Let's remember, first of all, that from about 1960 through 1985, American railroads had deteriorated to the point where, outside of some western transcontinental traffic involving extremely long hauls, the industry was viewed as the carrier of last resort, and even at those distances, traffic was still lost to trucking if the commodity was valuable enough. In those days, before the long-overdue rationalization of work rules, even crew districts could be a factor in the location of coal-fired power plants, which were one of the few high-volume traffic sources the industry had left.
These conditions are no longer true. Large volumes of high-value traffic again move by rail, but under the more-uniform and more-flexible structure of containerization. Distribution centers, which only the large-volume players can afford, flesh out the operation, but the motor-carrier portion of the line-haul is often held to the 600-or-so miles to which a driver's day is limited.
Meanwhile, a fair amount of lower-rated business has also found its way back to the rails, much of it moving in grungy-looking equipment that's been around for 25 years or more, and has cycled its way through several re-sales and leases.
Looking further. it might be noted that just as segregation of freight and passnger traffic has re-emerged in recent years, it is possible that some lightly-used or even abandoned/mothballed rail lines might be revived for the development of services where speed, curvature and gradients are not as much of a factor.
Finally, the reluctance of some of the major players to pony up the cash for the rebuilding of our rail infrastructre, an action which will continue to gain support in the likely event of intensifying energy pressures, would encourage the use of "open access" as a bargaining chip. The great game is just getting underway.
What a revoltin' development this is! (William Bendix)
