QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill AntiGates: Those two maps have already been done: CSX predecessors in the February 03 issue, and NS predecessors in the February 04 issue. Both include all former Conrail lines that went into those systems. There have been few changes in either system since publication.
QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill AntiGates: I'm dismayed you got that impression from the magazine when I was editor. To portray the steam engine as victim and the diesel engine as villain was the Exact Opposite of my intent, believe me! Your impression isn't imagined, but you may be getting it from someplace else. There is a large constituency of rail enthusists who believe that dieselization was a nefarious conspiracy, and took me to task monthly for not "exposing the conspiracy." I think I received at least one letter a week of that nature, which over 44 issues amounts to nearly 1000 letters (some people wrote multiple times, however). Some of those letters appeared in RPO. And, in Railroad Reading, I certainly thought it proper that writers be allowed to express personal opinion, whether I agree with it or not, and sometimes those opinions were that steam was better. Also, that belief system is rife in books and other magazines, so, yes, you're not imagining it. It's just not MY belief system. Nor my policy as editor. Nor was I bewailing the fallen flags, either. Cherishing their memory, yes. Thankful we had them, yes. But saying the world has crumbled because they're gone? No! We have a name for this syndrome: ETTS, or "Everything Turns to S...." Someone stenciled it on a former C&NW overpass on the north side of Milwaukee several years ago, which I find rather funny. I can't speak for the next editor of the magazine, and I won't comment on it, either. If you want to look at the September issue onward, please do.
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