Funds for railroads are reserved for the elite who use them, the lawmakers. Rail is effective in and around places where they live. Congress controls the billions in railroad funds and procuring them is basically a contest between senators from the Northeastern 'corridor' states and individual large states. 'We have not been successful in bringing rail money here [in California],' explained Kleindienst. Some or all of the money is in jeopardy of being cut and they'll cut [routes] in the West, not the East.'

Much of the federal money goes to the maintenance of the sophisticated existing inner-city rail network that runs from Washington D.C. to Boston. After a struggle in which many small-state senators lobby for most of the money, the large states like Texas and California must make due with less than what is necessary to not only build new tracks, stations and cars, but to upgrade existing ones.

The young leaders in this Southern California boardroom heard the warning that derailments are caused by fatigue in the tracks, as they pondered the question of why more remote smaller towns and cities need rail at all.

Has the United States Missed the Train?

Rail history teaches us where the United States has failed and where most other parts of the world have excelled in rail construction, maintenance, and dependability. It also teaches us that train systems almost never make money. Should they?

It's been a long time since 1830 and the Best Friend of Charleston, the first regular passenger service steam engine, made its maiden journey. And while technology has led us from diesel to electric rail, many countries today maintain regular routes with steam engine trains. Think of a time line that begins with steam locomotives, then progresses to coal, and finally ends with electric. All three still operate if maintained properly. From the steam engines that roar the length of Cuba to the high-speed electric lines of Japan and France, rail is not dead.

The first steam engine train line began in Europe and the United States at about the same time, in the early 1800s. Until the early part of the 20th century the United States and most other parts of the world were in synch in their use of rail, not only to carry goods, but also to transport people.

Railroads spread rapidly in the eastern and southern states in the early 1800s. By the 1850s, track linked the Atlantic seaboard to the Midwest. In 1869, the first transcontinental route connected the East and West Coast. By the end of the 19th century, rail in the United States grew 11 miles per day. At that time, innovations in tracks and rail cars made the United States a leader in rail development. In the 1930s the first electric line in the world was built in Baltimore.