Perki

Intrinsic Value and Warren Buffett's BNSF Purchase

I believe most of the Burlington legacy railroad mineral rights were spun off in the 1970's to Burlington Resources. I think BR ended up as part of Conoco-phillips.

The motivation to buy seems fairly simple:
He wanted a "big" acquisition, to move out of USD and into hard assets. Railroads are a dependable but boring business, and when you have an extraordinary manager like Mr. Rose, who can squeeze a bit of extra profit out of it, you have a profitable situation with stable returns.

Restructuring LT debt with the better credit rating of Berk, and you already have a nice reduction in interest expenses.

Asset heavy companies do well in inflationary environments, railroads can increase market share, vis-a-vis trucking, in times of high petroleum prices.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe: All Aboard One of the Best Railroads

well now, months later, buffet owns the railroad at $100/share. Good analysis.