There is shouldn't be the ROW is almot all a flat desert with the space already there. a few dozen small bridges are needed ether as part of overpasses or for rivers. They've only got 16 grade crossings from Colton to the Cochella yard.
There was also serious political blowback after WW1. There were a number of things done during WW1 that weren't repeated in the same way during WW2 because of the political cost that Wilson paid: Wilson lost both houses of Congress in 1918 and 1920 was a wholesale slaughter for his party - it's hard to really explain just how bad the wipeout was, but not only were the Democrats all but wiped out outside of the South [they were in a hair of being completely wiped off the map in IL, for example...all three wins were very narrow], there were actually a decent number of competitive races in Alabama, Virginia, and North Carolina (VA usually had one R district at the time and then maybe another one that was competitive). So regardless of predilections, FDR did not want to risk a repeat of Wilson in WW1.
IMHO, any such dictate would be tied up in the courts for years, or decades.
I think the freight railroads will reconsider the equation that has led them to the ridiculous extreme in train lengths, and arrive by themselves at some happy medium of slightly shorter trains that fit in sidings many of which will be lengthened to accommodate whatever train length they arrive at.
Chances of Congressional Action on this are "Slim and None" since there are so many more Urgent and Pressing Problems to deal with, the K Street Lobbyist are swarming like Locusts, and the Political Manuvering has already begun for the 2024 Elections!
Let's hope so, UP Freights seem to get Longer by the day resulting in longer delays to the Sunset Ltd and Texas Eaglette here in Texas.I think the freight railroads will reconsider the equation that has led them to the ridiculous extreme in train lengths, and arrive by themselves at some happy medium of slightly shorter trains that fit in sidings many of which will be lengthened to accommodate whatever train length they arrive at.
This will happen well before they come anywhere near approaching 0% operating ratio on zero trains in operation
I've always felt that the long-standing hostility to the railroad companies is often overlooked in the post WWII era as well.
There were a lot of intermittent cases of "bad behavior", and I think we do often overlook how lousy a lot of lower-tier trains were. For example, I believe that in the 1970s there was still some WW1-era commuter equipment in use in various places.
Actually I think the nationalizing of Network Rail was the only good thing they did, the private operation by Railtrack was a disaster. I believe the main problem with rail in the UK besides a general lack of investment by the government, is the short term nature of the contracts with the Train Operating Companies which give them little incentive to invest for the long term.
I agree. This is the first I heard of the British thinking nationalizing the rail infrastructure was a bad idea, after several disastrous accidents under the tender loving care of Railtrack.
In 1970, I used to ride MP45 EMUs in service on the PRR Philadelphia commuter trains. These were built over a period from 1915 (when hey first electrified the Paoli Line) to 1937. Thus, in 1970, they were 33 to 55 years old. Right now SEPTA is still running Silverliner IV cars built in 1973, which would make them 50 years old.
Having been on the SL in 2022, a lot of it in Texas is single track. I did notice a lot of double-tracking efforts in NM.
