CCNICanadian National Railway Company

Canadian National is North America's only railroad touching three coasts.

The network runs from the Pacific across Canada to the Atlantic and down the Mississippi to the Gulf. That geography gives access to ports on both coasts and to export flows of grain, lumber, fertiliser and petroleum products that purely American railroads lack.

Railroad economics are standard: an insurmountable barrier to entry, durable pricing, and the operating ratio as the efficiency metric. The company was historically among the industry's most efficient and set the template for precision scheduling.

The specific risks are Canadian: rail and port strikes, wildfires, dependence on grain harvests and on commodity exports to Asia. Currency matters too: revenue is in Canadian dollars while the stock also trades in the United States. The company pays a dividend with a long record of increases.