1. The Current State of the Railroad Industry
Economic Changes in the Past 8 Years have Greatly Altered Railroad Traffic

2. Some Preliminary Observations
Railroads are the best way to move heavy freight: Railroads are more energy efficient and less polluting than trucks.
1. A diesel-electric locomotive can move one ton of freight an average of 379 miles (610 km) per gallon of diesel fuel. This is 3 times the fuel efficiency of a truck.

3. [“A U.S. Maritime Administration study has shown that one gallon of fuel can move one ton of freight 59 miles by truck, 202 miles by rail, and 514 miles by barge” (Railway Age, p.6, April 2008).]
2. Diesel-locomotives are three times cleaner than trucks on the basis of air emissions per ton moved.
3. High subsidies to rival transportation modes after 1920 prevented the railroads from innovating and they never regained the position they held in the economy at the turn of the 20th Century. For example:

4. a. Railroads require about $2
a. Railroads require about $2.48 in assets to generate $1 in revenue while the trucking industry requires only $0.48 for $1 in revenue. Reason -- they are subsidized by local, state, and federal governments. Government builds the infrastructure for trucks.
b. A study conducted by the state of Washington of shortline railroads concluded that an active mile of shortline railroad can save from $17,000 to $63,000 in annual costs to either resurface or reconstruct non-interstate highways (about 2008).

5. Total Traffic:

6. Current Railroad Traffic (Dec. 2016)

7. Intermodal Traffic:

8. Double-Stack Containers on Special Flat Cars that Make up an Unit Intermodal Consist (train)

11. Coal Traffic:

12. Coal Trains: Norfolk Southern

13. The Robert W Scherer Power Plant

18. Fracking has Reduced CO2 Emissions by Power Plants

21. CO2 Emissions USA From Wikipedia

22. Oil Traffic

23. Price of Oil 1946 – 2016 (Real Dollars)

26. Chemicals:

27. DOT-111 Tank Car

28. Chlorine Tank Car, 17,360 gallons DOT 105J500W, weight 263,000 lbs