My thoughts about BNSF vs the other US rails is way-way-way past/above something like PSR. BNSF is just not run to avoid cyclical downs nor is it run to spoon feed or retain hyper data focused investors obsessed with operating ratios and/or quarter EPS figures. So we fixate on trendy termanology and on EPS and operating ratios, forget how these grand
very high stake/highly sellable/presentable stats were attained...

...because the stock prices went through the roof. Fast forward eps and then...(well, that managment group is either gone or dead for the next show). "We are focused on getting the debt down, the debt costs are the reason we aren't making the quarter" and other such so predictable-I-pee-in-my-pants issues. "And oh yea...one more thing...that last bunch of heros didn't even do maintenance properly and the quit cap-ex cold turkey...so we are behind."

It is a - with much less downside - similarity to the 25 year ago period when AIG and GE, in many places in the same business Berkshire, were literally gods of the insurance business while Buffett was the local lame idiot who simply could not keep up with Greenberg and Welch.

These things take time. I was aware of Hunter Harrison for a long-long time, read the book about him not long ago, and my view is simply he's yet another "one-stop shopping" attraction to those who like those sort of things. "My rail is better than yours 'cause we got a 55% OR and yours is "61."

And GE's Employer Re had massive profits while Berkshire's General Re recorded losses. Anybody remember the largest one-time write down in insurance history by the GREAT Hack Belch's GE while the door slapped him in the ass as he ran out?