OK, So one visionary's thought might be another man's fantasy.

So how do you propose to actually tell the difference before the fact? - When it actually counts. Anyone can see it afterwards. And indeed, how many will admit to their own nay-saying after some visionary succeeds.

Just imagine, if a visionary such as "Crazy Judah" had been dissuaded - and talked out of his dream; or no greedy merchants had been dazzled by the dream; or millions and millions in federal dollars had not been spent on construction of this "Lunatic" idea. What then?

And what if Thomas Edison had no vision, or he and his supporters had been dissuaded. After all, who then had ever heard of a practical electric light bulb before. Since the discoveries made during that epic struggle literally ushered in the electronic age - what then?

Or President Kennedy's vision of American's on the Moon......

Its easy to poohpooh the next guy's crazy dream.
But nothing great was ever accomplished by listening to Nay-Sayers!

Even if only one in ten "dreams" ever succeeds, I would choose to look forward and hope for the best anyway. And that applies to the NWP, as well as to an actually healthy railroad industry. I would hope that along with pointing out the perceived pitfalls inherent to any given idea, we could rack our collective brains and also point out possible solutions as well.

Now that would be exciting and interesting conversation indeed. Anyway - Food for thought.

OPB