| Year | Merger (Resulting Firm) |
| 1980 | Burlington Northern and St. Louis – San Francisco (Burlington Northern) |
| 1980 | Seaboard Coast Line, Chesapeake and Ohio, and Baltimore and Ohio (CSX) |
| 1982 | Louisville and Nashville and CSX (CSX) |
| 1982 | Union Pacific, Western Pacific, Missouri Pacific (Union Pacific) |
| 1982 | Southern Railway and Norfolk and Western (Norfolk Southern) |
| 1985 | Southern Pacific and St. Louis South-Western (Southern Pacific) |
| 1985 | Union Pacific and Missouri-Kansas and Texas (Union Pacific) |
| 1991 | Southern Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande (Southern Pacific) |
| 1995 | Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) |
| 1995 | Union Pacific and Chicago and North-Western (Union Pacific) |
| 1996 | Southern Pacific and Union Pacific (Union Pacific) |
| 1998 | Norfolk Southern, 58% of CONRAIL (Norfolk Southern) |
| 1998 | CSX and 42% of CONRAIL (CSX Transportation) |
| 2001 | Canadian National and Wisconsin Central (Canadian National) |
| 2005 | Kansas City Southern, Transportacion Ferrovia Mexicana (Kansas City Southern de Mexico) |
Source: adapted from C.H. Whitehurst and R.L. Clarke (2004) The Coming North American Rail Mergers. The Strom Thurmond Institute, Clemson University.