Climbing the Hill at Railroad Day (Part 4)

Fly-on-the-wall observations and commentary by Pat Foran, Editor

When Rail Resonates

Partisanship, of course, is nothing new. But there's partisanship and there's frenzied, line-in-the-sand partisanship. During a March 28 Progressive Railroading webcast ("Legislation Update for the Near and Short Term"), National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association Inc. President Chuck Baker characterized it thusly: "the partisan hyperventilation." Nicely put.

For what it's worth, a fair number of politicians at Railroad Day genuinely appeared to be tiring of said hyperventilating (staffers, for sure) ... although maybe they all were just tired that day. But a decent sampling of Democrats and long-serving Republicans wearily lamented — often, without prompting — the lack of willingness to compromise. Said one staffer for who he described as a moderate Democratic congressman: "We need to get the moderates back in. On both sides. It's polarized." Of course, a few of those same self-described moderates weren't above the partisan sound-bite fray. ("I don't know that it's partisan when you're on the right side of the issue.") Meanwhile, some freshmen Republicans in the House asked, and not always rhetorically, "Whatever happened to commitment to principle? I came here to change things in Washington, and I'm going to do it." The hyperventilating will continue.

All of which leaves rail issues ... where, exactly?

On one level, rail issues reside where pretty much everything does: in limbo. Hardly a good place, especially when you're hoping to plan ... well, anything. But if their words and demeanor at Railroad Day mean anything, and I think they do, railroaders don't see the current legislative limbo as a hopeless place. A challenging, difficult-to-navigate position? Yeah. Frustrating? You bet. Untenable? No. They know their work is cut out for them, but they'll keep on pushing.

Despite the partisanship and the lack of legislative progress, many railroaders seem to believe that lawmakers by and large support the measures that matter most in rail country. Perhaps it's because they know they've done a pretty good job making their voices heard in recent years, and that they're committed to staying the message-sending course — that they've taken Sen. Charles Grassley's "'Twas The Night Before Railroad Day" sentiments about hearing from "the grass roots of America" to heart (see Part 1 — Railroad Day 2012: In Context). At least it seemed that way at Railroad Day.

At the 10 legislative meetings I sat in on, attendees — no, "participants" is a better word here — were more engaged, more focused and more confident than I've seen/heard at past Railroad Days. Considering they were pretty locked in at those events, as well, I thought that meant something. They certainly stuck to the bullet points they received at the morning briefing, but few seemed to need them. More often than not, they told their stories, articulated the issues through their own prisms. That seemed to resonate with staffers and legislative directors, who spend a fair amount of time in meetings very much like these hearing parroted-back bullet points. Having customers and representatives from other links in the transport chain (including ports) tell legislators/staffers why rail matters definitely helped.

Part 1 — Railroad Day 2012: In Context

Part 2 — At Railroad Day: The Issues

Part 3 — Hill Meeting Takeaways

Part 4 — When Rail Resonates