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Penn Central's failure was an unmitigated disaster for the U.S. railroads any way you slice it, and the benefits of the Acts cited pale against the damage done. They were salvage efforts to clean up the wreck. Just to pick a couple of years (not at all random), 1970 and 1983, from the AAR's "Railroad Facts": Tons originated by railroads in the "East" declined virtually 25%! (And this includes the railroads of the southern U.S. True eastern roads had losses in the 30 to 40 % range.) Over the same period, industrial production INCREASED by a third. Loss of market share by the railroads was monumental. <br /> <br />Argue "rust belt" and "truck competition" all you wish. Penn Central's flawed management contributed more to both than Japan and the interstates combined. <br /> <br />(I picked 1970 because the book I had at hand didn't have 1968. The great diversion was well underway by 1970. I picked 1983 because it was available, Conrail was privatised and I thought use of the 1982 recession year, had it been available, would have made the stats almost unbelievable.)
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