As someone who frequents the Northeast Regional, I must say that this alternate timeline is terrifying. The idea of mid-distance travel being entirely dependent on either short-haul flying or buses (the latter of which are dependent on the inherently self-destructive interstate highway infrastructure) is enough to make my head spin!

If Amtrak didn't exist or failed to exist, then passenger travel here in the US would've been WAY move difficult than you've ever thought of

Alternate universe: what if the mandate for Amtrak was to provide the best service instead of having to profit? Service might be so much better, more desirable and less trashed around the world. This never happened because the Americans were brainwashed of how to run trains.

Although Amtrak is far from perfect, I appreciate that the nation went through with it instead of rejecting it. Without Amtrak, I probably would never have boarded my first train 4 years ago between the area I live at in Washington State and Northwestern Washington State (near Bellingham). I appreciate Amtrak for the Cascades route. I can't envision a universe without it. No train service north of Everett. There wouldn't be the Amtrak bus either. Greyhound would be in its place but it's just not the same. I can kind of envision Passenger rail being nearly non-existent if Amtrak never became a thing, except for California and the Northeast like said in the video.

Very well made video! As much as I support privately operated passenger rail to compete with Amtrak, I admit Brightline and many other passenger rail corridors couldn't have existed if it weren't for Amtrak, and this video clearly showcases how and why. Thanks for the shout out, and for including Brightline's role in this AU.

Alternative Universe: what do you think would’ve happened if the post-World War II passenger rail boom actually happened? Many companies at the time thought that there would be a massive boom for passenger travel after 1945 but that boom never came. Once again, due to car dependency and air travel. It would be an interesting take to see a train, dependant America.

This is a scary alternate history

The amount of research you put into these videos is insane--I've never been more thankful to Amtrak in my entire life!

Addendum notes from the AUTA Department of Subjective Information (updated occasionally): - The Alaska Railroad still exists and is virtually unchanged in this timeline - Commuter Rail is largely unaffected. Riders have pretty much the same options as our timeline, though with perhaps different branding and more delays on average. - NEPRA operates Shore Line East and the Hartford Line under contract - Texas Central exists but nobody takes them seriously - The Santa Fe Super Chief/El Capitan continued to run from Los Angeles to Chicago's Dearborn Station until the passage of the Staggers Act - There's a LOT of pushback to electrifying the Surf Line, hence why California is building a new electrified trunk line further inland - Agencies such as NEPRA receive federal funding. - Like our Acela, NEPfleet coaches are heavier than those used in Canada due to outdated US regulations. - NEPRA buys Contrail's passenger operating division as part of the latter's breakup. - With less secondhand passenger diesels from later years floating around, E and F units are used in commuter service until the 2010s. - CSX feels meh about Virgin Trains' expansion plans. Norfolk Southern had a collective (metaphorical) aneurysm when they saw them.

The only reason Amtrak has lasted this long is that it's the NATIONAL Railroad Passenger Corporation and not the NORTHEASTERN Railroad Passenger Corporation. Because it's national in scope it's more or less enjoyed broad support over the years. If Amtrak hadn't existed there would be now passenger rail service outside of the Washington to New Haven line and very limited service to Boston (no electrification). This would have to be funded by the states involved. Some would do better than others such as in the case of NJT and MetroNorth. Others not so well as in SEPTA. Getting NECIP funded from the national government would also be a problem as a congressmen from out west would say "what's in it for me?". If you've ever wondered why contracts for defense systems are spread far and wide across the country now you know why. Having the Empire Builder keeps the NEC running. And finally lets end that fairy tale we keep hearing about how the NEC makes money. This is only partly true as the NEC makes money from the wheels up. The NEC needs billions for aging tracks, tunnels, bridges, electrification and other infrastructure. The simple upgrade of about 10 miles of catenary in New Jersey to constant tension catenary showed just how much it will cost to redo all that old PRR catenary. Now some people have suggested it would have been better to directly fund the private railroads to continue their passenger trains. By the end of the 60's the railroads simply wanted NOTHING to do with passenger operations. Whole departments and divisions were eliminated when Amtrak started. Amtrak also brought a unified fleet of passenger equipment with Superliners in the west and Amfleet/Viewliners in the east. Heck a lot of the hand me downs that Amtrak had in the early days didn't even play well together. A national reservations system and consolidating to one station in most cities (Chicago stands out) also helped. We can do better. All long distance services need to have a second train running about 12 hours apart as was the case on most routes just prior to Amtrak. Other lines need to be restored and tri-weakly (sic) trains need to run daily.

