Reading up about it something occurred to me. Barges are not all sexy like high speed rail, but they are very very fuel efficient. Take a look at these comparisons,
http://business.tenntom.org/why-use-the ... mparisons/
Canals require more investment up front than Railroads, but once they are built the maintenance requirements are much lower. A Class A railroad has to clean ballast, replace ties and rails on a schedule and deal with all manner of interactions with traffic at road crossings. A canal on the other hand has to be dredged occasionally and locks have to be maintained in good working order, but nearly all traffic crossing points are the responsibility of local governments, not the canal authority.
The Railroads big advantage is speed, fostered by the JIT cargo mentality of the late 20th and early 21st Century planners. Barge big advantage is efficiency, floating along at 10 mph takes very little fuel compared to other transport modes. Canal tolls generate the funds to maintain the system and when used at moderate capacity rates even show a profit just like toll highways do for semi truck cargo.
So given that this chain of barges started with the Erie Canal I looked up the New York Barge Canal aka Erie Canal and found this,
Cargo barges are becoming a more common sight on the state's 524-mile canal system as shippers begin to appreciate their ability to move oversize shipments or heavy items that might tax a truck or rail car.
The nearly 100,000 tons of cargo shipped last year were the most in two decades, more than double the 43,000 tons shipped in 2012.
Canal officials say they expect another busy season this year.
One of the largest shippers is Troy-based NYS Marine Highway Transportation Co., which last year moved grain from Canada to New York state across Lake Ontario and through the Oswego and Erie canals, and delivered concrete vaults used to contain spent nuclear fuel to a site in Wisconsin, after picking them up in Virginia. The company also exported soybeans, and brought back a small shipment of cheese from Kewaunee, Wis., on Lake Michigan...
Boaters this year will be able to buy two-day, 10-day and season-long canal passes online, Mahar said.
"Most people have smartphones and travel with iPads" or other tablet devices, he said, and can display their electronic passes on the devices' screens.
Forty-five miles of the canal system in western New York — Lock CS-1 on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and the Erie Canal between Three Rivers and Lock E-25 in Mays Point — remain closed because of heavy rainfall last weekend.
The canal system also suffered heavy damage from tropical storms Irene and Lee in 2011, causing delays for boaters.
"If Mother Nature played nice," Mahar said Thursday, "we'd be open every day."
http://www.timesunion.com/business/arti ... 499703.php
Nothing stops industry from taking advantage of the existing barge canal network except lack of imagination. The companies that focus on efficient and cost will likely find their way back to Canal shipping for bulk cargo like say crude oil some time in the not too distant future.