How is the railroad industry holding up? I know the industry got a boost due to the oil trains as the US is producing more domestic petroleum, but I'd love to know whether you think the industry is on the upswing or downswing. I've always thought that the US would benefit from more rail investment.

Are pinball machines ever moved by rail? Dunno what is moved by intermodal transportation these days... but I always thought it was crazy that so much goes by truck when we have passenger and freight trains crisscrossing the USA every day.

Passenger rail is a mixed bag in the USA, and that's coming from me, a fanatic of passenger rail. The long haul routes are often late because they are scheduling around freight traffic. It's slower, and more expensive in some cases, than air travel.

The Northeast Corridor, on the other hand, is almost all Amtrak-owned and is fast and punctual. The Regional trains do 110-120 mph through Massachusetts and Rhode Island. If I have to go anywhere up and down between DC and Boston I'll take the train, you miss so much traffic and its cost-effective.

I don't think the incoming political scene is going to be kind to Amtrak. I am hopeful, though. If we want trains like Japan it will be very expensive. Japan's population is a lot less spread out, the distances between major metros is just so much smaller. The USA would have to be serious about running new rail, which is hard to do when NIMBYism is so rampant. If we are going to see more high speed rail its going to come through individual states mandates, like California. Florida would also benefit heavily, as would Texas, for intercity high speed connections. Fingers crossed.

Just as an amendment to my previous post, this overlay of Japan over the Northeast shows you why Japan has better trains than we do. Much smaller land area.

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I just don't see evidence that the problem with Amtrak is customer service. The problem with Amtrak is the trains don't go where people want them to go as fast as they want them to go and at the right price. We have an amazing regional air transport network in the USA. Example:

I want to go to both PAPA and Pinburgh this year. I live in Rhode Island. The Amtrak station is 2 miles from my house, an easy trip. However the details: In order to do that, I would have to catch the once a day Pennsylvanian after taking the Northeast Regional. The entire trip takes 14 hours. If the Regional train is > 45 minutes late I miss the Pittsburgh train. The train costs $116 one way. My first train is 6:50 AM and I don't get in until 9 or 10 at night.

If I take a plane there's no direct flights from TF green just outside providence. It's $260 roundtrip but only 3.5 hours. If I take the train 1 hour north to Boston, flights are direct @ 1h50m so < 3 hrs with $260 ticket + $12 train ticket and $3 subway fare. It's a no brainer to take a plane unless I want to spend the entire day on a train. Plus flights run more often and the chances of a delay making me 'stuck' in Philadelphia are close to zero, unlike the train.

I think high speed rail linking major cities would be huge for the United States. Especially since cities like Boston are increasingly unaffordable. Imagine what it would do to Portland, ME if the 2 hour downeaster went to Boston in 1 hr or less? Changes the entire dynamic of where you can work and live. I know, I moved out of Boston to Providence and still work out of an office in Cambridge. If I had to commute every day the Amtrak trains get to Boston in 38 minutes.