Next: What if there had been a program comparable to the interstate highway system to build high-speed rail at the same time as it was developed in Japan, mostly separate from the freight railroads but open-access so they or new operators could run on them? With tracks offering competitive travel times and vastly faster than road, the freight railroads might not have been so eager to get rid of their passenger trains.

As someone whose played this game a lot, it’s a surprise for one of my favorite transit KZfaqrs to make a video in it.

Great video here’s a fun idea for you. What if Amtrak and Conrail came about in the early 50s? Think British rail or perhaps some thing like Japan’s national network it would be very interesting to see what you would think about this early nationalized Network.

Oh wow - this is like It's a Wonderful Life but for Amtrak! I can't wait to watch this after work today!

In the alternate timeline the film Silver Streak might have found a willing American railroad for filming locations.

Idea: what if The Milwaukee Road never removed their electrification?

I yelled "I NEED THIS" when you mentioned a pedestrian crossing over the Whirlpool Bridge. I live in Toronto and often take transit to Niagara Falls, NY to shop, and having to walk all the way to the Rainbow Bridge to catch the NFTA is so annoying. The NFTA Portage Rd Transportation Center is also closer to the Whirpool Bridge.

Nice alternative timeline video, i watched it while sitting on a highspeed train from cologne to berlin (250 km/h 155 mp/h for just 12€)

We'd have a lot worse of a passenger system across the U.S. that's for sure. North Carolina's Piedmont? Gone. Northeast Corridor? Downgraded to the same as anywhere else. California's numerous Amtrak routes? Also gone. California HSR? Don't even imagine that.

This was a fun thought experiment, I haven't seen anyone else coming up with ideas like this. Nice job.

If Amtrak never existed we college students would be screwed because we heavily depend on them and the US would probably be even more car dependent but I imagine that some universities would subsidize more flights since that be the only way to travel to other cities

If Amtrak didn't come into existence in 1971, Conrail would've failed just like Penn Central did. The deficits from commuter service were one of the reasons Conrail remained unprofitable into the early 1980s. Pile continued deficits from having to run long-distance passenger trains on top of that and there's no way Conrail would've made it. Worst-case scenario, Reagan uses Conrail's deficits as an excuse to liquidate it (something which almost happened IRL). Alternatively, Amtrak or something similar to it would've come into existence after Staggers, but only as a means of salvaging Conrail.

Great video, this was a really interesting thought experiment. A suggestion I have for a future video is "What if the Dual Contracts in New York never happened?" :)

I wonder what would happen to the Texas Central in this situation? Would the service expand to include all the major Texas cities plus Oklahoma City and New Orleans or would it never even been considered?

Amtrak was created to save America's rail passenger Network and its first day it cut half the train. Railroad said if the government had let us cut our money-losing trains and we would have kept our profitable trade we would still be in the rail Transit business.

This video was suggested by the almighty algorithm and I'm so happy it was! Subscribed! Now I'm curious, what would it look like if The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad never merged? Or maybe you've already done something like this?

