Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway will sink more than $44 million into rail improvements in its Montana Division this year.

The upgrade is part of a multi-year effort to replace the most vulnerable sections of rail and keep up with a freight flow not seen in decades. "A strong track system is the backbone of a successful railroad," said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas.

At the local level, the project will deliver an economic boost to communities that are home to gangs of BNSF workers. It's also a chance for senior railway laborers to make big bucks working in close-knit crews during half the year.

Last year, the railway invested $45 million in track improvements in the Montana division, with the bulk going toward tie replacement. In 2002, the corporation invested about $30 million.

"A lot of the big corporations have been cutting back on their infrastructure investments," said Dick Turner, chief of the multimodal planning bureau for the Montana Department of Transportation. "BNSF, with what they're investing in Montana, is demonstrating that they have a long-term commitment," he added.

BNSF this year will focus its efforts on replacing steel track where it wears most quickly: on curves. Crews also will realign and stabilize the rails, level the rail bed and improve intersections and switches.

As many as 50 trains move across the Hi-Line each day, up from about 35 daily in the 1980s. Two Amtrak passenger trains also trek daily from Seattle to Chicago along the Hi-Line.

Melonas credits the traffic increase to a strong national economy. "Montana plays a key role in handling this freight," he said.

Three work gangs using state-of-the-art technology have been on the job replacing worn rail since March 25. During the next six months, the crews will replace 87 miles of track and 116,000 ties.

They're focusing on four stretches of track: from Whitefish to Williston, N.D.; Mandan, N.D. to Laurel; Billings to Gillette, Wyo.; and Laurel to Casper, Wyo.

A 30-member "curve" gang is in the Stanford area this week making about 3,600 feet of headway a day, replacing rails, anchors and spikes. The crew has about 15 pieces of high-tech equipment, plus a fuel truck a tool truck and other support vehicles.

Gang members hail from Montana, Washington and Idaho, and all are seasoned railway employees. The least senior members, in fact, have eight or nine years experience. It hasn't always been that way.

"When they first started these gangs, all of the old guys said, 'We're not going out there,'" said Mike Turner, a fuel truck driver from Columbia Falls. The senior workers eventually realized they were missing out on good money and began snapping up the jobs themselves.

The curve gang replaces rail where it is most vulnerable to wear. They pull spikes and anchors and replace the track with new or reconditioned steel.

The life span of a high-volume curve is six or seven years, while rails in low-traffic areas can last for decades. "It depends on wear; it depends on tonnage," Melonas said.

What used to be back-breaking work has been made easier by high-tech equipment. Laborers still swing giant steel hammers, but mostly to straighten the work of hard-hitting hydraulic spike drivers.

The gangs work five days a week, and BNSF guarantees six months of work.

On the weekend, the crew goes home. Some travel more than 400 miles round trip and drive as far as Spokane. Mileage pay makes it worth while, a crew member said. "Everybody goes home," Turner said.