Conrail

Among other activities at Goldman, Mr. Brody advised the U.S. government on the privatization of Conrail and the Mexican government on the privatization of the state telephone company.

It is the first major rail merger since 1998, when CSX and Norfolk Southern each took a share of Conrail.

In 2001, regulators made it harder for mergers to win approval after the disastrous 1996 combination of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific deal snarled shipments for a prolonged period and the 1999 decision to split Conrail between Norfolk Southern and CSX created delays in the East.

The federal government was forced to step in, creating Conrail.

In 1987, 16 people were killed when an Amtrak train bound from Washington, D.C., to Boston collided with Conrail locomotives that had crossed into its path from a side track in Chase, Maryland.