Elephant Ears on a K4s

[Chris333]

Look at the approaches to the Huey P. Long bridge in NO.

Had to look it up.  and 
http://www.thepastwhispers.com/NO_HueyPLong_Bridge.html

[VonRyan]

Very true.  That's why JJ Hill bought the CB&Q, and why the UP had ties to both the C&NW and MILW at various times.  Now, of course, they OWN the C&NW.  And, if one looks at an old railroad map, both the SP and AT&SF basically ignored most of Texas, turning northeast to St. Louis and Chicago. 

I like Jim Hill. He's a good friend of mine.

 


-Cody F.

[nkalanaga]

Actually, he seemed to be fairly popular, unlike a lot of his contemporaries.  Maybe that was a result of building his railroad through what was then largely empty country, then spending a lot of time and not a little money building the local economies.  He understood that, for his railroad to prosper, the local businesses also had to, or there would be nothing to haul.

I have also heard, but won't swear to, that he never took a salary while running the GN, saying that if the company prospered, he'd get rich from the stock dividends.  If it didn't prosper, he wasn't doing his job, and didn't deserve to be paid.  Wonder if that would work for today's big corporations?

[VonRyan]

That is why I am hiking down Jim Hill's main line.


-Cody F.

[VonRyan]

Actually, he seemed to be fairly popular, unlike a lot of his contemporaries.  Maybe that was a result of building his railroad through what was then largely empty country, then spending a lot of time and not a little money building the local economies.  He understood that, for his railroad to prosper, the local businesses also had to, or there would be nothing to haul.

I have also heard, but won't swear to, that he never took a salary while running the GN, saying that if the company prospered, he'd get rich from the stock dividends.  If it didn't prosper, he wasn't doing his job, and didn't deserve to be paid.  Wonder if that would work for today's big corporations?

The no salary thing most likely would never go over, except maybe with the owner/CEO of Costco.

I wish more people had the same idea about supporting local economies.

As an example, there are some companies in West Chester, PA who would like rail service from West Chester Railway Lines (a volunteer-run tourist line), but SEPTA doesn't want WCRL to get into the freight business, not realizing that it would be a profitable venture and would give WCRL more funds to put back into the infrastructure they run on (which is leased from SEPTA). The only real problem is that there is at least one or two bridges that may or may not need to be strengthened to handle the weight of freight traffic, how ever little it may be.
The local area would also benefit in a decrease of road congestion by less trucks having to make deliveries and/or pick-ups.


-Cody F.

[C855B]

..., and California for years belonged to the SP. ...

Literally. SP was the #2 landowner in California, only after the federal gov't. I've mentioned it elsewhere here, but SP funded their RR operating losses after 1950 by selling-off hunks of prime land having nothing to do with running the railroad.