Railroad Abandonment

 * Change from industrial to service economy meant less need for rail freight
 * Interstate highways made long distance trucking a tough competitor for railroads
 * Proliferation of private car and jet travel meant decline in passenger service
 * By the end of the 1960's, many railroad companies bankrupt
 * Desperate to cut costs, railroads consolidated to main lines, tore up branch lines, 
   sold scrap steel, sold rights-of-way to developers under "adverse abandonment"