Well, the railroads considered the USRA takeover during World War 1 to be a fiasco,( despite the fact that many railroad executives held senior positions with the USRA ). So much so that U.S. railroads actually cooperated with each other to the greatest extent possible during World War 2, just to prevent another government takeover.
It's worth noting that many of the improvements the USRA enacted during their control of U.S. railroads ( common designs for locomotives and rolling stock, curtailing of non - essential passenger trains & services, joint terminals and operations such as the WP - SP Directional Running across Nevada ), would continue through World War 2 and even into modern times. It's also worth noting that U.S. railroads agreed to haul U.S. Government materials & shipments at Half - Rate; I recall this deal continued into the 1960's.