In its best days the NWP never handled that volume of traffic. The tunnels won't handle double stacks, slow orders around the Scotia Bluffs and in the Eel River canyon, single track and unsignaled territory. What's more, the problems in developing a container port at Humbolt Bay are legion even without considering the capacity of the NWP. Finally consider this, 20 trains of 50 container flats eastbound also means 20 trains of empties westbound for a total of 40 trains per day. Its a physical impossibility.

I want to see the NWP up and running again. However, wiild eyed schemes like container trains only provide further evidence for opponents that the NCRA and its backers are living in a fantasy world. If the NWP has a future it will be as a small regional railroad serving local customers with a few specialized services like trash trains.