Скачать или смотреть Union Pacific's $5 billion deal that changed American railroads

September 11, 1996. Union Pacific completed a $5.4 billion acquisition that was supposed to revolutionize American freight. Instead, trains stopped moving. Christmas presents sat stranded in Los Angeles. Crops rotted across the Midwest. And Houston—America's 4th largest city—experienced total railroad gridlock for two years.
This is the story of how corporate ambition, rushed integration, and operational incompetence turned Abraham Lincoln's transcontinental railroad dream into the worst freight crisis in U.S. history. And why it's terrifyingly relevant today as Union Pacific attempts an even bigger $85 billion merger.
What You'll Discover:
In 1995, CEO Dick Davidson saw an opportunity. Merge Union Pacific with the struggling Southern Pacific Railroad to create an unstoppable transcontinental giant. Wall Street loved it. Analysts predicted massive synergies. The Surface Transportation Board approved it.
But within weeks of the September 1996 merger, catastrophe struck:

Freight yards in Houston became parking lots
Computer systems lost track of thousands of rail cars
Train speeds plummeted from 25 mph to 20 mph system-wide
A rail car of liquid argon lost 90% of its contents to evaporation during transit delays
Farmers watched grain elevators overflow while empty grain cars sat immobilized 1,000 miles away in Texas
Chemical plants shut down production lines
The gridlock spread like a virus from Houston to San Antonio, El Paso, Tucson, Los Angeles, and eventually Chicago

The crisis lasted two full years (1996-1998). Union Pacific's stock crashed 50%. Congress held emergency hearings. The Federal Railroad Administration cited the company for "fundamental breakdown in safe operations." The merger that was supposed to print money instead cost billions in losses and took a decade to repair reputationally.
But here's the twist: In July 2025—nearly 30 years later—Union Pacific announced an $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern. The proposed deal would create America's first true coast-to-coast railroad monopoly, controlling 43% of all U.S. freight across 50,000 route miles.
Labor unions are terrified. Shippers are protesting. Senator Chuck Schumer called it "dangerous consolidation and monopoly power." The Surface Transportation Board already rejected the initial application in January 2026.
The question: Have railroad executives actually learned from 1996? Or are we about to watch history repeat itself on an exponentially larger, more devastating scale?
This documentary reveals the hidden lessons from America's worst railroad disaster—and why they matter more today than ever.