Dick Beadles, an organizer and founding member of the Virginia Rail Policy Institute board, as well as being a VRPI fellow, is an independent rail and transportation analyst, commentator and critic.    He has had extensive experience in both rail transportation and urban real estate asset management and development. Originally an up-from-the-ranks railroader, becoming President of the RF & P Railroad, Beadles has had more than fifty years experience as both a practitioner, as well as follower, of transportation and land planning, development and asset management with both the RF & P and CSX.    His cogent comments and observations are his views, and have not been adopted as policy statements by the Virginia Rail Policy Institute.    Read his blogs exclusively here. Send Dick an email.

NEW:

May 2010:

Rails to Raleigh, the North Carolina Way  A neighbor to envy and emulate

April 2010:

Mining Rail Nuggets from Annual Reports  The recent picture.

Virginia's Remarkable Rail Turnaround What's changed?

March 2010:

Industrial Sprawl and Rusty Rails, the extinction of the rail mode.

Warren Buffett, Railroads and Virginia observations and impacts.

February 2010:

The Practical Limits of Productivity and an all-weather transportation mode.

Virginia Population, Jobs, and Rail Freight considers the shocking loss of manufacturing jobs from the area, and its impact on rail freight.

January 2010:

A Plan for Hampton Roads Rail lays forth seven key steps to improve rail infrastructure into Virginia's critical port area.

See Facing Domestic Transport Realities for an analysis of the latest report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics about the share of domestic freight carried by each mode.

My two December blogs, "A Christmas Train Puzzle" and "Rail Improvement Stocking Stuffers" round out the twenty-four issues of Observations and Comments for 2009. Happy New Year!

(c) copyright 2010 Richard L. Beadles

Send rail policy questions, and questions about VRPI here.
Send mail to our webmaster with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2008-2010 Virginia Rail Policy Institute Last modified: 03/17/10