OT - Aussie Marines!

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Panther Al

My only concern about depending on rail to allow for logistic flexibility is that rail is amazingly vulnerable to all sorts of issues.

Very true and something I had in the back of my mind while I was writing that post. The good news is that rail lines (at least here in Australia) tend to be repaired very quickly. Even a major derailment and destruction of a kilometre or so of line tends to be little more than a 24 hour hiccup.
Obviously patrols of the lines would be required which may tie up manpower, but overall, even if the worst should happen and a train is on top of the explosive device, you're still not likely to loose the entire load of cargo as you would with a ship at sea being sunk.
Fortunately here in Australia, most destinations are not on the rail lines and so trucks are required. And some of our trucks are HUGE!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_train
In fact, most places you may see combat occuring will be hundreds or kilometres from the nearest rail line.