Jumping on Wikipedia I did a search for other train companies and found maps of their rail tracks. Union Pacific (UNP) focuses on the West coast as does BNSF while CSX, NSC, and KSU are East coast. I decided to rule out the East coast rails because their tracks largely overlapped and investing articles I read mentioned they generate a lot of their profits from coal shipping. Rail is already a very streamlined industry so I didn't want the disruption of coal prices or cannibalizing competition to affect growth. I wanted a monopoly.
During this research I came across Canadian National Railway. The two things I liked about it were their tracks extend from the West to East coast and they even have a corridor down to the Gulf. That's a major plus because they can import from the three major bodies of water surrounding North America all on their own rail. The other part I liked was the exposure to the Canadian market. Since most of my stocks will be US companies this was a plus for diversification.
Both CNI and UNP are highly regarded so either one is a good choice. I'm starting with CNI and will add UNP on my second round of portfolio expansion.
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| Source: Central Data Bank at en.wikipedia |
