Even after the advent of automobiles,trucks, and airplanes, the railroad ty coons remained imperturbably self confident If you had told them 6o years ago that in 30 years they would be flat on their backs, broke, and plead ing for government subsidies, they would have thought you totally demented. Such a future was simply not considered pos sible. It was not even a discussable sub ject, or an askable question, or a matter that any sane person would conside r worth speculating about. Yet a lot of"in sane" notions now have matter-of-fact acceptance- for example, the idea of 10o-ton tubes of metal moving smoothly through the air 2o,ooo feet above the earth, loaded with 100 sane and solid citizens casually drinking martinis and they have dea lt cruel blows to the railroads.