The blockbuster deal raises the odds that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which owns the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, will reach a deal with CSX to create a second transcontinental railroad. Union Pacific and BNSF compete in the western U.S., while CSX and Norfolk Southern are the two big Eastern railroads.

Railroad company Union Pacific will buy Norfolk Southern in a cash and stock transaction valued at $85 billion, combining two of the largest rail operators in the nation. The merger will combine Union Pacific’s Western,