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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Peterson6868 Believe or not I believe that the rail-banking and rails to trails movement is part of a conspiracy to ensure a monopoly by one or two of the Class one railroads to make sure that upstart wont get a hold of enough track to start a class one. Case in point---CSX Bought up the Western Maryland which though they never realy needed it to downgrade and tear up between Cumberland and Pittsburgh. Not its being converted into a rail trail. The D&H/Canadian Pacific just tore up there “Albany Main” to “Rail Bank” it despite offers to Run a steam train on it. If they let a steam train run it to Voorheesville industrial park the customers would have 3 railroads to choose from instead of 2 (CSX & CP) Much of the Erie Lackawanna is now being converted into bike trails. What we are doing is not really “Rail Banking” what we are doing is tearing up viable rail that could be mothballed or have the STB do a forced sale to a regional railroad to ensure competition. To relay new track can run from 500,000 to 5,000,000 a mile. By tearing up the track the railroads know that it is irreplaceable and shut out any upstarts. Both CSX and NS have put holds on selling branches to short lines unless they know for certain that the sale wont turn around and bite them in the butt by having a new regional that will be in competition instead of a non union slave railroad [/quote] Well, just my uninformed opinion, of course, but then so was yours. But I think that aquisition based on predetermined abandonment is a very real part of the merger strategy. Buying your competitor then shutting them down is a part of the American success story, so why should railroads be any different? Where I would take exception to such happenings would be if such an outfit then went soliciting for a public dole to help them with capacity constraints. I suspect the removal of the rails is strictly a dollars and cents thing, scrap steel is too valuable to let rust away. And the 'rails to trails' groups? are they part of the 'problem'? Most of them whom I've ever encountered seemed neither well funded enough nor organized enough to be part of any railroads master plan. Mostly I think they do it out of personal concern for their shrinking heritage, resume padding, and in a few rare instances, as a job, where they manage to become a salaried emplyee of the non profit org they set up to control the donations to the cause. They might be dupes or stooges to a more sinister industrial conspiracy, but I doub't they are material accomplices. Now, the "wetland marsh restoration" people? That 's another issue entirely. I suspect their paychecks come directly from Area 51 [;)]
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