Government tore up express rails?
As I recall a number of lines went out on their own, others were changed to single track from double except for passing. Rails were welded into continuous (classic "can't be done") and much better control systems installed. Surely it was less expensive to rebuild and maintain one track rather than two. I don't recall the government mandated or did the tearing up, but ending of protective rates may well have had an impact, and trucking did take most single car loads.
My understanding is that UPS worked up an arrangement that would have shifted much of their cross-country volume to trains, but unit trains (mostly coal) for "just-in-time" got preference.
