>>1849817>>1849821An electrified railroad would, by it's nature, have it's own power grid. Exactly as Caltrain and the CAHSR project is doing. Which is exactly how freight ops would work: UP trolls Caltrain riders with their mid-day and 8pm freights, and trolls San Jose itself with 3am freight through ~10 or so grade crossings. Caltrain has all the equipment needed to take freight operations in all three counties - and even if it wasn't, getting a GP38 isn't hard. Such an operation would exist across San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterrey and, San Benito counties which UP has mostly abandoned. Given Caltrain's ownership of the Dumbarton Bridge, some expansion into Alameda Co is plausible especially if/when UP completely redoes everything when the Port is moved closer to the Bay Bridge. UP would conceivably sell their other Altamont route to the state, as PSR demands abandonment of all industries (especially with AB&I's exit, and the planned exit of P-n-P) south of the Port.
Granted this is still only a medium-sized railroad, but it wouldn't be a small railroad. It would be big enough to have a formal business plan, finances, and a growth strategy. It'd be enough to troll UP and deny them the ability to set prices. This is what management fears.
