I know there was concern that there would not be enough water to run the new locks so the water saving feature was including from the beginning. If water supplies get tight, I'm sure there will be an effort to modify the older locks to conserve or reuse the water. If that means pumping water from a lower lock to an adjacent or upper lock in all likelihood the economics will justify it, thought the rates will rise. It will still be cheaper to take the shortcut rather than all the way around South America.

I have no doubt that the new locks opening will somehow affect current US rail traffic patterns, I'm just not sure to what extent. I agree that time sensitive shipments will continue to arrive at west coast ports - as long as the longshoreman are working steady and the ship gets stuck for a week waiting to be unloaded. For container shipments that are not time sensitive, it may be more economical to unload at Gulf or East coast ports by way of the canal. I'm not sure how much grain traffic will change, but it may be cheaper to run some corn and wheat down the rivers or south on the rails and through Gulf ports. I know much of the wheat actually goes east out of Superior/Duluth of the Montana/Washington/Oregon grains will continue to go out of PNW ports. There might be an opportunity for export coal or ores out of other ports via the canal since the West Coast environmentalists have been resistant for any new export facilities.

I think railroad traffic patterns are currently in a flux. Fuel costs continue to be unstable and trucking companies still face a driver shortage. Much of the oil boom traffic has faded in favor of cheaper transportation of imported oil, but it could boom again if oil prices run up again. I personally don't trust the economy, and I don't think the average person will see a rebound but rather have to accept this as the new normal. Domestic coal use continues to decline due to environmental issues - I wonder if those mothballed plants will come back on line when as hydro-electric power dries up this summer? If there was a traffic boom, are there enough locomotives available since EMD is out of the game for now and GE has yet to ramp up production of proven T4 technology? The strong US dollar is hurting exports, so until the price/demand changes farmers are sitting on grain and soybeans but no doubt will demand immediate service once prices soar. Railroads making record profits and low operating ratios may lead to another call for re-regulation. In January of 2017 we will have a new President, so there could be substantial policy changes.

At this point, my prediction of what railroading will be in two years is that it will be very different and somewhat unexpected.