You showed some realistic projections of what would have happened if Amtrak was not formed. However I don’t necessarily believe all long distance trains would have ended. Santa Fe Railroad as well as the old Seaboard Cost Line maintained first class passenger trains till the formation of Amtrak. Both railroads most likely would have ended most of their secondary local trains but most likely would have carried on with their bigger name trains. Even today their still is enough demand for Amtrak to run two trains from the northeast to the Florida cities as well as having a rather long distance day train that covers many of the Florida train stops. But as you highlighted in your projections there would be a disjointed and most likely no cooperation or one stop joint ticketing available. Also the northeast lines would also have limped along with out the major upgrades like electrifying the line to Boston and again questionable local commuter train service along the lines.

What if the Interstate never existed?

What if the US Mail was still riding the Rails as it was in 1966? That was the point that Mass transit was killed by the Oil Company Investors.

On my way into the office, saw an NJT ALP 46 in PRR livery at Metuchen. Actually looks much better than the standard NJT livery. Another fast fact/coincidence, re: 4:53 I rode in A3 1453 soon after. (I recall because I had to use the bathroom, which is in the odd number cars.) it was actually the second car in the consist.

What if America never got rid of their streetcar and interurban lines?

i like the roblox NE corridor train sim gameplay in the background.

This would be so sad I saw 2 Amtrak heritage units!😊

If Amtrak never existed, most of the passenger rail would be privately operated just with a few changes. Things are getting worse in the parallel universe.

Nice NEC Roblox footage, underrated game fr

Alternate Universe: In a world where the Confederate states won the civil war (The 11 states that seceded plus Oklahoma and the native american dominated Sequoyah for geographic reference) how would the smaller United States deal with rail travel, especially with the New York-Washington-Chicago corridor being even more important and how the relatively poorer Confederate states not having access to wide spread rail service until well into the 20th century.

One honorable mention. The Long Island Railroad (1834) is still running under its original name. True, NY State runs it, but never-the-less.

I'd love to see more episodes of AUTA. A neat scenario for a future episode would be "What would rail transit be like in the USSR if it survived up to present day."

Alternative Universe: what if Santa Fe took over amtraks routes

None of the Amtrakless scenarios would circumvent the fact that America’s bias in favor of automotive and aviation modes (and against passenger rail) has little or nothing to do with free market or traveler preferences, but a lot to do with heavy lobbying by the respective industries. Freight rail has serious lobbying power, too, and its interests aren’t always in sync with passengers’. In such an environment, Amtrak is the best outcome we could’ve got. As for the fantasy you’re describing, the most realistic parts of it would’ve been the complete demise of long-distance trains, the continuous clashes between host freight railroads and the remaining regional service providers even within NEC, and the lack of political support for new rail service to places like New Orleans. The boom of intercity buses is rather doubtful. Even with the existing skeletal long-distance train network that misses a lot of places, the buses still seemingly have opportunity to boom in the unserved or poorly served areas, yet boom they don’t. Instead, they tend to increase service between large cities, especially in the densely populated Northeast where they peacefully coexist with frequent trains and flights, while other areas of the country are still underserved. The most unrealistic part of your fantasy, however, is the “recent” growth of regional intercity services by Metra and Brightline, as well as the imaginary “NEPRA”. Such growth, for the most part, wouldn’t be possible without some form of governmental support. There’s no basis to believe that the feds would jump in and support those selected new routes (of all others). And there’s doubt that so many states would be eager to willingly take this burden on their shoulders (as if they have no other obligations, especially post-pandemic).

So it's just like how the current British rail network is controlled by various companies of various routes, mainly centered around their own regions.

Here are a few scenarios I have in my mind. 1. Deregulation comes earlier: In 1945 America and its allies still emerge victorious after WW2. In recognition for their contribution to the war effort, President Truman signs an executive order deregulating the railroads and limiting the power of the ICC. Passenger trains remain competitive and even sees a bit of a boom (though not quite as big as they hoped) so there's no need for Amtrak. 2. RailPax: RailPax is created in 1969 but with a difference. RailPax instead leases the locomotives and rolling stock from the railroads which still owns them. Railpax is in charge of operating the trains as well as paying the employees that work on the trains and stations. RailPax pays a yearly flat fee to the railroads in order to lease the equipment. The railroads only have to maintain the equipment, track and signals. Also, the railroads receive a small cut of the profits.

