Certain public services are so obviously desirable that they are beyond debate in modern urban societies. The thought of doing without schools, parks, hospitals, street lighting and such could scarcely enter a civilized mind. The ever wandering human species recognized roads as obvious necessities soon after man began meandering across the earth. Later, mechanical wonders that aided travel were put in the same category. Today every ranking industrial nation nurtures the use of cars, buses and airplanes. Along with these, railroads are treated as indispensable in every well-developed country—except one.
The amazing exception...