Reflection

[Virginian]

I just had to stand and wait a couple of minutes for Great Miami, GP9, ex- N&W # 652, to finish switching coal cars as I was walking over to #2 mill. I wonder how many of these old diesels are still in service. This was one of the first to replace my beloved steam on the N&W rails as far as I know, and now most of them are long since gone as well.
I have a feeling our tax regulations are set up to encourage a throw away economy. When I see a piece of machinery like this, still running after all these years, how could it have been all so profitable to replace them so quickly with wholesale changeout "upgrades". When there was less than a nickel difference per mile in fuel costs, how was it economical to scrap the steamers and drop the big bucks for diesels, when all the skills and facilities were already in place to keep them going?
I know, I have 'run the numbers' justifying such things, but there just seems to be something inherently wrong with the scenario. They say the numbers don't lie, but then I see an Enron or the like, and I'm not too sure. And it's cheaper to make things nowdays offshore. I needed pads, shoes, and one rotor for the brakes on my Jeep. The pads came from Malaysia, the rotor from China, and the shoes from Argentina. Has anybody at all wondered what they're going to do when the buyers can no longer afford the products? I don't see Model Railroading and a whole bunch of other things flourishing in a society of people who all work at Wal Mart, or Burger King, or such (and that isn't to take away from those that do, but we need a mix). It ain't the first time I thought the theories of businesses as taught by the Harvard School of Business are going to bankrupt us all in the end.
And I don't see anybody addressing the issue. The really fat cat supporters of BOTH major political parties are just making even more money off of the majority going down the tubes. They yammer about more training et al, but why train someone for a job that doesn't exist.
Damn train. I need to get back to work.