Rail Activity Reveals an Economic Comeback Is Underway

September Rail Traffic continues on its upward trajectory blunting the ?Double Dip? discussion. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported gains for September rail traffic compared with the same month last year, with U.S. railroads originating 1,195,671 carloads, up 1.1 percent, and 949,606 trailers and containers, up 2.3 percent. Through the third quarter of 2011, U.S. carloads are at 87 percent of the levels they were at this point in 2006, the highest year on record for U.S. rail traffic. [b]Intermodal volume in the first nine months of 2011 is 96 percent of what it was in the peak year of 2006.[/b]