Tahoe;
That's a great read, but I have to call out OFF TOPIC on you, not to silence the ideas, only to say that this is a conversation that deserves to be in a post where it will get due attention.

Of course, the undermining of our great rail Infrastructure was a shame, but it was also a response against the Rail Monopolies and Tycoons, which the Highways replaced, ironically enough, with a form of 'Commons'. In rebuilding Rail, can we point it in a positive direction, such that the keepers of the access to these thoughways are inherently checked against gouging and the kind of heavy handedness that partly defined Rail in its heyday?

(Alan and others try to describe some solutions to this for me, but I need Special-Ed Remedial Level help on this stuff!)

Thx,
Bob