please allow for an aside: my son the trainbuilder called this am and said that the amount of rail traffic from the west coast was very light. but two things really stood out: first, remember that there is a lot of gas/diesel that is transported via rail....the second was he was informed that companies that send refrigerated cars full of meat has all but stopped. they don't want their meat sidelined by a strike, rotting on some siding. also, a fun fact, some 22k longshoremen have been working without a contract since JUNE! won't it be interesting if the rail shuts down, FEDx and UPS are slammed and then the ports on the west coast shut. truckers can pick up some of the slack but nowhere near 'normal'. rice and meat will be in shot supply, soon. prep and pray, t he end has arrived.