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That all ~could~ be Ed, but I kinda doubt it, especially in the instance of the former Wabash line, as it is key to keeping NS's "triple crown" world headquarters flowing. And the line does see spurts of mixed freight at various parts of the day, but nothing like last year. Moreover, reading various "fan" websites, it looks like NS is going through a "re-routing" craze, trying to opitimize the assets picked up in the Conrail split. affecting both the nearby former Wabash as well as the "in area" former Nickleplate. with reduced traffic. And hey, it's not all bad. Living near 3 grade crossings on the former Wabash, those horns last year woulda liked to drive me nuts, honkin ON 18 hours per day. Now it seems like there are "clusters" of activity at 11 am, 4 pm, and 9-10 pm that I can hear, the rest of the day....PLENTY OF AVAILABLE CAPACITY. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive because when I read Mr Hemphill write "taxpayers" I interpret that to mean "get out your wallet" and that just rubs me the wrong way knowing there are mainlines nearby to both St Louis and Chicago that have been "strategically" cut back. Last year having driven the Tennessee Pass, there's a lot of good RR sitting there, hardly used, and IT IS a coveted "east west" transcon ostensibly under the control of the UP. The same UP with "east west" woes according to mr Hemphill's article, albeit perhaps not as fuel efficient as one could idealize, if left solely to daydreaming of what one might OPTIMALLY wish for. Which to my way of thinking, comes back to a question of why did UP aquire these roads in the first place? to gain the capacity, or simply to close off "channels" of competition? If the former, well now that you have the capacity, then use it. if the latter, how ethical is it to let the railroad assimilate scrap value in closing a competing corridor, then running to the taxpayer, screaming "we need capacity"? Maybe try selling off that "surplus" capacity and lets just see if the power of competition can solve that "sunset" bottleneck without taxpayer participation? I've driven that southern route across the Arizona desert into the LA area, and know what ED? I doubt seriously that "land aquisition cost" is the barrier. Rather my bet is that the gist of Mr Hemphills observations is that UP would like someone to lay the rail and drive the spikes for them, $$$ being the prime motive. And that to me sounds like a solicitation for "partnership" hence my observation of "where's my dividend check?" It's been a few years since I've driven it, but the I-40 and I-10 corridors didn't seem to be congested at all, all the way across the continental divide, so I question the relavent "payback" to the taxpayer of any such improvement ("doubling" the sunset route), all the way to the outskirts of the general LA area. Only there does real problem come into being, so what are we talking about? A couple hundred miles of track,...tops? And *that* is gonna break Uncle Pete? Gimme a break.. The entire ordeal wreaks of "pork barrel" to me, and granted, I may be overstepping my bounds in my regard of "taxpayer money" as being my own, but I see the converse of regarding "the taxpayer" as some benevolent entity far far removed, yet ever willing to rush in and solve all problems as how it got to the point where 39% of my paycheck is already gone before I ever see it, and I have zero desire to see that "grade" become any steeper, choo-choo or no choo-choo. Tell me if you think I am entirely wrong?
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