What is your favorite railroad company and why?

The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad is my favorite. My father worked for them 1936 - 1966. I worked for them from 1963 - 1999. Of course, in 1988, Rio Grande bought the Southern Pacific and eventually the Rio Grande name was dropped in favor of the higher name-recognition of the Southern Pacific. At that point, all references of any kind to the old Rio Grande was ordered deleted across the system, including the name of the bowling team! So technically, I was an SP employee starting 1988. The Rio Grande ceased to exist except in the history books. Then, in 1996, the Union Pacific purchased the RG-SP. It is interesting to note that I ended up working my last 3 years as a UP employee and that my Father had been a UP employee in Wyoming 1924 - 1934. In comparison to the Rio Grande, the operating practices of the SP were abysmal, and the UP was not much better. The D&RGW RR provided us with a good job for a lot of years. It was community friendly, an excellent employer, and provided top-notch (that's throttle position #8!) service to the shippers.