. They're working on bringing back the old SIRR and RVRR lines, which snake through some of the towns around here, very exciting!

Then NJ Transit because I ride it everyday to work.

 

I used to have fond memories of spending time in my uncle's trailer and we used to watch the BN trains go by, although the railroad tracks was about 3/4 mile away but you can actually see the trains go by, I used to count the cars from beginning to the end, those are the days I will never forget.