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BNSF Railway Co. recently completed or soon will complete three track improvement projects in Illinois and New Mexico at a total cost of $14.5 million.

A 45-member track gang has replaced more than 140,000 ties on the Chillicothe Subdivision between Galesburg and Verona, Ill. A second gang completed track undercutting work — involving ballast removal, cleaning and replacement — between Willow Springs and Niota, Ill. The two projects cost about $12 million.

Meanwhile, crews today will begin replacing more than 5.6 track miles of rail between Vaughn and Yeso, N.M. The $2.5 million, 15-day project calls for installing 60,000 feet of rail. Two 35-member rail replacement crews will use cranes, welders and ballast tampers to replace rail at an estimated rate of one mile per day.

The three projects are part of BNSF’s $2.85 billion capex budget for 2008.