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Like their Class I interchange partners, short lines ended 2007 in the red on their traffic tally sheets. Carloads generated by 310 U.S. and Canadian short lines totaled 6.17 million units, a 4.4 percent decrease compared with 2006's total, according to RMI's "RailConnect Index of Short-Line Traffic," which provides data for a 52-week period ending Dec. 29.

Intermodal loads posted the biggest year-over-year drop at 17.3 percent, falling from 896,364 units to 741,431 units. Other double-digit declines include lumber and forest products (16.5 percent) and "all other traffic" (11.3 percent). Paper products traffic, which totaled 411,477 carloads, decreased 9.3 percent compared with 2006's total.

In addition, short lines registered declines in metals-related shipments (5.3 percent to 567,740), petroleum and coke carloads (4.8 percent to 290,146), ores traffic (4 percent to 140,109), motor vehicles and equipment shipments (2.8 percent to 111,927) and coal carloads (1.3 percent to 767,622).

Only two commodity groups registered year-over-year gains. Chemical traffic increased 7.4 percent to 860,491 units and grain carloads rose 1.5 percent to 712,407 units.

Chemicals accounted for the largest portion of the short lines' 2007 traffic at 13.9 percent, followed by coal (12.4 percent), intermodal (12 percent), grain (11.5 percent), metal-related products and stone/clay/aggregates (both 9.2 percent), and paper products (6.7 percent).

RMI introduced the RailConnect Index — a weekly summation of short-line traffic statistics divided into 13 commodity categories — in August 2004.