RR incomes and outcomes

Indeed, the coal carrying lines did very well burning prehistoric rocks all along the way.  And they started to die after converting to "modern" diesel fuels.  Then they experienced a resurgence in recent years as coal came back into vogue.  And now they dive as the market wavers once again.

The "Trains" magazine editors must have been reading your mind.  The new November issue has a lengthy extra section devoted to "How Railroads Work".

Yes, in 1948 railroads had a huge employee population. And still most made money, and some made a lot of money. But ALL industry had lots of e/e's in 1948! So railroad employment was in tandem. Today railroads have about 250,000 e/e's, yet gross ton miles I believe are exceeding WW II levels.

       But I will repeat a comment I made about 6 months ago.........coal useage at utilities may/will diminish, as they convert to natural gas, because, for the foreseeable future, nat gas is abundant (due to fracking), cheap, and relatively easy to transport. Trucking may even turn to nat gas, so a sleeping competitor may come back to life. Worrisome turn of events for railroads, despite marvelous industry productivity and very high e/e to revenue generation ratios.

I hired out on the Soo Line in the '70s.

It is amazing even comparing what would be going on in the 1940s to then. The old timers then told tales.

Some jobs we thought couldn't been done away with, were. Attrition cut the workforce. By the early '90s, we operated with what seemed a skeleton crew.

Today railroads are mean and lean.

How I miss the old days.

Old books really show the difference. Not to mention a lot of functions were deemed mere rituals and done away with.