The "hardcore" win against the environmentalists had more to do with incompetence at NCRA than running trains, and holding SMART up as an example of progress is a bit rich. It's akin to calling the new NWP a success while ignoring the cost per carload to the public as the line is rebuilt again in as many years on someone else's dime. The foamers get to see a few trains a week and the operator pockets the $$, so everything is peachy right?

The Coast sidings are still stuffed with empty wells, grain hoppers, etc. The BNSF detours are due to Omaha being unable to provide the contractually obligated number of slots over normal routes due to seemingly endless derailments and track work. A sign of failure rather than expanded traffic.

Car storage isn't the kind of "growth" a railroad should be pinning its hopes on.

The Ventura County bureaucrats don't care about freight growth on the branch. They only want to stop a massive public subsidy to a private business that isn't providing a commensurate return.