This is actually worth watching, despite any hints to the contrary.

It's actual name is "Blueprint America", it's been out for a while (no time machine required on some shows.) Jim Lehrer is a Marine Corps veteran, but not, I think, a retiree, and the show is not on PBS at the same time in all places, but what's a detail here and there?

The section on high speed rail in California, with political desires of communities along the tracks - everybody wants a stop- conflicting with engineering realities -it costs time and money to stop often- will provide ammunition on both sides of the public spending debate.

I didn't see "Blueprint America, but the railroads have to build a track system like the interstate highways, with by-passes around the cities. Look at BNSF and Chicago, if they can't speed up going through the city they are going to go around. They need more passing tracks to get fast trains around slower trains. Maybe 3 or 4 track main lines, like the Broadway Limited. It is going to take a whole lot of money. I'm glad to see the state and Federal governments are getting on board.  This would be a historic event, which would be as great as the CP and UP bringing the east and west together by rail.

I don't believe the situation in Chicago is nearly as dire as Dennis Moore and Matt Rose say it is.  Rose is keeping the pressure on to ensure that Chicago's CREATE package of investments in cleaning up the rat's nest of track in Chicago is funded.  It got stiffed - and by Illinois congressmen - in the last big transportation money bill.  Both UP and BNSF have built intermodal yards well out of Chicago, which allows them to keep a lot of their pick-up and delivery traffic out of the worst of Chicago congestion.  For stuff going into Chicago, they both have intermodal yards in the city that they can reach without a lot of trouble.  For traffic going east of Chicago, intermodal volumes have reached critical mass and they can pre-block traffic through to Pennsylvania these days, which allows a steel-wheel connection with NS or CSX.  As for CP and UP bringing the east and west together, I think you may want to look at a rail map.  Tying east and west together is most likely to occur between UP or BNSF in the west and NS and CSX in the east.  CP is not a big enough player to be a driver in that in the U.S.  BNSF, now that it is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, isn't likely to be a player either, and if you don't want to see the railroads re-regulated, you better hope that no one brings the east and west together in any way other than efficient operations.

"'RAIL-ISM' is the key word for the economic survival & future of the USA..."

I'd have to suggest that there are lots of things that are more key.  Getting back to creating wealth would top the list, in my book.  We need to make things that others will actually buy.  We've probably lost the battle on the basic manufacturing industries; it's hard to beat low-cost overseas labor in  textile and clothing manufacturing, for instance.  The USA needs to invent and manufacture things that people need and that no one else can provide, at least for a while, until we invent more stuff.  That's more "key" than the way that we move that wealth, once created, around.

LK, I think that Dennis Moore's CP is the Central Pacific; when I read his post, I thought, "Oh boy, there's going to be confusion over that!"

DaveB: Interesting comments.  I agree that we first need to resume creating wealth, then worry about how to move the things our society creates.  On that, I still believe that if the modes all are treated similarly by government, it will be shippers who make the modal choice of shipment and they will do it in their economic self interest - the way my capitalism textbook says they should.

As for CP, I did, in fact, misunderstand.  Thanks for clarifying and setting me straight.

The USA does invent lots of things...and then the investors (or whoevermakes that mfg decision) looks east and says "we can make xxx much more money with cheap labor."

Who invented IPOD's?  Where are they made.  Microsoft invents lots of stuff - where is it made?  Callaway/Taylor Made/etc, all invented in US...primarily made elsewhere.

Once America returns to the Land of Empowerment and not the Land of Entitlement, maybe we'll get the mfg jobs back.  

About as likely as my having a Sunday duel with Tiger in April at Augusta.

Don't be so pessimistic, BacktotheFuture.  It's not all that bad. We still make a lot of things in this country and make a lot of money doing so.  We have to focus on being smarter  It wasn't the Chinese or the Japanese that put our economy in the tank two years ago.  It was our own bankers and government.

BTF> If you put on a dress I'm sure Tiger would love to duel.  Sorry, couldn't resist.

RSTEVEB - that was bad...poor guy has an addiction.  Oh wait, that's most guys addiction.

Larry - We tanked our own economy I agree, but the departure of the mfg jobs as you well know started long ago.  Heck even Hershey's leaves the US to make chocolate in Mexico.  

BTF:  You're right, but I don't see how you can tell a corporation that it must operate at higher cost than necessary.  I think our government must do more than simply mouth the words of free trade and should use our market leverage to ensure that others treat our products as fairly as we are expected to treat theirs.  Our railroads do a fine business hauling grain and coal for export.  The fact is we do benefit from trade and one of the costs of that trade is that manufacturers are at all times under pressure to produce their products at the lowest possible cost.  Fact is, India and China are among our bigger markets at the same time that U.S. outsourcing creates jobs over there and kills them here.  If it were an easy fix, it would have been done long ago.