B&OCT

Cjbdiesel · **Joined:** Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:17 pm **Posts:** 96

I didn't have anywhere else to post this, nor did I find anyone else talking about this...

While volunteering on the train today I ran into Dave Watterson, a former B&O, Chessie, CSX worker. After talking for a good 30-45 minutes, he brought up a story on the scrap metal fire sale the B&O/Chessie was participating in. They had 2,000+ cars to be sent to the scrapper but most of which sat in storage for upwards of 30 years (The Octoraro W&N Branch and Reading/Conrail New Castle Cut-Off were holding areas for a few hundred cars). Somehow, moving these cars, scrapping, selling, ETC. was costing the B&O/Chessie a hefty tax, but that's another story...

He remembered a friend of his who was wearing a coat from the B&O. It read "B&OCT" which was short for B&O Chicago Terminal. After a lengthy time, he went on how the B&OCT was never terminated and is in fact, an active company ON PAPER.

When the B&O merged into the C&O, WM and others, they rushed the process. Doing this caused the head office to completely ignore the B&OCT, which was a meeting point for multiple railroads at the time. Because of how the process was handled and the agreement between the city of Chicago and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, if Chessie System attempted to buy the B&OCT back into the system, the city would have the full legal right to charge the Chessie System for every car, locomotive, passenger and so on. Along with these charges came a heafty tax evasion.

So if you ever think the B&O is gone, it's still around on paper, much like Conrail shared assets. As Dave said, the B&O screwed themselves over and didn't even know it....

/Christian

dinwitty · **Joined:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm **Posts:** 2226

I think the Penn Central is still an active business, but not in the railroad business, its office is probably no more than a lonely door in some faraway lonely little business complex holding properties.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Nov 04, 2013 10:07 am

dinwitty wrote:

I think the Penn Central is still an active business, but not in the railroad business, its office is probably no more than a lonely door in some faraway lonely little business complex holding properties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_P ... derwriters

Dennis Storzek · **Posted:** Mon Nov 04, 2013 1:29 pm

If I recall correctly, the B&OCT was always a separate company. It grew out of the purchase of former Wisconsin Central assets from the then bankrupt Northern Pacific in '93... that's 1893, and apparently was never fully integrated into the B&O. Why, I don't know, but they must have had a reason.

Cjbdiesel · **Joined:** Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:17 pm **Posts:** 96

Dennis Storzek wrote:

If I recall correctly, the B&OCT was always a separate company. It grew out of the purchase of former Wisconsin Central assets from the then bankrupt Northern Pacific in '93... that's 1893, and apparently was never fully integrated into the B&O. Why, I don't know, but they must have had a reason.

That's something worth looking into. I'd imagine it had something to do with contracts and taxing...