6 Mar
2002
6 Mar
'02
1:37 a.m.
On Wed, 6 Mar 2002, Feldman, Robert wrote:
As to who is paying for the scrapping, the railroad,
or often a bankruptcy
court, would bid it out to scrappers -- the same people (as a general class)
who will take an old computer and cut the edge connector off a board in
order to recover the gold. Might not seem like an economical thing to do,
but these people can make a living out of it.
Also bear in mind that track isn't mild steel (C54? My memory fails
me) High-tensile steel with no contaminants - paint, plastics,
galvanization, etc. - is worth several times as much as general
quality scrap iron.
Add to that the fact that the railroads are taxed by both Feds and
state, at least in Texas, according to track mileage.
At that point, pulling unused track is VERY cost-effective, without
even considering the PR, umm, _mileage_ the railroad gets for creating
new parklands.
Doc