Megamergers foreseen

Being a railroad enthusiast and a member of the Railroad Historical Society of Northern New York, I enjoyed the article about Edward Hungerford in the Currents Section of Sunday's paper. His book, "The Story of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad" (1922) is a wonderful detailed history of railroads in the north country, a copy of which is in the reference section of Flower Memorial Library.

Since the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad was formed from the merger of several local railroads and was in turn taken over by the New York Central (1891), Hungerford points out that it is the nature of things that smaller railroads will become parts of larger railroads. In a way he foresaw the megamergers of the late 20th century, which have resulted in four major railroads in the U.S.

Phillip Wiley

Watertown