From The Publisher: Aug. 23, 1993

To most people, railroads mean passenger trains; they, after all, carry people. But most of the stock rattling and rumbling along U.S. tracks these days is hauling freight and is doing so, as TIME contributing editor Hugh Sidey reports in this issue, with surprising vigor. "A couple of years ago," says Sidey, "I began noticing brief newspaper items about various freight routes and companies. And they didn't mention government subsidies. Freight was making money."

Sensing an untold story, Sidey hit the rails to interview people at all levels of the freight industry. He rode a Conrail train up the west side...

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