You have become aware of one of the greatest crimes of the last century. In the early days of the country the government gave all those railroads the land for a transportation infrastructure....and after deregulation the railroads became real estate companies (they called them property holdings companys) and sold it all for short term profit. Tracks were pulled up, and businesses, houses and lots of other stuff took their place.

Now its all privately owned in little subdivisions, bits and pieces and no-one can affort to buy it back, so we will never again have a national rail infrastructure worth a d***. The railroads all say, "if you want a national infrastructure, use imminent domain to take back the land and them give it to us (again)!

How stupid do they think we are? (Or in the case of Washington DC, maybe it is "how corrupt do they think they can get away with?")

It is the ignorant among us that will eventually destroy us all.