Disappearing Railroad Blues ..Lament and Fix. Miningman over the edge

[Firelock76]

Ah Miningman, there's an old saying...

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened!

[Miningman]

By now most of you know me as someone that Wanswheel has commented, "has a case of the disappearing railroad blues...worst I've ever seen". 

Well ....yeah.  Given my dithers, if I could snap my fingers or tweak my nose and everything reappeared, infrastructure wise only, as it was, say 1947 then I would make it so. Anytime until the end of 1950 will do. Even pre-war or 20's golden age will do, but favour the idea of superpower, modern steam, Niagara's and T1's blended in with plenty of old tea kettles. That's just me. Some 1st generation Diesels, regrettably, ahh sort of, somewhat ok, but the Baldwins are spiffy and the PA's acceptable. A few Lima's, Fairbanks Morse here and there but not too too much. EMD...meh.  Maybe my tweaking should be directed at very early 1947...let's limit the invaders. Pre FT's would be wonderful but then we miss out on some great steam. 

Whatever, the message from the "ether" is clear. Stick with the steam and use what you you've been given. 

All the track, the stations, the trains themselves, even the industries trackside and operations ...the way it was. Tomorrow morning we wake up and there it all is. The towers, the signals, the roundhouses, the water towers...everything. The Erie Berkshires, all of 'em, the CASO, the real Fort Wayne Division. (Not the people though, this is creepy enough as is and we don't need any further complications.)

Except...it's 2017.  Sounds like something from the HBO show The Leftovers. You know, kinda nutty without trying too hard to be cool. 

Lots of jobs just sitting there. Maybe need 6 months to a year to get it all figured out and trained but it is awaiting. 

So do we scrap it all again? Lot's of pretty nice Pullmans sitting around, waiting for overnight passengers. Not that bad. 

Of course much of what we have today would be displaced, vanish, as in strip malls, parking lots, fast food joints, urban sprawl or simply empty fields, and thats not too bad either.

Of course the New York Rangers would need a new home as Pennsylvania Station reappears and this time I know we would not be so stupid and idiotic as to demolish it. A lot of other beautiful railroad structures as well...the list seemingly goes on forever. 

Castle Rock is there. 

RPO's waiting for mail. Reefers awaiting ice. Not so bad. 

Of course a thousand EPA inspector's would be running around pulling their hair out and demanding a stop to the suddenly reappeared horrors to society. Just like the guy in the original Ghostbusters, whom everyone was hoping would get what was coming to him, and made to look like an idiot several times over. So to heck with them. They lose. We win. 

All those great electrics are back as well. NYC, Pennsy, Milwaukee Road. Just the trains folks, just the trains, and their associated infrastructure, not auto's and trucks, so don't freak out about too much of a return to the past. Everything else is modern day. 

All that trackage in New England. Hello Milwaukee Road. Hello Rock Island. Hello small town everywhere. Night trains, exclusive trains, trains for business folks, connections to everywhere. Not so bad.

Not so bad at all.

Could we apply life in 2017 and live with 1950 or earlier railroad only infrastructure and trackside associated industry so it has a purpose, and in the process to have the very best of both worlds. Can we? Sure we can, pourquoi pas? 

An ultimate railfan/ railroad fantasy? 
No, not at all. Nations were built and thrived with this. The worlds greatest nations. Pretty sure we could make it work and work well.
It's something we should not have lost in the first place. Not all of it anyway Period 

( do I need a period if I spell the word period..?)