What about trains? While trains do not have the flexibility trucks have they have the capacity to move very large quantities of goods and resources great distances. Coal was the initial power of the industrial revolution. The US is not going to run out of coal or steel anytime soon. The steam engine technology is proven and known if somewhat dated. I don't know if it would be possible to retrofit modern diesel electric engines to run on coal. Being that train engines are big solid steel boxes would they be impervious to an EMP attack?
Trains, being another "small" device that is not connected to long cables or wires will be affected to the same level as cars and trucks. Yes, you could see some sporadic failures, depending on the device types, and connection issues, but as far as an outright failure of the train itself, or cars or trucks themselves on a large scale, you won't see it. What will happen is enough power disturbances on the grid to probably knock out at least temporarily the grids (power, telephone (and internet), and cable (plus others)). What this means is that while the trains will run, communications will be down to point to point or point to local repeater zones ONLY. There will be very little long distance communications in operation if we have a real HEMP attack using multiple devices, planned and orchestrated correctly, because most of them require infrastructure to operate. Without that long range communications ability, getting anything (people or things) from one point to another will be a MASSIVE challenge.
The other thing that will be damaged to one extent or another, besides the grids, is all of the devices that are connected to the grids, especially SCADA and other devices that monitor and control things around the country. Trains need these things to be running correctly. Think of all of the track sensors and switches that route trains from one area on one track, to another area on other tracks. All of those switches that allow a train to veer off one track and onto another are connected by long lines, AND require power from the grid. If those are offline, then trains will stay on the track that they were last set for, and with the sensors also offline, there is no way to tell where any specific train is (unless they can radio back through other trains).
Look at it this way, let's take an Amtrak run from DC to Boston for example:
Back in DC, Amtrak engineers must check the track status for at least the next 100 miles before even starting out of the station. If a train is coming down that track heading south, they obviously can't start moving north on that track. They also have to communicate their plans northward so that other trains don't head out after they start. Sure, local communications could work from train to train if they kept the number of cars that they are pulling down, as well as kept their speeds down, but at 50 mile per hour, an oncoming train is closing in at 100 miles an hour, and may take miles to stop. Train to train direct comms may work from as far away as 10-30 miles, but also may not even work 3-5 miles if the conditions are wrong. At 5 miles, they may not even be able to stop if they are both running along at 30 miles per hour if they don't communicate often enough to detect the issue. Plus, without long distance communications, there would be no easy way of telling what to ship, where to ship it, and what else is needed if it can't be shipped to there.
The trucking industry will face similar problems. CB will fill in local gaps, but until they can place orders and figure out routes and times, shipping will be either a hit or miss affair, or be highly inefficient. And with fuel production and delivery also up in the air, moving without a purpose will be a very bad idea.
Cellular is going to be black for a LONG time if a HEMP attack is done right. Cellular not only requires power from the power grid, but also an internet connection to provide both their voice and data connections, AND it requires a connection to it's own servers to allow the connections to be made in the first place (the connection won't be started unless the user is authorized, and can be billed). Cellular phones WON'T work from phone to phone without the tower(s) working in the middle.
The same is true with satellite phones. Sure, technically the satellite could connect one satphone user to another if it was programmed to, just like a cellphone tower could connect two cellphone users together on that same cellular tower if it was programmed to. Billing and customer authentication would be next to impossible, but they
could be reprogrammed to do that. This would require work at the uplink/downlink site, which would have to be up and running, to reprogram the satellite to allow "repeater" functions. Likewise if a cellular provider could get an engineer team (or a bunch of technicians) to each cellular site, then they
could be reprogrammed to allow "repeater" connections. This would not allow people to make cellular calls from one site to another, but it could allow emergency crews to work efficiently in an area, especially if they could use enough microwave backbones to get the towers connected to each other.
The key issue, right up there with power being restored, is communications beyond line of sight. Being able to communicate your needs, as well as your abilities and products is the ONLY thing that would get things back up and running. A city, having the ability to communicate to the surrounding areas and other cities can tell them what they need, and what they have to barter with to get those needed things. For example, they may have water, supplies, and engineers, but little food. If they can communicate with surrounding counties what they have and what they need, bartering can happen. Without that communication, people would have to travel, with that knowledge of needs, resources, and abilities and discuss personally with every outlying area. This could take weeks or months as local communications from area to area would also be slim to nonexistent. Power is what makes things happen, but communications are what makes it productive and efficient.
Loup
m Pacific
That might give both Gore and BO an aneurysm, a heart attack, or a combination.