I have an idea for one. Santa Fe was given permission to create a massive Super Chief by the ICC and never joined Amtrak. Santa Fe's new trains are the Chicago to LA Super Chief/ El Cap, the Chicago/Houston to Oakland San Francisco/ Texas Chief, and the LA to San Diego San Diegians. The Super Chief/ El Cap run the Northern Route and the SF Chief runs the Southern Route. This continues through the SPSF merger (yes, in this timeline, it happens) which allows the expansion of the San Diegians to San Luis Obispo). Santa Fe piggybacks orders of Superliner cars with Amtrak, except they order more of the deluxe sleeping cars. Santa Fe was the first railroad to convert to HEP solving the issues of the SDP-40. ATSF rebuilds both the SDP-40s bought from Amtrak and the aging FP-45s into SDF-40s and FP-45-2s. Santa Fe orders the F-45-2PH from EMD based on the SD-45-2 and F-40PH (which Santa Fe also orders limited numbers of for the San Diegians, retiring the CF-7s and F-7s). This lasts until the early 2000s when UP and BN attempts to merge but fails and both rail roads are parted out to the KCS, CSX, NS, and CP. The SPSF decides its time to turn its passenger equipment over to Amtrak which bolsters their ranks.

Very intriguing video. Very well executed. I look forward to your next installment entitled "What if the NEC was open access?"

I got one you can do. What if highways and airports weren't subsidized and railroads were left alone.

If Amtrak never existed the freight companies like NS, CSX, BNSF, and UP will make passenger just like Milwaukee Road and put it in every town and it will help with transportation and infrastructure.

So the TLDR is that transcontinental/long distance passenger travel goes the way of the ocean liner due to faster and more flexible options, whilst commuter/intercity sticks around for the same reason that ferries do today. TBH the Non-Amtrak TL doesn't sound all that bad. I doubt many communities would be negatively affected; in fact, the rise of inner-city bus travel might actually be a net positive, since buses are infinitely more flexible than trains when it comes to the routes they travel, thus allowing them to serve more communities than even private passenger rail ever did. The trip you took with your friend might still have happened, just aboard a Greyhound instead of an Acela.

game name: Northeast Corridor Simulator in Roblox

Amtrak is a great company

Amtrak: never exisis. Up 844, 4014: oh no, anyways time to go haul another few passenger charters and colossal photo freights trains respecively.

7:55 Electrifying the San Diegans/Pacific Surfliner? As the video shows, the single track is right on the sand and on the beach. This beach is slowly eroding away. During high tide the ocean regularly washes into culverts under the tracks. This is also prime real estate as it over looks the ocean. Any electrification would make lots and lots of rich people un happy. And it might wash away on the next big storm.

Alternate universe, some US railroads like the NYC, UP, N&W keep using steam to the 80z and on wards

Hmm, I mean people complain about American passenger rail but it’s interesting to see how much different (worse) it could’ve been. I suppose in certain regions you could argue it might be better, but with no long distance routes, Acela or even just having one agency coordinating everything I doubt it would be better overall. Nixon for the win I guess?

The ABQ to Grand Canyon Navajo nation train is so interesting.

Alternative Universe: what if the big city mayors of the US got together and did their own investigation of Robert Moses' handiwork in New York City, Mass. DPW's handiwork in Boston, and California Highway Department's handiwork in San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles, decided to lobby against freeways into their city centers, and defeated the 1956 Interstate Highway Act in Congress?

Lacking service along the coast line is strange. SP wanted it out of their hands and it not to hard to upgrade to 110mph ops. the Oakland to Sacramento section would be nearly impossible to buy as thats SP/UP main route out of the port of Oakland. Maybe they could have done an upgraded tracy sub/ upgrade BNSF Stockton sub and that would have allowed Martenze to Sac to be state owned.

