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Re: Amtrak Puzzle: RailwayAge Andrew vs. Richard? Two failed visions?
Author: George Andrews
Date: 08-18-2019 - 13:23
david vartanoff Wrote:
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> E-L went belly courtesy of Hurricane Agnes. Yes
> PC was already in bankruptcy.
Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was one of the last straws for Erie Lackawanna; " The Wreck of the Penn Central " was the other one. Erie " Lack - o - Money " only turned a profit in 3 of its' 16 years of existance. Simply put, there were too many railroads in the Northeast trying to survive on declining freight traffic as the Interstate Highway System was built out in the 1960's, and many industries moved to ' Right to Work ' states. Hell, E-L even sold part of their mainline across New Jersey for use as Interstate 80! The Penn Central bankruptcy hurt all the other Northeast railroads due to the fact that, in bankruptcy, PC did NOT have to pay its' Interline bills to the other railroads. And PC was every other NE RRs' biggest interchange connection.
Yes, Milw was in
> trouble way beyond their ICC regulated passenger
> trains. That said, the amount of Class 1 lobbying
> of Congress and the Nixon administration to get
> Amtrak created indicates THEY thought it was worth
> the $$ and effort.
Amtrak's creation owed a lot to the PC Bankruptcy, as Penn Central was the largest passenger train operator in the U.S. If PC had shut down, 30 % of Americans would have been without a ride.
> A look at maps in the 50s shows SIX rrs vying for
> business in the Chgo-Omaha market; today we have 3
> if you count what's left of the CRIP and former IC
> as 1/2 each.
The same scenario existed in the Northeast, with 3 Big RR's ( PC, E-L, B&O + C&O ) plus lesser combinations, ( RDG - WM - B&O for one ) just between Chicago & New York / New Jersey. There were 3 single line RR's ( PC, E-L, Lehigh Valley ), and several other combinations of RR's, just between NYC & Buffalo !!!
-------------------------------------------------------
> E-L went belly courtesy of Hurricane Agnes. Yes
> PC was already in bankruptcy.
Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was one of the last straws for Erie Lackawanna; " The Wreck of the Penn Central " was the other one. Erie " Lack - o - Money " only turned a profit in 3 of its' 16 years of existance. Simply put, there were too many railroads in the Northeast trying to survive on declining freight traffic as the Interstate Highway System was built out in the 1960's, and many industries moved to ' Right to Work ' states. Hell, E-L even sold part of their mainline across New Jersey for use as Interstate 80! The Penn Central bankruptcy hurt all the other Northeast railroads due to the fact that, in bankruptcy, PC did NOT have to pay its' Interline bills to the other railroads. And PC was every other NE RRs' biggest interchange connection.
Yes, Milw was in
> trouble way beyond their ICC regulated passenger
> trains. That said, the amount of Class 1 lobbying
> of Congress and the Nixon administration to get
> Amtrak created indicates THEY thought it was worth
> the $$ and effort.
Amtrak's creation owed a lot to the PC Bankruptcy, as Penn Central was the largest passenger train operator in the U.S. If PC had shut down, 30 % of Americans would have been without a ride.
> A look at maps in the 50s shows SIX rrs vying for
> business in the Chgo-Omaha market; today we have 3
> if you count what's left of the CRIP and former IC
> as 1/2 each.
The same scenario existed in the Northeast, with 3 Big RR's ( PC, E-L, B&O + C&O ) plus lesser combinations, ( RDG - WM - B&O for one ) just between Chicago & New York / New Jersey. There were 3 single line RR's ( PC, E-L, Lehigh Valley ), and several other combinations of RR's, just between NYC & Buffalo !!!
