OPB: Thanks for the thorough explanation of your point of view. I agree with much that you say. I think that the unique entity in all this was the Mayo Clinic. It's hard to dismiss an American icon. But some of the crap they peddled about the evils of the increased traffic on the railroad were not to be believed - in more ways than one. On the other hand, the upper management of the DM&E wasn't above making some outrageous claims on their own, and it's true that both sides' points of view got a lot more attention that would have normally been the case simply because it was the Mayo Clinic.

As you pointed out, we'll never know what would have happened for sure had there not been all these legal challenges, but by the same token, it's not fair to lump all such projects in this category because some projects have more merit than others. While it's unfortunate that this project ended up as a war of wills and words more than anything else, the project's lack of worthiness superseded any of the claims put forth on both sides of the issue.