AT&SF began to talk mergers in the 1980s.
The Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad (SPSF) was a proposed merger between the parent companies of the Southern Pacific and AT&SF announced on December 23, 1983.
As part of the joining of the two firms, all rail and non-rail assets owned by Santa Fe Industries and the Southern Pacific Transportation Company were placed under the control of a holding company, the Santa Fe–Southern Pacific Corporation.
The merger was subsequently denied by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) on the basis that it would create too many duplicate routes.

The companies were so confident the merger would be approved that they began repainting locomotives and non-revenue rolling stock in a new unified paint scheme.
While Southern Pacific (railroad) was sold off to Rio Grande Industries, all of the SP's real estate holdings were consolidated into a new company, Catellus Development Corporation, making it California state's largest private landowner, of which Santa Fe remained the owner (effectively “stealing” the land from SP shareholders). (
In the early 1980s gold was discovered on several properties west of Battle Mountain Nevada along I-80, on ground owned by the Santa Fe Railroad (formerly SP).
The property company created Santa Fe Pacific Corporation (a name correlation of Santa Fe and Southern Pacific) to develop the properties.
It was sold to Newmont during 1997 in preparation of the merger with Burlington Northern).
Sometime later, Catellus would purchase the Union Pacific Railroad's interest in the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT).
After the sale of Southern Pacific to Rio Grande Industries, the SPSF name reverted to Santa Fe Industries, the holding company of AT&SF.
AT&SF began to talk mergers in the 1980s. The Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad (SPSF) was a proposed merger between the parent companies of the Southern Pacific and AT&SF announced on December 23, 1983. As part of the joining of the two firms, all rail and non-rail assets owned by Santa Fe Industries and the Southern Pacific Transportation Company were placed under the control of a holding company, the Santa Fe–Southern Pacific Corporation. The merger was subsequently denied by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) on the basis that it would create too many duplicate routes.
The companies were so confident the merger would be approved that they began repainting locomotives and non-revenue rolling stock in a new unified paint scheme. While Southern Pacific (railroad) was sold off to Rio Grande Industries, all of the SP's real estate holdings were consolidated into a new company, Catellus Development Corporation, making it California state's largest private landowner, of which Santa Fe remained the owner (effectively “stealing” the land from SP shareholders). (In the early 1980s gold was discovered on several properties west of Battle Mountain Nevada along I-80, on ground owned by the Santa Fe Railroad (formerly SP). The property company created Santa Fe Pacific Corporation (a name correlation of Santa Fe and Southern Pacific) to develop the properties. It was sold to Newmont during 1997 in preparation of the merger with Burlington Northern). Sometime later, Catellus would purchase the Union Pacific Railroad's interest in the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT). After the sale of Southern Pacific to Rio Grande Industries, the SPSF name reverted to Santa Fe Industries, the holding company of AT&SF.
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway