The Super-C debacle is an excellent illustration of how the configuration of the US rail system in districts with finite geographic scope distorts the marketplace. Biaginni percieved a threat to SP's long-way-around route from this proposed transcon service, and the story goes, forced NYC to back down by calling Al Perlman and threatening to cut off its perishable business. Thus, the shipping public did not receive the benefit of fourth morning coast to coast delivery. Such an end game would have been unlikely if SP on the one hand and ATSF-NYC on the other were components of true transcontinental systems. Paul B Naively, we believed that technologies like Flexi-Van should duke it out with TOFC and the market would decide, but instead of the market there was Ben Biaggini making phone calls behind the scenes trying to protect SP's market share against Super C's incursions--SP! whose business consisted of running West Coast-East Coast lumber and perishables the long way around via Texas. WDB The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List Sponsored by the ELH&TS http://www.elhts.org To Unsubscribe: http://lists.elhts.org/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
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