The NWP is mostly 110 -112 lbs rail size so the SMART 115 lbs rail is a non issue. Claims of customers begging for rail service (Larkspur Rick) is laughable. I am no fan of Farhad but the NWP under John Williams made many efforts to attract new business. Calls were made to industries between San Rafael and as far north as Redwood Valley. Two part time railroad marketing men were hired over a five year period. and came up with zero new business. Union Pacific sets the freight rate and we all know how much they would love new single carload customers. I believe with the railroad shut down for over ten years customers were unsure how long the new owner would last and were afraid to make a commitment. With State funding for the SMART takeover its been rumored customers in Windsor and Santa Rosa have recently turned down SMART'S offer to pay half the cost of new turnouts. The roughly 26 miles of NWP track between Ignacio and Lombard is expensive to maintain with flooding common , old timber bridges and two drawbridges to maintain. They haul around 5 or 6 hundred cars a year. SMART a political beast will be under huge political pressure to get those damn tank cars out of Schellville making the line a money loser. SMART has never made money doing anything they have no interest in running a freight railroad and would love to see freight gone to focus on extending to Fairfield and exploring a non- freight compliant trainset of the future. Yes I apologize for sounding like a broken record repeating claims of a freight railroads demise.