were ascribed to loss of demand and consequent lower coal prices. History Originally a single track Burlington Northern Railway line built in stages from 1972 to 1979, the rail line ran south from Donkey Creek Junction in the north to Caballo, Wyoming; and then for to Shawnee in Converse County. The Chicago and North Western Railway ran close to the northern section, as did the Union Pacific at Caballo. In 1982 C&NW and the UP formed Western Railroad Properties, Inc. (WRPI), to acquire half interest in the Burlington Northern coal line from Shawnee Junction to Coal Creek Junction. On December 15, 1986 WPRI purchased more of BN line from Coal Creek Junction to East Caballo Junction. Beginning June 27, 1983 WPRI constructed of new railroad from Shawnee Junction. to Shawnee, rebuilt of C&NW line from Shawnee to Crandall and of new railroad from Crandall to Joyce, Nebraska. The first commercial train ran on August 16, 1984. By 1985, the line was single track for almost its entire length, and it was handling 19 million tons of coal. The implementation of the second stage of the Clean Air Act (1990) caused demand for clean coal to rise quickly. The C&NW struggled to upgrade capacity to dual track, resulting in numerous failures on the line in 1994, and eventually Union Pacific's purchase of C&NW in 1995. The UP spent $855 million over the next five years expanding capacity over its entire network to handle coal shipments from the PRB. By 2005 the Joint Line capacity had grown to handle an all-time record 325 million tons, and was either dual or three track capacity for its entire length. Due to various trackage and locomotive failures on the Joint Line in late 2004 and early 2005, the line failed to deliver the amount of contracted coal supplies, and electricity rates increased by 15 percent. Coal customers threatened to evaluate alternate sources of energy and transportation, including the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation. As a result, the expansion of the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad line was approved by the Surface Transportation Board. In 2006 UP and BNSF announced a $100 million investment to provide three track capacity for the entire length of the Joint Line plus a fourth track added over the steepest sections, including Logan Hill. These improvements will enable the Joint Line to handle over 400 million tons of coal. In 2006, Union