Not quite accurate, there's always been a market for railway cars, the Budd Company (then spun off to become Transit America) made railway cars up until 1987 when they closed their doors after losing a major contract to your Bombardier which was allegedly subsidized by the Quebec government. Budd subsequently sold the division to Bombardier.
Bombardier then sold its train making division to French train giant Alstom SA back in 2020.
Sixty years ago, U.S. Steel peaked in employment (340,000) and output (35.8 million tons of steel). In 2022, it employed 15,000 (3,000 in the Pittsburgh area) and shipped 11 million tons of steel.
These figures are staggering. They make a 3rd of the tonnage with 1% of the workforce.
I started in steel in 1984. I can tell you both management and workers were spoiled rotten. The company I worked for had bonuses every year and every 5 years there was a supplimental bonus, either 7 weeks of vacation or 14 weeks, depending on how long you were there. This was above and beyond your normal vacation allowance. Just about everyone took the money rather than the time.
Just like today, Americans remain spoiled while the standard of living continues to errode........the the debt keeps piling up.