[Qubert]

TCR would be smart to engage in some real estate acquisition and perhaps market to developers some rural stops they can build around. Remember that in the hey days of American and European railroading the majority of profit was from real estate holdings coming from the development of the land around the rail lines. Texas being a highly pro-development, pro-growth state would be suited towards this kind of thing. TCR could recoup the up front capital costs from the development windfalls alone, and create a built-in ridership base. MTR in Hong Kong is a well known example of this in current practice.