I want to correct something I posted yesterday in regard to the caboose laws. Apparently my recollection was a bit faulty and in those instances, Google can be my friend.
The caboose laws weren't enacted in the 1980's. In fact, most had been around for quite some time. They didn't become an issue with the railroads until the advent of end of train devices and the railroad's attempts to drop cabooses from trains.
I mentioned Virginia in my post yesterday as I did remember cabooses being an issue in that state. Virginia and Montana were among the last few states to keep caboose laws on the books.
And I'll tag onto what Chaos notes above. Many states had railroad commissions that regulated the intrastate operations of railroads and trucking companies operating within the state. Going back aways, some states (I recollect Mississippi and Texas being among them) had requirements that railroads operating in the state had to be incorporated in that state. Without doing some research, I'm not sure when these state charter laws began to fade away.
Curt
