Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Rails

Image from HERE
Commentor B asked about rail transportation within the eastern seaboard in the event of CW-II. For the sake of simplicity, I am going to assume that means the Coastal and Piedmont regions.

Much freight does get shipped on rail but there are some vulnerabilities. There are a few stretches were there is little redundant connectivity. Those regions are often where the terrain is challenging and it is expensive to build and maintain rail lines. In a word, many bridges.

Another vulnerability is the loss of small, feeder rail lines. The hub-and-spoke model uses trucks for delivery along the spokes. That leaves the smaller communities and far-flung suburban sprawl gasping for air in the event of OTR trucking deficiencies.

Not as much of a problem for the Bronx but for it bites if you live more than 20 miles from a rail siding.

1 comment:

  1. Break the line at Raleigh, and you just stopped ALL north/south rail traffic unless you're on the other side of the blue ridge.

    ReplyDelete

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