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Through mid-November, BNSF Railway Co.'s average daily train loadings in the Powder River Basin (PRB) were up — way up. Daily loadings, which include traffic at Wyoming and Montana mines, through Nov. 18 averaged 53.9 trains compared with 49.6 trains during the same 2006 period.

Year to date through Nov. 18, BNSF loaded an average of 50.1 trains daily in the PRB, up 1.3 percent year over year. Systemwide through Nov. 18, the railroad loaded 256.2 million tons of coal, a 1.8 percent increase compared with the 251.7 million tons loaded during the same 2006 period.

BNSF also capped off much-needed additional capacity in the basin earlier this month. On Nov. 1, crews completed a 21-mile section of fourth main track on Logan Hill in Wyoming. The track is scheduled to go into service in spring 2008. In addition, the railroad on Nov. 14 placed an 11-mile stretch of new second main track into service between Enterprise, Neb., and Stuart, Wyo.