Rail Weekly Update #9

Rail Weekly Update #9

10 June 2004

CWR PROGRESS CONTINUES

As of June 10th, we have installed just over 50 of the roughly 97 track miles scheduled to be completed by November 19th. It appears we will meet or beat that schedule. The RJ Corman crew that has been laying all of the CWR on the DM&E, returned to the area and began laying rail at MP 235.5 on Friday the 4th. They will continue laying rail, seven days a week, thru the 25^th of June and we expect to have rail laid to MP 257 by that time. We now expect the CWR on the DM&E to be completed by July 15^th. The CWR on the Mason City sub of the IC&E is to be completed by late July or early August with the curve replacement program being completed in late November.

¨ Tie work is completed on the first stretch of CWR between Springfield and Sleepy Eye and ballast has been dumped in preparation for final surfacing and raising of speed in this area to 40 MPH. We expect this area to be completed by mid to late July.

¨ Spot surfacing, bridgework and tie work are continuing on the second stretch of CWR between Volga and Lake Preston and we expect this entire area to be up to 25 MPH by the July 4^th holiday weekend. This area had been 10 MPH since early 1997.

¨ The remaining 3 rail trains (230,000 feet) are scheduled to be here by the second week of July. These last three rail trains will all be unloaded on the IC&E, 2 for the Calmar project and the other for the 2004 curve program. The next rail train to be unloaded is scheduled to be pulled from the Pueblo welding plant on June 14^th and should be arrive Kansas City around the 18^th with unloading scheduled for Calmar around Monday the 21^st of June.

¨ Rail laying on the Calmar project is now expected to begin after the 4^th of July to allow for the installation of all of the ties and the switches.

¨ The IC&E curve patch program, under the direction of foreman Steve Koser and Project Supervisor Tom Goffinet, expects to start their part of the 2004 CWR project on the IC&E the second week of July on the Mason City sub and will lay curve patch rail for the remainder of the year toward Kansas City.