With computerization of car inventory control, it didn't take the railroads very long to figure out that they could basically shut down all of their open agency freight stations scattered around the system and consolidate everything into one central location. Then the shippers were instructed to use an 800 number to call in requests for spotting of loads and pulling of empties. Bills of lading could be handled via fax machines. MoPac had a huge office for this purpose that UP used for a few years before moving to Omaha. Santa Fe had an equivalent in Topeka. SP had one in San Francisco. If they needed to have a physical check of what freight cars were in a particular yard to compare against the computer records, they could temporarily turn a trainmaster into a "mud hop" yard clerk. Weighing of the cars could be sluffed off onto the shippers, and we all saw the result of THAT with the SP's Duffee Street wreck in San Bernardino.

Uphill slow. Downhill fast. Job cutting first. Safety last.