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Last year, BNSF Railway Co.’s industrial development efforts paid off — to the tune of $1 billion. That’s the total value of dozens of new plants and facility additions constructed on BNSF’s lines in 2006.

The railroad attracted a total of 107 projects, including new ethanol plants in California and Minnesota; produce distribution centers in California, Illinois, Kansas and Texas; and lumber yards in California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington.

BNSF officials also convinced produce supplier Wm. Bolthouse Farms to build a refrigerated distribution facility in Hodgkins, Ill., where the company distributes fresh produce and fruit juices originating from Bakersfield, Calif., to Chicago-area grocers.

“BNSF was able to … provide Bolthouse with a location in the heart of the Chicago metropolitan region with good highway access,” said Vann Cunningham, BNSF assistant vice president of economic development, in a prepared statement.

Between 2004 and 2006, BNSF attracted hundreds of industrial projects worth more than $3.5 billion.