Ernie Hoffnagle's Place

Ernie Hoffnagle wasn't sure if it was a rock or a maybe a dinosaur bone in his garden. He called in some experts and now it's all a big mystery.

I'd like  to hear people's thoughts on the future of the railroad companies, as businesses. Does the future look like a long, slow decline or ever greater profitability? I'm interested in the business, rather that the future of the industry as an employer. 

If you owned stock in a railroad business, do you think it's a good investment for the next ten years? Or is it likely to lag? 

If not having regular ops sessions is one of the lemons of life lately, then being able to operate your own layout is definitely the lemonade. After all the setup required for one of my typical sessions, it's all over in a bit over 3 hours during one evening. Reminds me of a holiday dinner: the eating only takes a small fraction of the prep and cooking.

All,  what is the "state or the art" with close coupling of passenger cars today?  Roco and other European manufacturers have been doing it for many years but I am looking at using kits and modifying cars designed for body mounted knuckle couplers,  My prototype has full diaphragms and I use 30" radius curves.