This crisis begins, in classic chaos-theory fashion, with a trivial event along the 100-mile railroad track that moves most coal out of the Powder River Basin.
Union Pacific was no different but increased coal mining activity in Powder River Basin region situated in parts of Wyoming and Montana could reverse the slide in coal freight volumes for the company.
The company operates three surface coal mines in the Powder Region Basin (PRB) located in Montana and Wyoming, which is the lowest cost major coal producing region in the U.S. CLD also owns a 50% interest in Decker mine, which is also located in the PRB.