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Jerod, Are you forgeting the energy crisis of last summer which only promises to be worse this summer? Tons of federal money is going into building new power plants and increasing the capacity of existing ones. Much of these will be coal fired. The DME expansion is gonna give the UP/BNSF monopoly a bit of bidding competion, which benefits everyone, maybe even you:) Yes, coal train operations do not take a huge crew. But building and maintaining the line a equipment alone will require many people. As will the increased non-coal traffic which will be attracted to the line. Keep in mind, currently it is in such bad shape that many non-coal customers are kept away. This will be a HUGE boost to the economies of south dakota communities such as Huron, whose leading employer closed down a year or two ago. DME already pledged to build a large yard here. Yes, this is DME management trying to find a resourceful and economically sound way to fix a line which is in bad shape. What's wrong with that? We need alot more of this in railroading rather than the "mass-abandonment" strategy many railroad (UP) use. What's left when all the lines are gone? Surely not your job. C&NW did not sell a big profit maker; obviously. If the line extended into the coal fields, if there was the current demand for low-sulfur coal, etc. the C&NW would never have divested it. I understand your seeing this as a threat to your job and your company but you should see this as healthy competition for the industry and railroading in general. Your loyalty should lie in railroading and not in one of the companies who gradually downsize their own industry by constantly abandoning lines rather than trying to make them profitable.
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