Ok guys- If Elon has shown us anything it’s that we (USA) have the ability to do very big things in a short amount of time, at scale, and for optimal cost. As an engineer, watching him build (from mostly scratch) a trans-planet heavy lift space transport platform is truly inspiring. Further - I don't think if you had asked any - working member - within the traditional space supply/journey/supply-base space even 10 years ago that lowering space transport costs would EVER be possible cause for the most part - overcoming gravity is hard, and so is greasing entrenched supply palms. Kudos to him for showing us that the Impossible is indeed possible - which brings me to my proposal - which is much less technologically impossible, but painful in likely its own ways.
So - a few years ago I went to sleep on Amtrak with my kids in coach class thinking that in 18 hours we would be enjoying some well-deserved beach time away from the midwest and its associated grinding. However, once we awoke in the morning - we had travelled literally nowhere and were stuck on a siding east of Gary Indiana with 0 options but to wait for more Freight to pass. This sucked and since I had no money to my name at that time - to eat or do anything on the idled train- I asked my kids to think of solutions. Many items were discussed (flying trains, magic wands etc.) however we did chat about OLD TRAIN TRACKS and why no one was using them.
So your thinking - who cares - old rail right? Well - having been a railroader back in the 90's there are some GOOD things that Abandoned OLD train tracks do have -
1. They have been previously surveyed and a million and one alternate routes previously considered already- they likely represent the BEST/ Most Optimal route between points A and B
2. The Way (area around and under) former tracks has been graded, prepared and leveled to elevations that likely: are above water levels, at grades amenable to rail travel over distance (not too steep)
3. Because of #2 these things mostly still exist in their previous form - too expensive for landowners to bull doze or put anything on or around except maybe culverts or walking paths- they are literally just sitting there. Albeit likely overgrown and a bit broken down, they STILL have good BONES
4. We Now possess AI- we can feed a million and one maps into an AI and say something like: connect ancient, abandoned railroads and propose the most optimal route for a HIGH-SPEED RAIL line from East to West to be used initially for transportation but in the future modified for freight.
In addition to having the physical attributes needed to support this proposed project - there are other intangibles to the government taking a huge public works project like this on:
1. Coast to coast rail travel is SLOOOOOOOW -so no one uses it for the most part unless your headed out to see grandma on the coast or taking the kids on an adventure
2. Freight has priority which is the root cause of #1 - there are no alternatives but to use the same track infrastructure
3. Our steel industry could be revitalized to support the manufacture of the infrastructure needed to support this project
4. The USA Semiquincentennial is approaching in 2026 July 4th- It would be pretty BOSS to celebrate who WE are and our INDUSTRIOUSNESS as a nation with AGRESSIVE completion of a project like this and the impact it could bring to our country. Heck - we could celebrate somewhere in the middle of the country like we did driving the "golden spike " like we did in 1869 with a big kegger or other celebration at the junction of some small town (Burlington, IA?? Plattsmouth NE??-just saying)
5. It would finally put us on the map vs. Europe - Who wants Europe to win the passenger rail race? I don't- we are USA - but boy - man they are ahead right now- see pic below - Europe is literally littered with High-speed rail - USA...eh not so much... (can’t upload picture but it looks bad- trust me)
Brass tacks here- Lots of abandoned rails with lots of ancient existing infrastructure- lots of AI to plot routes - lots of desire to hang the USA hat on in addition to our resurgent space capabilities (thank you SPACEX). We should be able to do this. easily (not easy.) Yes, we will have to pay some old farmers who purchased the way back in the day- but doing this and creating far fewer connection points to bridge the No-Track areas is far cheaper than plotting a NEW route coast to coast to get this done.
So that's the idea. Fire away on why this couldn't happen. seems doable and doable quickly and for not a bunch of money. Just mostly TEDIOUS engineering work and Imminent Domain discussions with old landowners.