@B.L.E. Your idea makes sense and might even make for faster times between towns. A couple of years ago, we were waiting in the Amtrak station in South Bend, IN for the train to Washington, D.C. that originated in Chicago, less than 60 miles away. The train was more than an hour late. The station master said that the railroads have guaranteed delivery times to businesses like Amazon, so the trains hauling goods are given top priority while the passenger trains wait on a siding. One other sidelight about the trip-- we wondered where we could leave the car. Mrs. Triedaq called the travel bureau in South Bend and the travel bureau didnāt know the answer so they transferred her call to the police station. We parked the car free of charge for a week in the police garage. I had hoped the car might be fitted with a siren and flashing light bar on our absence, but that didnāt happen.
Hey, they could even offer an empty box car for those adventuresome types who want to relive the hobo experience.
Itās illegal to move people by rail according to the standards of freight rail, too expensive to move freight according to the standards of passenger rail. Iāve ridden āmixtosā in Mexico, back when they had passenger rail; it was really slow. Once there was a derailment, one wheel of one car jumped off; we had to wait hours for the crane to pull it back on.
When rail went bankrupt in the late '60s, government took over, split passenger from freight (Amtrak and Conrail, respectively). Conrail did so well they could sell it back to the private sector. Our freight rail is the envy of everyone else, including Europe with its great passenger rail.
Iāve ridden freight cars: one finds a non-empty car (empty cars bounce around) and gets on the part in front or in back. The insides have moving walls which sometimes come loose and crush inhabitants; they also lock from the outside and āpassengersā freeze or fry to death.