There are some - but they are few and far between.
Recall ‘Cast Away’ in 2000 with Tom Hanks and the plane crash scene - at a theater with surround sound cranked up to 11 it made you FEEL the scene.
When I was in Jacksonville there was a local $1 theater - I would go on a off night if something way playing that caught my interest. It closed about 2005. Just before Covid hit I went to a theater in the county seat for ‘Ford vs. Ferrari’. Covid closed it and I don’t know if it has reopened yet.
Almost all the independent theaters around here are gone. There’s still a few here and there. There’s even one or two drive-in theaters left in Iowa. And a new one recently opened near Fremont NE.
I believe one reason many of the independents have closed is because of the cost to update to digital projectors for the modern movie formats.
Back in the steam era, some railroads owned their own coal companies to supply their needs.
One of the reasons is most movies made nowadays just plain suck. The last movie I saw was “1917,” and that should tell you something. The wife’s a big movie junkie and there’s nothing she wants to see either.
As far as movies that appeal to mature men, forget it! No-one makes them anymore, or so it seems.
Delta Air lines owns its own refinery to make jet fuel. It is in a Philadelphia suburb.
That is the only major transportation company that owns its own refinery for petroleum products.
As to the rising cost of diesel fuel, railroads are able to charge a fuel surcharge to customers. Since rail is about 4 times more efficient in the use of diesel per ton mile than tricks, it may be possible that even with the surcharge, if diesel keeps rising there may be some modest shift to rail for some freight.
But for time sensitive freight and freight that needs relatively prompt dock-to-dock service, rail is likely to never be a choice regardless of the fuel price.
They were forced to divest their coal mines if they sold to the public
“However, in 1906, with the support of the Roosevelt Administration, the Hepburn Act was passed. This required all railroads to disinvest themselves of all mining properties and operations, and so the Reading Company was forced to sell the P&R Coal and Iron Company”
Unless they sold it, they have the ex-PRR generating station near Safe Harbor, PA, and they had the transmission lines. They also buy commercial power, and phase-convert it to 25 cycle.
Truth in this statement. Business owners learned the hard way to focus on what they know best. Even within an industry sucessful businesses focus their efforts on specific products and markets.
The only way owning a refinery might be beneficial is if the market is being manipulated but despite conspiracy theories to the contrary, no one has ever found this to be the case at a systemic level. The cost and disruption of owning something outside your area of expertise far outweighs the limited benefits.
I can tell you this much from my industry view. We’re approaching a breaking point on fuel prices that well let’s just say that if it gets much worse this nation may see the collapse of the entire OTR industry. Even with fuel surcharges the increase in prices is faster than our customers pay for the freight delivery services. I’m hearing rumors of major lines heading for bankruptcy in a hurry places that have been in business for decades. Companies like Heartland Werner US Xpress Covenant and other large 1000 plus truck fleets are having massive problems. If they’re having issues it’s 20x worse for the smaller guys that are the bread and butter of this industry.
The President today said the USA was going through an “incredible transition” away from fossil fules. That sounds to me what is now happening and going to happen with gas, oil, diesel, and heating oil fits in with his plans. I suspect he intends to carry out his intentions no matter what happens.
I also suspect his border policy is also intentional based upon what my friends (two in Border Patrol and one in Customs) have been telling me.
I can’t believe he doesn’t realize all the pain this is going to cause those that are less than rich in the USA but apparently he is determined in what he wants to accomplish.