Facts would be nice. Observations from Altamont posters would be nice, or photos?

Lots of issues with the Siskiyou line, also it has lots of interest, in that it as a case study on what choices we have for rail preservation, restoration, and sustainable economic operation. It is a microcosm of western short line traffic base, operating cost, and maintenance cost issues.

Yesterday, I saw an overlength and probably overweight lumber truckload (from an Oregon mill) tearing up the 210 Freeway through La Canada. Recently, I had an assignment to look at rail issues in some industrial areas near downtown LA and observed hundreds of trucks delivering newsprint to the LA Times, and only limited rail sevices. The loss of these commodities is about a policy favoring heavier and heavier loads on our aging and increasingly dilapidated interstates, and about the lack of effective operational reliability on both the connecting short lines, and poor service in these north south markets due to limited line haul competition.

I hope this test actually "tests" something and tells us some things that might allow us to make some decisions on how to best maintain, restore, market, and/or improve some of these services?