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| I have historically spent thirty to forty hours per year explaining why I exclude cetain types of companies from my database of railroad certificates. To decrease that time, I have tried to formalize my thoughts in this and several linked pages. Please accept my apologies if I do not include a particular company or industry you are interested in. But please accept my explanation that I only have a limited number of hours in my day. Thanks. |
My primary focus is railroading.
Can't find a company you think operated a railroad?
It may mean:
My primary goal is to include all legitimate "railroad" companies. My goal is NOT to include every company that ever
had a rail operation or was peripherally related to railroading. My special page titled Thoughts about which companies to include in the database ... and which to reject explains my logic in more detail.
Thousands of non-railroad companies operated forms
of "railroads."
Many collectors collect artifacts and paper from peripheral
companies, so I try to be somewhat inclusive in what I classify
as "railroad-related." However, not every company that
ever owned a rail car or length of steel rail classifies as a
"railroad company."
I must draw the line, somewhere. Several times a year, collectors try to convince me to expand the database to include one specialty or another. I understand their motivations, but there is a certain reality...
The further afield I go, the more my primary efforts are diluted.
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In other words, every minute I spend describing certificates from non-railroad companies is one less minute I have for my core interest – railroading.
No matter how I define my limits, collectors sooner or later
find certificates within the vast "gray area."
Here are types of companies and types of operations that I do NOT
knowingly include in the database. You may also want to look at my large list of companies with similar, but deceptive names that I classify as non-railroads.
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Amusement parks, regardless of railroad authenticity or
scale. (For instance, I do NOT consider the the full scale railroad at Dollywood to be a legitimate railroad company.)
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Airport operations including trolley buses,
loop railways, and subways. (For
instance, I do NOT include the tram at the Dallas-Fort Worth
Airport nor the underground train at Denver International Airport.)
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Bridge companies. I include a few companies because auction catalogers commonly include these companies among railroads by custom. See detailed discussion at bridge companies excluded. |
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Manufacturers for which railroading is or was a small part
of their businesses. (I do NOT include CF&I Steel, for instance,
even though it was a large manufacturer of rails.) See detailed discussion at "gray area" parts companies excluded. |
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Miniature railroads.
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Toy companies. (I do not include Lionel.)
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Replicas at any scale. |
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Associations. There are several
conductor, engineer, and trainmen associations and unions and some issued "stock"
and membership certificates. While their membership worked for
railroad companies, the associations did not carry freight or passengers, nor
did they manufacture goods for railroads. See detailed discussion atlabor unions excluded. |
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Mining companies that
only operated underground trams. I DO include a tiny number
of mining companies if they indicated the importance of railroading
by including such indications in their corporate names. See See detailed discussion at mining companies excluded. |
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Railway and streetcar equipment supply companies.
(Just because they sold supplies to railroads does not make them "railroad companies.") |
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Major diversified companies. I
do NOT include highly diversified companies unless railroading constituted central parts of their businesses. |
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Industries other than railroading.
(For instance, I do NOT include companies such as US Steel, The Anaconda
Co, or Coors Brewing, even though they operate, or once operated, rails. See detailed discussion at industries exluded. |
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Utility
companies*.
(See footnote for tightly-constrained conditions
under which I include a few.) See detailed discussion atutilities excluded. |
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Holding companies**.
(See footnote for conditions under which I include a few.) |
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Real estate companies. Essentially every railroad company in the world had to deal with real estate in one way or another. I consider real estate companies as non-operating companies with purposes separate from railroading. See detailed discussion at real estate companies excluded. |
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Railroad museums and societies.
(I include a few if they issued stock) |
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Modern "depot" companies
unrelated to railroading. (Many modern real estate companies include
"depot" in their names and are unrelated to railroading
and passenger traffic.) |
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Modern "tie and timber" landscaping
companies. (Many modern companies sound like old-time lumber
railroads.) |
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Plantation companies. While many plantations used ex-logging company equipment, I deem this industry related, but too far afield. See detailed discussion at plantations excluded. |
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Electric
utility companies are problematic.
In my opinion, as many as a two hundred mid- and large-size utilities
probably operated street railways at some time in their corporate
existences. However, finding when they closed down their rail operations
is hard and time consuming. I do not include
any utilities unless they included an indication of railroading
in their names. I make this decision for three reasons:
- If street railroading was not important
enough to include in corporate names, then I am reluctant to include those companies in a railroad database.
- I have never encountered railroad collectors
who seriously collect these cross-over items.
- It is too hard to track prices in both
the railroading and utility specialties.
Utilities that generate power from coal,
especially those in the western and midwestern United States often
own several hundred railcars. Those cars are made up into 100- to
110-car "unit trains" to haul coal out of Wyoming, Montana, Colorado,
Utah, and South Dakota. Utilities may own railcars but no one would consider them "railroad companies."
Please see even more discussion at utilities excluded. |
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As a rule,
I include holding companies in the railroad database only when
they meet ALL these criteria:
- They were holding companies for major
railroads.
- Their names are directly indicative of
their rail holdings.
- Railroad collectors are likely to look
in this database for certificates.
If railroad companies are
true subsidiaries of holding companies, then they have separate
operating management and a modicum of autonomy. Like the utility
company argument above, I believe that if railroading is (or was)
not important enough to be reflected in holding companies' names,
then there is no point for me to waste my time cataloging them.
Holding companies that clearly meet requirements for inclusion include the Southern Pacific Company, the Pennsylvania
Company, the Reading Company, the Canadian Pacific Ltd, and the
Union Pacific Corporation.
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