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Our February issue is part strategic thinking, financial planning and economic forecasting, peppered with our usual healthy dose of product/applied technology coverage.

Rail network capacity is an elusive, ethereal thing, the complexities of which are compounded by traffic mix, customer requirements, operational objectives and, at times, passenger-rail commitments. Freight railroads' goal: use the capacity they've got as effectively as they can to support higher service quality, traffic volume and revenue goals.

While infrastructure investment is an option, it's rarely freight roads' first choice: Capacity-challenged roads typically turn first to solutions of the non-capital variety — be it boosting track and siding speeds, rethinking train priorities, extending trains or removing them — before putting iron in the ground, as Assistant Editor Angela Claypool explains in "Solving The Puzzle," this month's cover story.

A year ago, rail-industry execs had few reasons to feel good about the economy's near-term prospects. A number of indicators suggested another year (at least) of gloom; traffic was flat, the trend lines flatter for several commodities. Fast-forward to early 2004. Rail planners fully expect what they consider to be a meaningful economic recovery to continue as they attempt to assess — among other things — the uptick's impact on rail-car prices and lease rates. Car and locomotive owners, for example, want to find ways to improve equipment utilization; lessors wonder when interest rates will rise. And, just like last year, they feel pretty good about the future — sentiments they expressed during the information-gathering process for our Fourth Annual Finance & Leasing Guide. This year's model also includes "Capital Ideas," a directory of firms that offer financial services to the rail industry, and commentary from Progressive Railroading Columnist Toby Kolstad, who offers a fresh take on current rail-car leasing trends.

Infrastructure planning is a cooperative venture, but getting all the interested parties to participate is no mean feat. Take Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) officials, who in 2002 forged a plan to relieve congestion in the state's burgeoning southern Gulf Coast region. The idea: relocate to the north and grade-separate a 100-mile line used by CSX Transportation and Amtrak, and use the existing right of way to build a highway, or elevated light-rail or other fast-transit system. How do they plan to pull it off? How much cooperation will be needed to execute the plan? We'll share the various players' thoughts in "Crossing The Line."

The same kind of cooperation applies to other maintenance-of-way (MOW) planning efforts. In "Gobbling Up Weeds," we talk with railroads and the suppliers who serve them about the varied vegetation-control menus they're putting together these days, including such entrees as guaranteed-kill clauses, hungry bugs and high-tech equipment.

On the communication-and-signaling beat, railroads continue to embrace a range of emerging surge-protection products as they attempt to confine lightning's equipment-damage effects (see "Limiting The Strike Zone"). And with rail-car-builds on the rise, paint, coating and lining suppliers can't help feeling at least a little optimistic about their near-term business prospects — they share their positive thoughts (as well as product information) in "Painting a Prettier Picture."