John, when you say "shortlines" what do you mean. A short railway or yards or what??
Looks Nice,
Daniel
A short line is an independent railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance. Short lines generally exist for one of three reasons: to link two industries requiring rail freight together (for example, a gypsum mine and a wall board factory, or a coal mine and a power plant); to interchange revenue traffic with other, usually larger, railroads; or to operate a tourist passenger train service. Often, short lines exist for all three of these reasons. Because of their small size and generally low revenues, the great majority of short line railroads in United States are classified by the American Association of Railroads as Class III. In Canada, Transport Canada classifies short line railroads as Class II. This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... Categories: Organization stubs | Rail transport | Industry trade groups ... A Class III railroad, as defined by the American Association of Railroads, is a railroad with an annual operating revenue of less than $10 million (1978 dollars). ... The Department of Transport, also referred to as Transport Canada, is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada. ... A Class II railroad, as defined by the American Association of Railroads, is a railroad with an annual operating revenue between $10 million (1978 dollars) and $50 million (1978 dollars). ...
In the beginning of the railroad age, nearly all railway lines were short lines, locally chartered, financed and operated; as the railroad industry matured, local lines were merged or acquired to create longer mainline railroads.
Especially since 1980 in the USA and 1990 in Canada, many short lines have been established when larger railroad companies sold off or abandoned low-profit portions of their trackage. Short line operators typically have lower labor, overhead and regulatory costs than Class I railroads and therefore are often able to operate profitably lines that lost money for their original owners. 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Class I railroad (also called a Class 1 railroad) is a member of the largest class of railroads in North America. ...
:wave:
So to sum it all up:
just to put it simply, a short railroad.
john
:udrool::Y: