Where will railroads be in 100 years?

[ns_gp60]

I've been doing alot of interveiws with people from the Auran Trainz Simulator community, as a part of this new magazine, I'm calling Trainz Magazine. This is hopefully gonna become a popular magazine for Virtual Railroads, or V-scale. Anyways to the question: I'm making an article on, Where railroad will be in 100 years, as from a suggestion of a community member. I think its a cool idea, however, I dont know exactly what will happen, except maybe another mega merger era, with the final 6 or so. New technology, differnt fuel sorce, new paint schemes, and so on. What do you guys think? There is a possiblity that I will use your comments in the article too. Just pre-warning.

[Trainmaster.Curt]

Trains have been around since the early 19th century, and they will still be around til Christ comes back. No worries here, though mag lev should be common in europe in 10 years[|)]

[Anonymous]

Well i am not planning on being here in 2106 so its not a worry of mine

[Anonymous]

I think (and hope) they'll still be around in 100 years. It's such an efficent means of carrying freight. Trains may be even longer, we may be down to 1 RR (I pray it's not UP). What would be interesting is what would happen to our favorite shortlines and regionals.

[Anonymous]

Probably two major railroads (UP and CSX [}:)]) and so many shortlines it would be impossible to count.

[vvtdeb]

I'd almost BET on the TWO -RAILROAD theory that Chinatown said above...although I have to disagree on the Railroads. I'd have said NorfolkSouthern merging with UP and BNSF with CSX. The NS-UP Company SHOULD be named the PENNSYLVANIA RR when that is complete as THAT is EXACTLY what the PRR was on it's way to DO way back in the early days but was stifled and stiff-armed with all sorts of governmental regulations and rules! By the Way..the PRR OWNED the NS Railroad (stock shares) at one time but had to sell because of these regulations! It won't take 100 years to do this either. The way railroads are BOOMING right now (especially because of the FUEL PRICES) and the defaulting of hundreds of trucking Companies that can't ship cheaper or any faster than rail, I'd say it's a fair wager that RAIL with have nearly ALL long-distance and MOST short-haul transportation in LESS than 100 years and will be the ONLY way to ship in the future because of ENVIRONMENTAL and FUEL SAVINGS. (Know what makes it SAD??? The RAILROADS HAD all this business ALREADY years ago but because of society and cultural changes, it was taken away and we built all this Interstate Highway and Airport systems to TRY and replace it...now here we are years later going BACK to where we were in the FIRST PLACE!?!

[vvtdeb]

...Drive any Interstate highway today and look at the TRUCKING INDUSTRY in action. All those trucks driving the same way..at the same speed...at times actually CLOGGING the Interstate because of their side-by-side practices which make NO SENSE to me? Such a WASTE of FUEL and MAN-POWER. If you could magically CUT a few MILES of Interstate at once and take ALL of those trucks OFF the road and put them on trailer trains (150 trailers at a time) look at all the SAVINGS you could gain?! All those drivers NOT getting 65-70 thousand dollar paychecks to being away from HOME and FAMILY for WEEKS on end in those filthy trucks?! All the pot holes and broken highways that WON'T be there every year because of overloaded trucks not magling the roads every Spring? Ahhhh to imagine not having to get STUCK behind a TRUCK chugging filthy smoke in front of me as I glide along on the empty Interstate!!! But don't feel bad for that sorry truck driver, he can still run SHORT HAUL from the RR yards to the drlivery docks and back and then go HOME everynight to his wife and Family. The Railroads would need more employees to handle all of the trailers comming in off of the Interstates so those not wanting to drive trucks could repair tracks and drive TRAINS?

[Anonymous]

vvteb- the most likey combination would NS-BNSF and UP-CSX, several attempts have already been made by NS and BNSF and both companies like the others style. Also, the Norfolk Southern PRR owned was a completly diff railroad, it was a short line about 50 miles long.

[wctransfer]

I guess you guys forgot that CN is still here? My bet is that it will be CN-NS, BNSF-CSX ,and UP-CP. KCS will be gobbled by someone........


Alec

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wctransfer

I guess you guys forgot that CN is still here? My bet is that it will be CN-NS, BNSF-CSX ,and UP-CP. KCS will be gobbled by someone........


Alec

Good point, totally forgot about the Cannadain lines, my only problem with the CN-NS combo is that they have no service at all to the lower midwest and southwest US including all of California, that would put them at a major disadvantage even if they did get some kind of trackage right deal.

[Anonymous]

Probably dedicated interstate lanes where truckers form a single vehicle controlled by computers and traffic systems while feeding off the grid "Slot car" style. Thus one driver can run and watch over 10 loads or more in his cab while the other drives in the "Road train" sleeps. And everything will be watched from air traffic style towers every so often along the routes. Not a drop of Desiel or Gas anywhere.

The rail will probably be MEGLEV. With a series of NEC style routes forming a web across the entire USA. Freights will probably have a large numbers of marshalling areas in most towns and take the "Fed Ex" away from the road. Perhaps we will see Fed Ex style trains pitching in where airlines are not able to get thru.

Perhaps a intracoaster tunnel that follows the seabed in the ocean off the coasts of the USA will relieve the I-95/Rail congestion. Perhaps with training and certification in survival such as used in today's Alps over in Europe drivers may travel either via the air in "Moller Skycars" (Google "Moller Skycar" for a treat) or under the waters away from the over built interstate.

