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[quote user="Paul_D_North_Jr"] Consider this:  Only the railroads and the pipelines have to acquire their own rights-of-way, and then build and maintain their physical networks.  All other modes - trucks, water, and air - have public ROWs, and most of their infrastructure initially financed by a governmental entity of some kind.  So although the railroads and pipelines seem to be 'brothers' and similarly disadvantaged or situated in this regard, the important part instead is that the pipelines don't have a huge built-in cost and financing advantage - thus the pipelines are more vulnerable to rail competition than the usual truck competition.  And as noted before, the railroad has far more flexibility and can be quicker in changing route and destination choices to take advantage of changing markets and prices than a fixed-in-place pipeline. - Paul North. [/quote] Most of the major transport infrastructure in the United States got initial funding from a government entity.  The railroads were no exception.  From the get go they got support from local and state governments.  The B&O for example was funded in part by bonds issued by Baltimore.  What became the Pennsylvania Railroad received funds from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.   The federal government was a major player in funding the transcons, which included most of the western railroads.  The builders of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific received the equivalent of billions of dollars in today's money to construct their railroads, and in the process spawned one of the worst financial crises in U.S. history. The BNSF and UP are still reaping benefits from the land and mineral rights that they received as part of the suport proffered by the U.S. Government.
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