The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Jan. 25, edition that railways have been the best stock market performers over the past 30 years. The Globe's Tim Shufelt writes that the Canadian railway duopoly, consisting of Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, sports a mighty average annual return of 15.5 per cent, which is best in class by a decent margin, says a recent CIBC World Markets report. An investment of $1,000 parked in those two stocks would have turned into more than $75,000 over that 30-year period. The same investment in the big banks, the next best performer, would have netted just $37,000 over the same time. That record at least raises the argument that every Canadian investor should own shares in one of the two railways, if not both. While past returns do not guarantee future results, the railways have proven capable of thriving across all manner of economic and geopolitical conditions. Baskin Wealth chief investment officer Barry Schwartz calls CN and CPKC the "best infrastructure assets in the world." He says, "People should probably own fewer banks and more rails, and just leave them in your portfolio forever."