Overall, BNSF invested $4 billion in expansion and maintenance last year and $5 billion this year, exceeding any historical investments in the industry by any railroad, she said.

BNSF is using its existing right of way for the most part and the track is installed with a gigantic piece of specialized machinery that can throw down a concrete rail tie every eight seconds and then pass over with the iron track, Mcbeth said.

For some living along the line, the railway is a neighbor that can’t be ignored because it’s loud and constantly in the way. For others, it’s an indispensable business partner.

Like it or not, it’s now showing up an average of 36 times a day, often pulling 100-car tanker trains loaded with Bakken crude. With another track, that number will only increase. Mcbeth said the railroad isn’t forecasting what that increase could be, only “that we’ve identified a need for additional capacity.”

She said about half of the trains carry consumer goods traveling the main route between Chicago and Pacific ports.

For people like Greg Bruhn, who has farmland east of Ross near Blaisdell, another small nearby town, the railroad falls into the first category, an unwelcome neighbor.