We might have under ocean cities that are immune to hurricanes where commerce carries on as usual.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vvtdeb

...Drive any Interstate highway today and look at the TRUCKING INDUSTRY in action. All those trucks driving the same way..at the same speed...at times actually CLOGGING the Interstate because of their side-by-side practices which make NO SENSE to me? Such a WASTE of FUEL and MAN-POWER. If you could magically CUT a few MILES of Interstate at once and take ALL of those trucks OFF the road and put them on trailer trains (150 trailers at a time) look at all the SAVINGS you could gain?! All those drivers NOT getting 65-70 thousand dollar paychecks to being away from HOME and FAMILY for WEEKS on end in those filthy trucks?! All the pot holes and broken highways that WON'T be there every year because of overloaded trucks not magling the roads every Spring? Ahhhh to imagine not having to get STUCK behind a TRUCK chugging filthy smoke in front of me as I glide along on the empty Interstate!!! But don't feel bad for that sorry truck driver, he can still run SHORT HAUL from the RR yards to the drlivery docks and back and then go HOME everynight to his wife and Family. The Railroads would need more employees to handle all of the trailers comming in off of the Interstates so those not wanting to drive trucks could repair tracks and drive TRAINS?

Let's see.

The trucks are side by side because they are computer configured to be just below the speed limit usually 63-65-67 mphs' Some trucks are empty and need to get past the slower loaded trucks. Horsepower rules. The big dogs go in front and the rest follow.

The interstates with split speed limits (A old 70's problem that should have stayed buried) and only two travel lanes each way compounds the problem.

Mileage is irrevelant. There is a giant book called HOUSEHOLD GUIDE. That determines freight rates for a particular load from A to B. It becomes revelant when you fail to follow the route you are assigned. But that is ok, the company takes the money out of your paycheck for the cost of the side trip. Actual miles are usually 5-30% more than HHG miles loaded or empty.

That 65-70 thousand dollar paycheck will not keep me on the road. Not in a culture of homosexuality, bad hygene, deli style truck stops, bad gang activity and overall draconian dispatch scheduling chained to the shipper and reciever with only lip service paid to Laws governing driving limits.

20 years ago when I was just getting started, you could make 1000 or more each week after taking away the meals, taxes and insurance as a company driver. You had 10 days to get across the USA. Today, everything is geared towards the reciever who wants it yesterday and costs too much money to do the work with example meals costing 15-20 dollars in some cases per day per meal.

That big paycheck will cause that gallon of milk to go to 6.00, that pound of beef to triple and toilet paper to become more expensive than your electric bill.

Those bad roads are designed to maintain the workers and the state spending, not necessarily designed to be built 5 feet thick and last 100 years without a crack.

You can run at night and everyone else will be asleep. Is your car running so bad that you are stuck behind that old truck? Watch out for herds of dollar trucks on some roads around the nation. (Dollar trucks = 100mph or faster)

What employees? Just three shifts 24/7 and a few supervisors and maybe 10 Mi-jacks rolling about tending to several 300 load trains a day.

The day cab idea has been adopted long ago by companies like JB hunt, thier revenue is much greater than OTR trucking.

The filthy trucks is the driver's fault. There is no excuse for leaving bottles filled with waste around the parking lot, not shaving, not showering etc. If you cannot stay clean then you are in the wrong business.

There is no savings in moving freight, truck, rail or plane. Everything costs money and money is what makes world go around.

Finally.... Railroads STOP work when the law says the engineer is working X number of hours. That train does NOT MOVE ONE INCH until another crew is delievered or the required rest period is finished. Trucking, you cannot stop. To stop means to miss delivery and lose your job to any one of 50 wanna-be's that fill orientation every week hoping to take over your old truck until they too burn out, get tired and fired.

[wctransfer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jdirelan

QUOTE: Originally posted by wctransfer

I guess you guys forgot that CN is still here? My bet is that it will be CN-NS, BNSF-CSX ,and UP-CP. KCS will be gobbled by someone........


Alec

Good point, totally forgot about the Cannadain lines, my only problem with the CN-NS combo is that they have no service at all to the lower midwest and southwest US including all of California, that would put them at a major disadvantage even if they did get some kind of trackage right deal.

Well, you got to remember CN goes all the way down to Louisiana, from the old IC.

Alec

[SD60MAC9500]

There will be 2 railroads worldwide: North American EurAsia & Pacific Railroad, with the African Austrailia & South America Railroad. How do I figure this? Well the rail link to Alaska will be completed in the next decade from Canada to link Alaska with the lower 48 States. They are going to build a rail tunnel across the Bering Strait linking Asia and North America. With the rail tunnel they are going to build to link Europe with Africa under the Straits of Gibralter linking Spain and Morocco. Everything will be MAGLEV like you guys said earlier. If I were the Steamship Lines I would Worry !!!!!!!!!!


P.S. the whole world will be converted to Metric system freight trains wil be travelling at 920 Km/h = 570.4 m.p.h. passenger trains will be traveling at 1200 Km/h = 744 m.p.h.

[SD60MAC9500]

Hmmmm!!!