Number 90:
You worked for ATSF, so your insights would be useful.
There seems to be one kind of cargo PSR cannot predict: Grain.
Depending on the weather, price, and political situation, the traffic can go from feast to famine in nothing flat.
In the mid to late 1970's, there were some sales of wheat to the USSR. Much of the grain came through the grain elevators at the Port of Houston. And it became a choke point. Riding on Amtrak 15/16, siding after siding had grain unit trains with 3 to 4 C-C diesels on the front, with 2 to 4 C-C's in the middle with an radio car out of a F Type B unit shell. ATSF dispatching was great, they kept us moving.
Now, could PSR respond, and respond quickly to quickly changing situations? I do not think so. People are being trained not to think: just follow the flow chart or outline. What happens if the situation is not written down in the outline? Could those in charge lead the way out.....