Amazing video!

What if all of the private rail Road collapsed and got merged into Conrail

An intriguing question I've asked myself from time to time. Overall, this timeline seems a lot more depressing. I think the Interstates are cool and all, having the ability to basically go anywhere in the US if you have a car; but that doesn't mean passenger rail still doesn't have a place in the US, nor does it mean HSR can't work here, especially in the Southeast. I'm glad Amtrak exists, as flawed as it may be. One thing I'd like to add is that I feel like PC/NEPRA might've ordered a proper High Speed Trainset, similar to the Acela's story, I don't think they would've given up on High Speed Trainsets after the Metroliner's failure. There's fan interpretations of PRR TGV sets and they look really cool. I feel like they might've tried something like that and we would've had Northeast HSR a lot sooner than you think. This video was great, hope the algorithm blesses you my man. (Let's just hope the anti-rail people don't find this and start arguments in the comments)

FINALLY AFTER SO MUCH I FINALLY FOUND ONE ALT HISTORY OF RAILROADS

This is the most depressing railroad video I've ever seen in my life. If this scenario had come to pass, I'd have absolutely no interest in trains. I'd have dropped all my subscriptions and NARP membership. Instead, I would have taken to America's back roads in my 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. And strictly on my own terms. As few interstates as possible. 300 miles per day max. Older motels where you park in front of your door. Fast food OK for breakfast and lunch, but mandatory sit down dinner. This describes how I travel by car today. As another poster said, this video makes me grateful for Amtrak, even with all its problems. Sleepers, diners and lounges are what rail travel is all about. The video describes a world of coaches and snack bars. And such a world would be off my radar screen completely.

I Would love to see a video on if VIA rail never existed! Amazing products

I think passenger rail would have completely collapsed and bus travel would have taken off. I just don’t see passenger rail surviving long and many would lament its loss.

I honnestly wanna team up with you for something like the affects this would have on canada if via rail never was a thing. As i realised places like go transit, stcum (later amt, now exo) would be different as hell as we used to have ex amtrak f40phs, our own f59phis and f59phs. Plus fun fact nyc operated a commuter train to valleyfeild from windsor station.

I think ATSF may have actually kept their trains. With them having bought new passenger locomotives into the 60s, and their pride, I think there could've been a chance, and who knows, they could have been the ones to develop locomotives like the SDP40F and P30CH

Every one's talking about the long distance trains but nobody knows the surfliner or Amtrak California San quaqin corridor. Sure they are not electric but they are cheaper than most Amtrak trains 35$ ticket and 25$ for one way and really good scenery on the coast and good seats not to mention it's double decker just like the long distance trains.

What if D&RGW stayed narrow gauge and became a full preservation railroad: D&RGW stays with narrow gauge and becomes a heritage railroad in 1970s with state funding from Utah and Colorado

Hi! I love your content and I’m super proud to be a follower. I understand this video may be for just entertainment purposes, but the video does share much factual information in the first half of the video. If the video is meant to be educational or reusable for any sort of academic reason, it would be great if you could list sources/link to sources/put sources in the credits. It would add much needed credibility and validate the incredible research you’ve done! Love the RailPax maps!

There would be a lot less accidents, derailments, and bad publicity for Amtrak

Nice! I do like niche alternate histories. Really, I only have two complaints. Firstly, the two bits with Joe Biden feel really forced in. They feel like a "Oh look, this actually big thing changed as a result of this!" which feels out of place in this style of "niche not-much-difference" alternate histories. Secondly, I would have liked a little more detail on the court cases around the freight/passenger rail conflicts. What exactly did NEPRA sue CONRAIL for? What legal claim did NEPRA have there? Other then those two minor things, great job! I hope to see more of this, and I hope you'll branch out past the USA eventually.

The idea of the systems ending before they hit New Hampshires population center is incredibly short sighted

Very interesting and educational.

