You're forgetting all of the regional transit lines. There are plenty of union locomotive engineers on the MTA, CalTrain, etc. On Mar 19, 2004, at 11:59, damiross2@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote: > This may be true for airlines but not the railroads. Amtrak, with a > very minor exception, carries only passengers. The major railroads > carry freight only. > > Airlines, in most cases, carry passengers and freight on the same > flight, thus allowing many flights to be profitable in spite of the > fact that they are carrying few passengers. > > David R >> My $0.02 >> >> Trains carry people but railroad dollars are, overall, mostly freight >> dollars. >> >> The cargo component of what drives market prices for people in the >> air is often >> overlooked. South American and Carribean markets are especially >> lucrative for >> cargo, often because of thinness of service. >> >> So a railroad conductor is in most cases (except possibly the NE >> corridor where >> rail service is frequent and the fares high relative to air) a >> freight hauler. >> Freight haulers likely add more value per ton hauled (or flown) than >> commuter >> pilots, who can't put too much in the bellies of those ERJ/CRJs. >> >> Do you Yahoo!? >> Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam >> -- | Kenton A. Hoover / Private Citizen / San Francisco, California USA |