Dr Zarkoff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> > We had a laugh at the time since only SP would
> be dumb enough to drag that lot up over the same
> dividing range twice just to cut the UP out of
> pulling it over the LA&SL. :)
>
> This, my friend, is how competing RRs make money.
> One company hauls the commondity and garners the
> revenue from it while the other gets nothing.

As I understand it from down here....
So just how would Espee have made money on that run? UP ran the Fontana coaltrains with the Rio Grande and used 3 big (70's)units. UP would have bid a rate based on their costs and SP would have had to undercut it to get the traffic, would it not? All those extra miles, extra locomotives for the Helpers on Donner and Tehachapi, extra crews and taking Units away from the regular trains that SP ran, more maintenance on Locos (ahem), more fuel wasted given the number of Helper hours.

Doesn't add up to me. Perhaps that's why the trains are now yellow on those lines? Only question I ask is are American management smarter now and run it down the old LA&SL?


> Being a governmental and political plaything, NZR,

You're right, apart from the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Co. we didn't buy into the competing lines rubbish, way too small of a country, and then as soon as it was possible, the NZGR bought out the W&MR to be the southern NI Main Trunk. And even then we didn't run competing freight trains over those two lines, only complementary to save Wellington some yard congestion.

However you probably aren't aware we are surrounded by Sea and have coastal shipping to contend with too.

> even in thr form it exists today, can be rightly
> accused of being a monopoly, not a competitive
> company.

Well that all changed in the late 70's when the Politicians allowed the Road Transport Lobby to open up the highways to long distance road transport, and then came the competition along with the investment(Waste) of tax dollars on two forms of transport and the resulting carnage on the roads.

Only the NZGR/NZR/Kiwirail returns the profit to the Govt. coffers, unlike the failed privatization of the 1990's-2000's which just saw no maintenance, selling assets, artificially inflated returns to shareholders, share splits, buybacks and exiting out the back door with the loot. That would be the Wisconsin Central and some merchant bankers. The next owners, An Aussie trucking company picked over the bones and sucked out the marrow.

And then the Taxpayers had to pick up the remains.

Chris
in New Zealand.