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Sigh, how railroads have lost their importance

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US railroads have not lost their importance, relevance or significance. Not only is freight doing better than ever, it is just barely enough ahead of the curve to disguise the fact that without adequate RR shipment, we'd all be a-hurting. Threads on this board have posted articles like the one worrying about whether coal-fired power plants will maintain adequate stockpiles given the tendency of unit trains to dump the same dumb load over and over. Another discussed the rise of alternatives shipping venues thru Gulf of Mexico ports rather than via Panamax ships or coast-to-coast transmodal'ing. The supply chain appears to be stretched so tight that if there ARE shortages of power, car parts, Wal-Mart merch., etc., THEN the gen'l public will become aware of the railroads in terms of their failure to keep up! [:(] But since no news isn't exactly good news, the RR's and friends have got to sing their praises. Much as I like steam, I think we should also be hearing more about just how much RR deliveries of freight (and coal, etc.) make a meaningful difference in our lives. For example, BNSF's 2004 Annual Report show the significance of their freight when it gets to end-consumption on the part of a "typical American family" at breakfast time. (Check it out on their website; it's downloadable via .pdf as well.) Thirty-plus years ago the A.A.R. had a TV campaign: "Go, Grow by the Rail Way." Why aren't we hearing more of that? [:p]
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