Some of the earliest railroad freight traffic in the mid-19th Century involved Long Island, NY, farmers loading wagons of produce on flat cars and having them hauled into New York city where they brought a better price than they would out on Long Island.  Enough better price to justify the freight charge.  That was intermodal.  By 1918, it was old news.

Those damn oil guzzzzling, slurpin' farmers from the 19-teenz!!!!

Looks like the cows weren't the only ones sllllllurpin' and cozyin' up to the trough!!!!

Sorry - I had to make fun of this sites favorite target.

Don't apologize, BadktotheFuture.  You provided a good chuckle on an otherwise ordinary morning.

Ditto here!

Larry, we've got your Denver weather in Atlanta today.  Please come take it back.

Curt

Curt:  I do feel for you.  We're used to it here, so it isn't quite so bad.  I recall when I lived in South Carolina and there was a forecast of cold and perhaps even a bit of snow.  You couldn't find a loaf of bread or a quart of milk in any store in town; the panic shoppers cleaned them out.

Larry - Any news on the Ski Train lately?

Yes.  Sorry to say, it's dead for this year.  Iowa Pacific took Amtrak to federal court a week before Christmas seeking an injunction forcing Amtrak to operate the train.  Amtrak supposedly wanted Iowa Pacific to provide a $200 million liability insurance policy among other things that made it quite clear it simply didn't want to be bothered.  Iowa Pacific said excursion operations like the Ski Train in other parts of the country are not required to have such a large insurance policy.  The court found that no contract existed between Amtrak and Iowa Pacific and declined to grant the requested injunction.  Iowa Pacific then said it was no longer feasible to try to run the Ski Train this year and began refunding the 13,000 reservations it said it had.  This is the first year in about 70 that there is no train between Denver and Winter Park.

That's too bad.  If no contract existed who was authorized to run the train on UP rails?  Certainly the UP was providing power and crews.

Remember, the National Railroad Passenger Act that created Amtrak gave it the exclusive right to operate passenger service.  Amtrak has a contract with UP that allows it to operate over UP tracks, which include the former DRGW/SP main line through Moffett Tunnel between Denver and Winter Park.  Amtrak apparently has no interest in operating the Ski Train service itself, and in the past contracted with Anschutz Co., the owner of the Ski Train equipment.  What was lacking was a contract between Amtrak and Iowa Pacific, which did want to operate the Ski Train.  Ed Ellis of Iowa Pacific tried to make the case that the Ski Train was an excursion trip and not passenger service as we think of it.  If Amtrak would have agreed with him, the insurance requirement would have been far less than the $200 million Amtrak was demanding.  

Personally, I think there's enough blame for both to share.  UP is the one that is not involved, and I'm sure it's pleased that is the case.  Amtrak appears not to have bargained in good faith with Iowa Pacific, although I'm not sure why not.  And Iowa Pacific seems guilty of trying to negotiate in public when it might have been better off determining whether the deal was doable or not.  Power would have been Iowa Pacific's transferred from its Southern Colorado excursion service, and crews would have been provided by Amtrak.

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I meant to say UP was NOT providing.

Either way that's too bad...especially for Winter Park...that drive over the summit in winter is not worth the lift ticket.

Agreed.  I've driven most of the Colorado passes, and Berthoud is as bad as any.