Dave Cen.Ia - 2/3/2026 12:23

I probably don't have a complete understanding but I believe there was an important federal deregulation that occurred around 1980. Prior to this it was very difficult for the railroad to close a line based on traffic. After the deregulation, there was a mass exodus. The rail lines were more in control of what defined a siding and how many cars you could load and how much time you had to load them. A loaded grain train might sit for a week but you had just so much time to fill it.
In a sense, it was probably a good thing as we have ended up with better maintained and safer lines. Unfortunately, it cut off access to a lot of smaller grain elevators too. I do recall some local track in the 70's that made me wonder how the cars stayed on. Speeds were reduced to 25mph in places.