What about the Texas Central Railway bullet train in this alternate timeline?

Brightline southeast is extremely cursed

In addition to my previous comment could you do a "what if" scenario as to how rail-based transportation would've been transformed in SoCal if both Desert Express and it's competitive Anaheim to Las Vegas maglev rival were privately funded as opposed to waiting on Washington politicians?

um the X2000 should also be in the usa for trials

What if: Amtrak did not happen or No national railroad at all? I think all the railroad passenger services would still be around today. However Penn Central split due to its failure and New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads both returned and revived all their services. However all present day commuter railroads were created so that bigger railroads could focus on their bigger services and projects (for example NJT would take over NYC and PRR’s commuter routes) meanwhile in Canada they have something similar but with GTW CN and CP where all their services were kept with commuter trains helping all 3 railroads. They become Allie’s and not rivals however because all railroads are so popular they don’t need to merge nor fall. Well that’s my take on it lol

What if the state would properly subsidise passenger rail like other countries are able to do instead of subsidising the airlines for flights that would be bus or train rides in many other countries

One inconvenient fact that your alternate history missed: Chicago to New York/Washington is a critical link for goods/industry and the freight railroads (notably Penn Central was bankrupt and threatening to liquidate. Without the offloading of passenger rail in 1971 (not just Amtrak, but also NJ Transit and Metro North) this would have happened faster and many railways on north east would still have been nationalized under Conrail and Conrail woudl then be running passenger services in that territory. And that would have made the privatization of Conrail later on "interesting" since there is no way CSX or Norfolk Southern would have wanted to buy it. On the equipment side, the FRA's rules in early 1980s were done to help Budd stay in business. "must be steel, slow and heavy" rules were meant to prevent competition and the LRC in 1981 was the last light equipment allowed into USA. A few exceptions such as Talgo trains were made with waivers to the rules. (note: the LRC delivere to Amtral was full of untested componenst dictated by Amtrak and not a standard "LRC" and was so buggy that it was quickly returned to Bombardier). The FRA rules are why current Acelas are heavy steel. (and this despite the Budd Amfleet demonstrating their ability to easily wrap around a pole during derailment while lighter aluminium trains stay whole in europe the few times they derail). If passenger rail became too small to sustain an industry, perhaps the FRA would have given up and not instituted its rules to help Budd, and those few passengers sreices that remained would have done better with more modern equipment. Recall that in the 1960s, FRA allowed the Turbo from United Aircraft which was fast, light , and had state of the art banking and turbing engines. After its "must be heavy" rules, that train would have not been allowed. In 2018, FRA finally relaxed its rules to allow the Alstom Avelia to exist in USA. But in same vein, political pressure was to get rid of the aluninium Talgos but keep the "made in USA" heavy steel Talgos that resulted in Talgo leaving USA after big part of this custom uirder was cancelled by Wisconsin. Also, as part of the Penn Central bankruptcy and take over by Conrail, the north east corridor was gifted to Amtrak. Had there been no Amtrak it isn't clear what would have happened to New York to Washington and Boston to New York (especially with regards to the new haven-new york commuter service). Despite Penn Railroad and New York Central being united in the late 1960s, consolidation of intercity trais to the shack under Madison Gardens (Penn Statiion) didn't happen until 1991. And without Amtrak. likely would have never happened. (sill trying to find out when Boston-New York switched to Penn Station from Grand Central).

