Transition to Amtrak on the night of April 30th-May 1st 1971

[jis]

Main Lines: Rebirth of the North American Railroads, 1970-2002 (Railroads in America) by Richard Sanders, gives an excellent explanation of what was going on in the rail industry which caused Amtrak to be created and what the various political undercurrents were. Also describes the motivations, contents and effects of the so called 3R and 4R acts. Worth a read if one is interested in the complexities of the US railroad industry.

 

[neroden]

Ah, reviewing the history as a whole -- the US managed to do the equivalent of the UK's 1923 Grouping only about 80 years later, after muddling around in the worst way. Maybe we'll do the equivalent of the 1945 nationalization in another 50 years. :-(

I think it was Churchill who said that the US would do the right thing after it had exhausted all other options.