Steamtown, I think your points are answered by Chris and Golden-Arm.
The branches failed because customers went away. DO in most cases assumed operations to try to offer a lower-cost method, often with subsidy, to keep these lines operational to stem the flow of jobs.
Not a bad policy, but when it's not coupled to determining the cause of the business migration, that's not the operator's fault.
As far as the Utica branch, it's the same issue. The railroad isn't an amusement park. If the state and counties do little to attract or preserve their manufacturing, what sense does it make to maintain 50-75 miles of track?
But I'm still interested in reading the book!
The branches failed because customers went away. DO in most cases assumed operations to try to offer a lower-cost method, often with subsidy, to keep these lines operational to stem the flow of jobs.
Not a bad policy, but when it's not coupled to determining the cause of the business migration, that's not the operator's fault.
As far as the Utica branch, it's the same issue. The railroad isn't an amusement park. If the state and counties do little to attract or preserve their manufacturing, what sense does it make to maintain 50-75 miles of track?
But I'm still interested in reading the book!