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Well that was how it was supposed to work and it generally did until the 1960s when the eastern carriers who were suffering under competitive pressures figured out it was cheaper to pay rent (car hire/ per diem) to the western carriers than build or do major rebuild programs on their common cars (like grain, lumber, etc. box cars) so the number of usable cars was reduced. Generally this was OK except during grain rush periods and car supply shortages became severe. The "heat" the BNSF and CP have taken recently from the grain shippers was a annual event in this earlier time frame. Changes in car hire rules over the years helped solve the car supply problem. However as we learned again this year Mother Nature is still an uncontrollable factor Fred Crissey __._,_.___ Posted by: fhc925@frontier.com __,_._,___ |