An Observer Wrote:
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> Need one active shipper requiring service in the
> Santa Cruz area, STB loves to hear from people
> wanting to tear up track which would isolate an
> active shipper. Get the good old
> not just no, but hell no speech!

That strategy may have worked 30 years ago. Now most STB rulings seem to rule in favor of the railroads if they claim a shipper is a financial hardship. The railroads can simply raise the rates so high the shipper is better off trucking.They can also embargo a line that is deemed unprofitable. Years ago it was a one thousand dollars per car surcharge on the NWP for cars routed north of Willits. All trains stopped running in less than six months. The other more subtle strategy is to reduce service to the point that rail is too unreliable. That's easy to do with PSR.