Some Railroad terms you should know

Since my business is booming, I am going to keep this post brief.

In my next post I am going to discuss in detail, my thoughts on the Hi Speed rail proposal by the O Bama administration.

Since I am a rail fan and this blog is dedicated to the my friends on Facebook and SOC, I thought it best to give you a brief look at some railroad terms.

Rairoading as a whole is divided into two major sectors, passenger and freight.
Freight railroading is simple. Everything that you own or use travels by rail.
Railroads do their best work when handling bulk commodities, whether it be coal, steel, automobiles or building materials.

Freight railroads are divided by classes

Class I are the majors, Union Pacific, Furlington Northern Santa Fe, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Kansas City Southern, Canadian National, and Canadian Pacific. They handle the bulk of cross country traffic. Here in New England, CSX controls most of the market as a result of the break up of Conrail. Norfolk Southern is making a move into this market in partnership with the regional line, Pan Am.

Class II are the regionals. In Southern New England, the major regional is the Providence and Worcester. It serves part of Mass and Ct. as well as R.I.. Northern Bew England is dominated by the Guilford lines, now operating under the Pan Am name.
There are other regionals also who serve parts of New England.

Class III are the little guys, the guys who bring the freight to your door. Examples include teg Connecticut Southern and the Pioneer Valley Railroad. Most of these short lines are owned by larege holding companies.

Passenger rail has three major components

Amtrak is the nation's only large passenger railroad. It was formed in the 70s to provide passenger service when the freight railroads could no longer make it work.
On the Northeast corridor and on the West Coast, ith has seen some success, however the road still requires a heavy subsidy from the US government to stay in business.
They are now reaching out to the states they serve for more money, as it seems that they cannot turn a profit regardless of the ridership. I have seen cost figures that indicate each ticket sold cost the taxpayers $50. Can you say LOSER!!!!!

The other components of the passenger system are the commuter rail operations, like MBTA and the Light rail systems, AKA Subways!

Now before you think that this next post is going to be a total slam, let it be known that I am a railroad fan. I have used both passenger rail and commuter rail with good results. M Even my wife knows about my railroading. She lives with the Springfield Southern, my HO model railroad..

Welcome to my new vistors from Sound Off Ct. More to come soon! John