Sidings Weekly Update #13

8 July 2004

Great strides being made on Siding Projects

As of July 8^th, we have put 2 of the 6 sidings now planned for 2004 into service, Tracy and Sanborn.

1.) The Cobden siding track work has started!!! Track work is now about 35% completed!!!

¨ Track construction started on June 28^th with over 4,000 ties being laid out on the grade already and over 1,500 track feet of rail laid on the ties and gauge spiked.

¨ Darrin Legare from New Ulm continues to head up this project with help from Ted Arndt on the boom truck and contractor Dave Moriarty from Brookings, SD.

¨ This siding is progressing rapidly. We will soon be at the stage where we will require our wetlands mitigation to be approved so we that can complete the full 10,000 feet of siding we have proposed. Should the wetlands issue not be settled by late July or early August, we may reconsider the length of the siding, and install the switch in a location that does not interfere with the wetlands at all. This would reduce the overall length of the siding to 7,500’ or 8,000’.

2.) The Tracy siding was put into service on Thursday the May 6^th and continues to perform up to the transportation department’s expectations.

¨ To complete the project, we expect to install the crossovers late July or more likely in August, but the new pass is usable without the crossovers being installed and has been used extensively to meet trains.

3.) The negotiations on the Florence siding continue to move forward and we expect a final agreement very soon. We still expect to receive an agreement soon enough to complete this project during this work season.

4.) The De Smet Siding extension was approved in late May. This project will extend the siding nearly 4,000’ westward from the current west switch location.

· The contractor selected to do the dirt work is Loiseau of Flandreau, South Dakota. This contractor expects to start his dirt work the week of July 12^th, and anticipates being finished by the end of the month.

· The switch has been delivered to the site this past week and will be assembled in the near future.

· Switch installation and track construction are scheduled to begin shortly after the completion of the dirt work.

· Rail and OTM have been recovered from the Arlington CWR project and were delivered to the site during the past week.

5.) The Elkton Siding will be extended over 4,000’ to the east. This will help with congestion and will enable the meeting of longer trains.

· Dirt work has been completed for some time, ready for the track construction to begin.

· A new switch for the east end has been installed just today, July 8^th, on the east end of the siding extension in preparation for the track construction. The site of the new switch is right on the Minnesota South Dakota state line.

· Ties have been received and will be unloaded on site within the next several days.

· Rail and OTM that has been recovered from the Volga/Lake Preston and the Tyler projects will be delivered and stored on site ready for the construction.

• Best estimate now for being in service is early to mid August.

6.) The Sanborn Siding project involved renewing over ½ the ties in the current siding and elevator tracks and changing the rail as well as adding ballast and surfacing. This removed restrictions that allowed only empty cars and four-axle locomotives to use these tracks. The track was put into service on June 23^rd!!

· Ties were installed the week of June 14^th.

· Rail was changed and anchors installed the week of June 21^st.

· Surfacing is being completed this week.