Chicago Does It Again!

[neroden]

There is a secular trend for both passenger and freight traffic to shift to rail. Even though the economy in general is poor, railroads should continue to anticipate expansion as they cannibalize traffic away from other modes of transportation. It is therefore unwise for railroads to hold headcounts too low. (Although having low headcounts on *specific routes* which are expected to contract is sensible.)

 

[afigg]

No mystery on the headcount reductions, the U.S. economy is about to go in the dumper. The recession started last Fall.

Simply not correct. The US GDP grew by an estimated annual rate of 4% in the 2nd quarter and the US added an estimated 209,000 jobs in June. Which is the sixth straight month of increasing employment by more than 200K jobs a month. But we appear to in that stage of the recovery cycle where even good news is regarded as not good enough because it has been a long recovery from the 2008 crash.

As for the Class 1 freight railroads, they are overall having a very good year in increased traffic and revenue. The increase in freight traffic from the Bakken oil boom (supplies in, oil out) and intermodal shipments is a large component of the reason for the constant delays the Amtrak LD trains are having in the Midwest and western plains which in turn is contributing to the staffing problem at the Chicago hub.

 

[neroden]

We never really got out of the recession. The employment/population ratio has been flat since 2008. Median real wages have been somewhere between flat and declining. Things aren't getting worse, but they aren't getting better either; they're just keeping up with the population growth. There's no real "recovery" yet.

GDP isn't a trustworthy number due to the way the value of "financial services" is guesstimated. Essentially, rent extraction is mischaracterized as production. This hasn't been discussed widely enough, but I've dug through it in tremendous detail, and I can assure you that it is true.

http://criticallegalthinking.com/2012/07/26/finances-contribution-to-gdp-another-sleight-of-hand/

http://tcf.org/blog/detail/graph-how-the-financial-sector-consumed-americas-economic-growth

For this reason, I prefer to look at hard numbers: tons of steel produced, tons of grain produced.... or carloads of rail shipments!

So, for example, American steel production is up slightly over last year, but still not very good. Steel imports are up sharply over last year, indicating growth in demand, but with the production being done abroad.

As for the railroad sector, looking at the hard numbers, it is *booming* -- and furthermore, it was booming even *during* the crash. Railroads are enjoying growth at the expense of trucks, airlines, pipelines, etc., stealing market share away.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

We are not about to go into the toilet. We have BEEN in the toilet for 6 years now, and what's worse is it appears to me that our economy has reached equilibrium. We essentially have reached full employment as far as demand will go.

In order to create more jobs, demand for them has to be created by increasing demand by repatriation of production, and increased infrastructure spending. Which is anathema to politicians since all spending not directly going into a friends pocket is inherently wasteful.

 

[Acela150]

Back OT Amtrak posted Conductor Trainee Positions today on their careers site for Chicago.

 

[tim49424]

I'm just a few miles from Climax, MI, and Hell, MI is 90 miles away.

I've been past Climax on 94.........and have been to Hell a couple of times. When I was going through my divorce 15 years ago, I was hoping that the general store in Hell would have had a postcard for me to send to my ex saying "Greetings from Hell, wish you were here" and was hoping to get it postmarked from there. I failed at both as the post office no longer exists in Hell and there was no such postcard. I guess it's the thought that counts. :giggle:

 

[Acela150]

I'm just a few miles from Climax, MI, and Hell, MI is 90 miles away.

I've been past Climax on 94.........and have been to Hell a couple of times. When I was going through my divorce 15 years ago, I was hoping that the general store in Hell would have had a postcard for me to send to my ex saying "Greetings from Hell, wish you were here" and was hoping to get it postmarked from there. I failed at both as the post office no longer exists in Hell and there was no such postcard. I guess it's the thought that counts. :giggle:

That's some funny stuff! :lol:

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I'm just a few miles from Climax, MI, and Hell, MI is 90 miles away.

I've been past Climax on 94.........and have been to Hell a couple of times. When I was going through my divorce 15 years ago, I was hoping that the general store in Hell would have had a postcard for me to send to my ex saying "Greetings from Hell, wish you were here" and was hoping to get it postmarked from there. I failed at both as the post office no longer exists in Hell and there was no such postcard. I guess it's the thought that counts. :giggle:

I woulda thought that woulda been 90% of the towns economy.

 

[kneemeister]

Michigan where Hell and Paradise are just a days drive apart. And every winter, we see posted on line; at least once, the Welcome to Hell sign froze over.

 

[SarahZ]

Hell had one hell of a party on 6/6/06. The town was mobbed with tourists and bikers. It was awesome.

 

[tim49424]

Hell had one hell of a party on 6/6/06. The town was mobbed with tourists and bikers. It was awesome.

I moved from Clinton Township (NE of Detroit & an hour from Hell) to Marshfield, WI on that day. I guess you can say I got the Hell away from Hell on 6/6/06.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Back to Normal, another near here is Lostant. As in lost ant. Don't know if they ever found it.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

They did. He got a job in a DePatie-Freleng cartoon, seems he did a good Dean Martin impersonation.