There was tons of money to be made on the railroads, and every little dipstick town & county along the railway wanted their "fair" share of property tax money on the land that the railroads owned.

Taxed Out of Existence!!

If there ever was a business that was taxed out of existence, it was, and is the railroads. The railroads have had to buy all the land that they built their tracks on. Eventually, they had to pay property taxes on all that land.

There was tons of money to be made on the railroads, and every little dipstick town & county along the railway wanted their "fair" share of property tax money on the land that the railroads owned. And with property taxes being so high in New York State, and with such stiff competition from the trucking industry, well, that was all but the death knell for the railroads.

What the federal government should have done, was to nationalize all the railroad tracks, so there would be no local taxes to pay, and made the railroads pay for track upkeep. This would have given the railroads incentive to maintain and improve railservice. It would have changed the way Americans travel around the country. And with that, the airlines and major highways wouldn't be so clogged up as they are today. Rail service would definitely be better than it is.

So, if you're one who is in favor of better mass transit, the main stumbling block has been, and will be the high local property taxes the railroads pay, and lack of direction by our federal and state governments.