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Mr. Harris makes a good point, too, one that I thought about before writing
what I did. There are many differences between the PC and other RR's of the era,
but those points were not even alluded to in the comments on my first posting.
The comments were essentially that the federal governments policy
towards and regulation of the railroads were the primary factor in the
collapse of the PC and other NE railroads. Economic depression, particularly in
the NE, labor giveaways by Saunders to get the unions to withdraw it's
objections to the merger, decrepit physical plant, mismanagement (there, I said
it again) and even the weather all played a part but were essentially ignored.
(Which reminds me of my favorite saying: "All issues are complex.")
I'm not saying that Saunders, Perlman and Bevans were the
only cause of the bankruptcy; surely there is enough blame to
go around to many different factors. Yes, the federal governments policies
towards the railroad industry at the time were less than accommodating, but
is that such a surprise roughly ten years (in 1968) since the Interstate Highway
Act was enacted? The federal government, with a little help from their friends
in the auto, oil, rubber and construction industries, decided that highways were
the future of transportation in this country. This policy hasn't really changed;
just witness the current governmental hostility to
Amtrak.
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