Cap explains why:
WHY NOT A RAILROAD IN AND TO HUMBOLDT COUNTY?

"There has been, and will continue to be a hemorrhaging of businesses due to the excessive cost of shipping to and from the area. Did you know we used to have a wood fired water heater business here in Eureka? They went out of business, due to costs of shipping. But you say only the large shippers, the resource based will use it? It wasn’t that way, nor does it have to be that way. Did you know butter used to be hauled out of Humboldt county from Fernbridge, even during Eureka Southern times? What about Lost Coast wanting to ship out via rail because it would cost them $1,000.00 less a car load? You don’t hear that with claims in the comments that we don’t have 2 railcars worth of stuff to ship out.

What other ways can we increase car loadings? People cite car loadings are generally by the railroad and will not serve most businesses. That can be mitigated several ways. Think of a hub and spoke model. The hub being the railroad, specifically points of loading on the railroad, the spoke the businesses. Several ways to make this work, 1) have truck trailers with railroad wheels built in “roadrailer”, just have a special boogie for the front to latch in to, to carry the front , and to connect to the locomotive, or car. 2) Use regular truck trailers on special flat cars, also called TOFC, 3) use containers, such as the port intends to use. 1, and 2 wouldn’t necessarily need additional land to use, 3 would, maybe use the ports land until some other place comes to use.

Next passenger use, you don’t hear in Hank’s latest anti railroad piece. Is buy local. Here it is usually buy local, and yet deride local efforts to have a tourist train, like one you wouldn’t have to travel out of town to. One that increases the tourist reason to come here, and stay a bit longer, bringing more money to the local economy, in a non selfish way. IE we who are working to bring the tourist train, are not doing it to bring us a job, or money. I have a job, Marcus has a job/apartments, etc. A tourist train is an infrequent, passenger train usually only done on the weekends. There is no reason why the locals can’t use it, as transportation, taking bikes, to go between the cities."