Free the trains!

Amtrak Fights Big Oil For Use Of The Rails : NPR

"Oil business in North Dakota is creating some big headaches for Amtrak travelers. Trains on the popular Empire Builder route between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest are often delayed for hours.

One reason for the congestion is an influx of trains hauling crude oil across the Northern Plains."

All that talk about high-speed rail back in the day (seems so long ago) was never about North Dakota anyway; the hinterlands were always destined to chug along with Amtrak (maybe today, maybe tomorrow or so). And did anybody think if pipelines don’t get built the petrocorps will just close down and go away? Fat chance.

If they don’t ship it by pipeline they’ll ship it by rail, and if they can’t use rail they’ll use trucks or, hey, mule trains if they have to, and how would you like to get stuck in a mule jam for 13 hours? Sounds pretty grim.