All that may be true, however, from the public's standpoint, there is little or no discernable difference between the groups or their goals. To outsiders, it looks almost like a bunch of pre-schoolers, each wanting to have it's own way and it's own sandbox to play in.

One has to wonder how much duplicative effort and expense goes into trying to keep 2 or 3 organizations in the same general area, doing (or trying to) pretty much the same things.

Notice I said the public's standpoint. Not the railfan standpoint. Fans might know or care about the differences, but the public, which is where the overwhelming amount of money comes from neither knows nor cares. There is a very tiny market for this kind of stuff, and splitting it too many ways means none of them will succeed.

IMO, of course.