[woodbutcher1963]

The problem is there are only 6 major railroads left in North America(CN, CPRS, BNSF, UP, NS, CSXT). In many parts of the country one of the railroads may have a monopoly. In North Dakota where they are having problems getting their grain moved, the only choice for most is the BNSF. They have been the worst offender(IMHO)over the last year of delays in moving railcars because they are using too much of their equipment to move oil trains. Therefore, all other commodities such as coal, grains, sugar, forest products(my gig), etc. are taking a back seat to moving oil.

[Rodamala]

Here is a screencap of BNSF systemwide railcar Velocity for Unit Grain vs. Manifest Freight for the past 53 weeks:

Click here to look for other BNSF Velocity data. If you change the "Weeks=" number at the end of the link... and then click the radio boxes you can get graphed data going back to January, 2005. All this info is available at that railroadpm.org website.