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Once again, CSX Transportation is planning a 10-day, all-out track-maintenance blitz in early summer.

Beginning June 20, CSXT will embark on an intense mainline rehabilitation project — which the railroad sometimes terms a "Jamboree" — between Elkhorn City, Ky., and Spartanburg, S.C. The mainline between those cities essentially will be closed down for the project’s duration.

CSXT plans to install more than 154,000 feet of rail and 95,000 crossties; surface 25 miles of mainline track; and rebuild or refurbish bridges, tunnels, and hundreds of highway-railroad crossings. About 720 people will be working on 15 different teams.

If a project of this scope were to be performed under our normal 12-hour curfew process, it would take more than 20 weeks of significant disruption until completion, CSXT told customers in a March 9 statement posted on the railroad’s Web site. Rail officials expect service to return to normal by June 30.

During the project, most line-haul traffic will be rerouted via other railroads and gateways, which could result in transit time delays of one to two days. The railroad’s sales personnel and trainmasters are working with local customers to develop plans to minimize disruptions and delays in service.

"CSXT regrets any complications this may cause for the customers we serve, but we hope through offering advance information and planning to mitigate the project's impact," according to the statement. "We anticipate that the newly rehabilitated line will improve our safety and reliability in this region to better provide the level of transportation service you expect."

In 1999, a CSXT machine operator coined the term "Jamboree" during a smaller-scale track-maintenance project on the railroad's Chicago-to-Evanston, Ind., line. Since then, the Class I has conducted several Jamborees each year.