The Missabe was always known for having very well maintained rail and ballast. After the CN takeover, things went downhill. Just a few weeks ago an engineer remarked that he was amazed the Missabe Sub. was still good for 40. I am not sure how much, but the CN is putting a good chunk of money into track work. Besides this gang, which stretches as far as the eye can see and uses a variety of IC, CN, DM&IR, and WC equipment, there we also massive crews working at Iron Jct, Fairlane, Wolf and Largo.