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As we discussed in the HAL vs Shortlines thread, the rail industry as a whole would have been better off with LAL's and 6 axle railcars to achieve increased load factor without sacrificing current shortline/branchline infrastructure. Not to mention that it'd be a lot cheaper to focus on structure upgrade and then weld together the 115# existing rail over new ballast. You might have been able to use some of the existing ties and accessories that would otherwise have to be replaced for heavier rail. <br /> <br />It would have taken a lot less steel (e.g. less industry $$) to add third axles to rail trucks for the entire railcar fleet than it is to upgrade to heavier rails across the entire nationwide rail network.
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