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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by TomDiehl [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by TomDiehl [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal The cost of keeping rails in place is a fraction of what it costs to rebuild an abandoned line or build a whole new line. Keeping a line mothballed for 20 or 30 years is much less costly than having to rebuild that line after abandonment. [/quote] But again, you're talking about a cost to a railroad that doesn't have enough money to pay the bills for the part that is operating. And the idea that you'll need a given line in 20 or 30 years is pure speculation. When your company is teetering on bankruptcy, you can't afford to speculate. [/quote] So were all the railroads teetering on bankruptcy when they engaged in whole hearted retrenchment? [/quote] No, but they were all lacking that crystal ball that told them which lines to keep, and which one to pitch. So, they did the only thing that anyone (you included) would have done. They analized current traffic, and predictable future business. They did what they felt was correct at the time, based on what they knew at the time-the same as you, or any other person would have had to do. To suggest otherwise, isn't quite realistic. [/quote] Back to a question Dave avoided in the past: Which lines, slated for abandonment today will be the heavy mainlines 20 or 30 years from now? [/quote] "Will be" or "could be"? The latter is the salient way to present the question, since the former is a pure guessing game. Here's the proper way to ask that question: Which lines either abandoned or possibly slated for abandonment could concievably become heavy duty mainlines in the future if preserved/rebuilt? And I have answered this before, but here we go again (with the terse version) UP's Modoc line BNSF's Havre-Great Falls line BNSF's Great Falls-Helena line BNSF's ex-SP&S line The entire PCE The ex-Cowboy line The ex-GN Sandpoint to Spokane The ex CSP Jaype line The ex-GN Helena-Butte line The ex-UP Weiser-New Meadows line The ex-UP Burns (OR) line The ex-UP Twin Falls - Wells line The Tennesee Pass line The ex-SF Prescott line
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