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Somebody famous once said "Money is the original behavior modification tool!". We (the public) should say to the railrads "Ya ain't gettin no tax dollars until ya lose the attitude!" And watch the NIMBYs run the railroads right out of town - tracks and all. Its already happened in the town I live in, to both railroad branchlines. The city council simply re-zoned and re-developed the land right out from under the railroad's customers. It was systmatic and deliberate. Thus no customers - Ergo no railroad. The tracks are now gone. This is a very common trick in California. As to the route the Capitol trains are on, it is not impossible that the state may take the mainline by eminent domain (the original freight railroad or the highest bidder then runs on trackage rights). California governments already have nearly a thousand miles miles of mainline track, some taken under threat of an eminent domain court order. They run passenger trains on much of it - but not all. I understand that state ownership of track with operating rights sold to the highest bidder is becoming quite common in other states as well. In Texas, a bill was just signed to build a new branchline railroad in order to break a Union Pacific monopoly so that Toyota would build a factory there. Even the customers are resisting. The states are simply not going to put up with any more railroad antics! And there is already talk at the national level of various "Alternative" rightofway ownership arrangements. You are probably right that the railroad won't change. But too bad for them! They will lose if they don't soon mend fences. From a railfan perspective, it does not really matter whether all trackage is controlled by a government owned monopoly or a privately owned monopoly (seems that's the only choices we will have). Since I doubt it will make much difference to the railroad employee either, I've gotten to the point that I say to the railroads "Oh well! GO AHEAD AND LOSE if you won't change!" RmC
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