commodity line

"If dollars and cents drive your design, you risk becoming a commodity line," Mr. McComb said.

They became in many cases oriented to single commodity lines - such as timber, woodchip, iron ore, or grain haulage became the main orientation of many of the branch lines in the narrow gauge network.

The bankers argue that legislation enabling them to package their farm loans and sell them into a secondary market would permit them to diversify their loan portfolios along geographic and commodity lines, as well as bring large amounts of new, lower-priced credit to the nation's farmers.