Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern today cleared their first merger hurdle as shareholders overwhelmingly backed their deal to create the first transcontinental railroad. In separate votes, nearly 99% of NS shareholders and 99.5% of UP shareholders approved UP’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of NS. Shares in UP (NYSE: UNP) were unchanged on the news in early morning trading, while NS (NYSE: NSC) rose slightly more than 1%. “The approval of our shareholders marks a key milestone in our journey to crea ...