Rick,
You're right - it was a little more complicated than I portrayed it, but I always found it interesting that in the corporate mechanics of the merger the D&RGW bought the UP.
When Anschutz bought the Rio Grande it was awash in cash. He used the cash to buy the SP and then sold and spun off assets and generated even more cash. Then he convinced the UP to take what was left of SP and made even more cash.
Why can't I make deals like that? I'm good at the spending part but have to work like hell to make any.
Such is life. We can't all be billionaires.
Phil