I mean on a good half this would make more state agencies far more receptive to creating and linking their major cities between other Quality (much like today) would be subject to the states' negation skills and/or goals

11:36 in my mind it's saying the FVTUSA train fleet would have the same livery as virgin rail in UK

So, America would be a bigger Australia in that timeline? As a Canadian, I sometimes think that province-run Ottawa-subsidized services would be much better for Canada than what Via Rail actually delivers today. Victoria Island, Gaspé, Yarmouth and Cape Breton would have still had some train service. New Brunswick would have retained service between Fredricton and St John's. If we are being very optimistic, we might say that PEI and Newfoundland might have retained some passenger services. NDP-led Saskatchewan would have had decent service on the Regina-Saskatoon-Prince Albert line. Manitoba would have had a service between Winnipeg and Brandon, but it's northern routs cannot exit without a lot of federal political will. Alberta would have had some service between Calgary and Edmonton. BC would have had a rail connection between Vancouver and Kamloops, Prince George and Kelowna if we are lucky. Ontario government would have run most of the Corridor services and some more (Northlander + the Sault-Sainte-Marie train) with service as least as good as it is today. Quebec would have kept much of the services in the South (to Sherbrooke, St-Jean and Victoriaville at least), and maybe some northern services too, most notably to Mont Tremblant. Some kind of agreement would enable Toronto-Montreal trains to run, since the latter is a stone's throw from Ontario's border. Besides the Canadian and Ocean being cancelled, which are cruise ships on rails anyways, not much would change for the worse as I see it.

This was the scariest video I’ve ever seen.

Alternative Universe Idea , What if the EL was never abandoned? I think that this has many ramifications for our current timeline

Way to use ROBLOX NEC! Keep it up!

How painful was it to have to pronounce Lancaster in the California way?

Not just Mexico but all of Latin America is like that

Do more of these!

Also if there was no Amtrak we also maybe not still had railroads.

So in other words, in the alternate universe, corridors actually improved?

every railroad would be like penn central

So in this timeline, amtrak joe is called "nepra joe".

Honestly I think they would still be the using f unit design for railways if Amtrak never existed

In my opinion we need more videos like this

iG we wouldn't have a lot of accessible railroads, train signals & et-cetra.

The game in the background is a roblox game called “Northeast Corridor Train Simulator” thank me later

The thumbnail isn't fake also, it comes from a game on Roblox Made by BuildIntoTrains. It's called Northeast corridor train simulator.

Lol Imagine greyhound still owned by SP Or better yet an SP without having axed all of it's subsidies off lmao. Now that I think of it! it's pretty funny how now 100ish years after harriman wanted to electrify the sp commute route, it is finally happening lol Also Ytp alternate history where railroads are nationalized: all freight and passenger service crumbles. Many once competitive lines that parallel each other are axed or made into mostly one ways for rail traffic. Lack of existing infastructure due to recessions and government spending cuts to rail lines kills the ability of rail to compete with road traffic for freight and thus leading to truck and air being regulated into the ground just so rail traffic can be stuffed full of money to exist. Alternatively to that: road and air are still regulated into the ground to pave way for railways to mandatorally take up freight/passenger traffic which then leads to air lines and trucking companies being a skeleton of what they are. This then leads to clogging of rail infastructure and slow short distance shipment times that trucks otherwise would do because railroads already sliced off all of their shortlines and industrial spurs decades ago because they take up more space than road access. The US then ends up in modern day with a far shittier economy and higher inflation like Russia lol Again another alternative is that rail somehow finds a way to actually be more competitive than quick and easy road transport, but that would still end in roads getting more subsidies because people want quick and easy shipments whenever a truck parks and soon takes off by it's self rather than multiple days between shipments across town by rail xd (unfortunately) Now it seems like people would rather take a few hr flight across the us than to take a mtiple day trip from one side to the other. The trick is figuring out a way that older rail operators (im thinking late 60's/early 70's rail operators and infastructure can be propelled to continue existing services rather than combining them endlessly and then loosing mail/ticket profits) can exist in their then once current form at the time without completely deciding to kill their own passenger services voluntarily. Then once such an operating practice exists, you can then start thinking about how the once many railroads may continue and modernize their services into the modern day and then think about how such possibly still existant services would affect mergers and everything that has already happened irl like the big rrs existing in their massive form or many many lines, maybe even ones we have never heard of existing.

What if, even after WW1, Americas railroads remained nationalised?

This sounds awful. I’m very thankful for Amtrak.