The Association of American Railroads now has a rail advocacy website, that actually encourages rail use and investment instead of their previous pro-abandonment, anti-labor stance. Good start, but they need TV and print for public consumption also.

http://66.241.202.121/about/
ryarger@rypn.org

With a few more links.

http://www.gorail.org/
ryarger@rypn.org

> The Association of American Railroads now
> has a rail advocacy website, that actually
> encourages rail use and investment instead
> of their previous pro-abandonment,
> anti-labor stance. Good start, but they need
> TV and print for public consumption also.

If they are simply getting smart about public relations-about damn time-but if its an industry effort to minimize public resistance prior to a future effort to become another effort raiding the public treasury-WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER PIG AT THE CORPORATE WELFARE TROUGH.

Secondly, I think its fair to say that the cannabalistic union-management relations isn't so simple as "management s*cks", always has, always will. Actions such as the insistence on maintaining a fireman on a diesel did nothing to convince management that unions had no other agenda than featherbedding-as flags fell everywhere. Of course that pales in comparison with drinking on the job (before Ricky Gates) and stories like allowing diesel fuel to spill on the ground because the employee was fast asleep- kind of a regular thing on the E-L, i understand.

No, the suits don't get off easy either. My favorite moronic action was the rather famous "no we won't get you a locomotive restroom-here's a bagggie"-and thats a lot more recent. Not to mention the insistence on cold roundhouses and handfired engines a little ways back. Pretty stupid not understand what those messages conveyed.

If the two parties continue to ignore the dictum a house divided against itself cannot stand, all the websites and PR won't mean squat.

Of course the geniuses in the government who were hell bent on milking the railroads for every last dime, making political careers demonizing the railroads, strangling them with regulations (who, but who thought the ICC tariff books were a good idea?) and insisting they maintain unprofitable service should be mentioned too..

I think its fair to say the history of railroading is an anthology of idiots all tripping over each other to cook the goose before it could lay the golden egg.

superheater@rrmail.com