Railway Track & Structures - February 2008 - (Page 3) ON TRACK Vol. 104, No. 2 USPS # 860-560 ISSN # 00339016 EDITORIAL OFFICES 20 South Clark Street, Suite 2450 Chicago, Ill. 60603 Telephone (312) 683-0130 Fax (312) 683-0131 Website www.rtands.com Time to build hat will 2008 be like? Now that we’ve put better than a full month behind us and we’ve pretty much passed from thinking it’s 2007 (except for those of us old fogies who still write checks and put down the wrong year), what will the new year really bring? I tend to be optimistic, so you can take my outlook for 2008 with a grain of salt. If you disagree, I’ll be happy to hear from you. We’ve all heard the gloom-and-doom prophesies stemming from the mortgage crunch, the slowing of the housing market, the drop in new car sales and so on. Railroads move lots of lumber, appliances and other items that go into new homes, so there definitely will be some slack there. And new automobiles represent one of the highest-value commodities moving by rail, so railroads will also take a hit there. Yet economists note that the economy enjoyed growth despite the drag of the housing and auto markets. Traffic volume on trucks and rails was down, but unemployment stayed low. Economists’ predictions for 2008 are all over the place. Some say up, some say down, some say more of the same. It reminds me of the old story about if you placed all the economists in the world in a row, they would all point in different directions. So if things are slow or uncertain, railroads should hunker down and wait until things get better, right? Forget all those capital projects and hang on tight, right? Wrong. Now is the time for railroads to build capacity. Demand is eventually going to surge and the railroads better be ready for it for their own sake and for the sake of the nation. If traffic is down now, what better time to get out there and do the work needed not only to keep things going, but to expand capacity to meet the tremendous demands forecast by the AAR and the U.S. DOT. Getting a window to work on track has been extremely difficult over the years. If forecast capacity shortages become reality, getting work windows will be next to impossible, and very, very costly to the company when the track crews finally do get a time slot. Railroads are making more money now than they have historically. They need to invest some of that money in their infrastructure to try to get ready for the future, which will be on top of us all too soon. And we all have to continue battling for the tax credit bill making its way through Congress. Railroads may be making more money now than in the 1970s and 1980s, but the AAR estimates they simply won’t have enough capital to build the capacity they’re going to need. All of us, railroaders and suppliers, have to convince our elected representatives of the public benefits of expanding rail capacity in North America. It won’t be an easy battle, but the future of our industry and our nation both are riding on the outcome. George S. Sokulski/Associate Publisher Tom Judge/Editor, tjudge@sbpubchicago.com Wanda Welty/Managing Editor Mischa Wanek-Libman/Assistant Editor, mischa@sbpub-chicago.com Susan Taylor/Editorial Assistant W CORPORATE OFFICES 345 Hudson Street New York, N.Y. 10014 Telephone (212) 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr./ President and Chairman Robert P. DeMarco/Publisher Mary Conyers-Brown/Production Director Barbara DiGirolamo/Production Manager Maureen Cooney/Circulation Director Jane Poterala/Conference Director Robert G. Lewis/Director of Special Projects For reprint information, contact: PARS International Corp. 212-221-9595; Fax 212-221-9195 RT&S, Railway Track and Structures is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp., 345 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10014. ISSN: 0033-8916. Canada Post Cust.#7204564; Agreement #41094515. Bleuchip Int'l, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Periodical Class postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Subscription price to railroad employees only in U.S. possessions, Canada and Mexico, Print or Digital version: $16 one year; $30 two years (all others $39.50 one year; $73 two years). All other countries, $68 one year ($168 for air mail); $120 two years ($320 for air mail). Both Print and Digital versions: $24 one year; $45 two years (all others $60 one year; $110 two years). All other countries, $102 one year ($202 for air mail); $180 two years ($380 for air mail). Single copies $8.50. Track Buyer’s Guide $21. All rates are payable in advance. The publisher reserves the right to increase subscription rates without notice. Call toll-free 1-800-895-4389 (or 402-346-4740) Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Central Time to place an order. Copyright 2008. Customer Service: Address all correspondence to: Subscription Department, RT&S, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. Changes of address should reach us three weeks in advance of the next issue date. Send old address with new, enclosing, if possible, your address label. The Post Office will not forward copies unless you provide extra postage. Duplicate copies cannot be sent. POSTMASTER: Send change of address forms to RT&S, Railway Track and Structures, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. Tom Judge, Editor A SIMMONS-BOARDMAN RAIL GROUP PUBLICATION www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures February 2008 3 http://www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com
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