> As I understand it from down here....
So just how would Espee have made money on that run?

Obviously the SP did make money on those runs, or it wouldn't be hauling the commodity.

> All those extra miles, extra locomotives for the Helpers on Donner and Tehachapi,

You're assuming that most of the WB coal, like the one in the pic, used the routing to reach the destination you're describing, which isn't necessarily the case. Most of the WB coal trains I encountered went to a facility in the San Jose area and did use the routing in the pic.

Lest we forget, the OP's pic is of an EB train, which was destined neither to San Jose nor anywhere which would have required transiting the Tehacehpis.

> Perhaps that's why the trains are now yellow on those lines?.

Nope. It's the result of putting all your eggs in one basket: the General Motors plants at Gemco and Warm Springs. When GM closed these, the SP's main revenue base collapsed, rather like the Irish potato famine and what happened to the NZ golden Kiwi fruit growers a few years back. Another factor which played a significant part was the TICOR disaster, Biaggini's ill-fated attempt at entering the title insurance market. In order to pay off these losses, SP had to sell SPRINT, it's telecommunications subsidiary.

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

Those waterfalls in the latest Harry Potter movie are on a friend's spread in Pio Pio. The Kermaddec trench ends north of Tauranga and Tepuke. Also keep in mind that the distance between the SF Bay area and the Tehachepis is comparable to Rotovegas-Christchurch.

> And then the Taxpayers had to pick up the remains.

Friedmanomics. How else do the arbitragers and mainpulators make their money? Read "The Shock Donctrine" by Naomi Klein.