News Release

NLR Announces Lease of St. Cloud Minnesota Rail Lines from BNSF

FORT WORTH, Texas and CHICAGO, April 25, 2005:

Northern Lines Railway, LLC (NLR), an affiliate of Anacostia & Pacific Company, Chicago, and BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) today announced that NLR has entered into a lease agreement for more than 22 route miles of track from BNSF in the St. Cloud, Minnesota area. The rail lines that have been leased and will be operated by NLR are between the 33^rd Street crossing approximately one-half mile west of the St. Cloud Yard and the end of track in St. Joseph, Minn. (approximately five miles) and the rail line between Rice Junction in St. Cloud and the end of track west of Cold Spring, Minn. (approximately 17 miles). NLR began operations on the leased lines on April 23, 2005. Dan Rickel, who has 25 years of rail experience, has been appointed president of NLR and is based at the railway’s headquarters in St. Cloud.

This NLR trackage will serve existing and potential new customers along the leased track, and includes related yard, industry and main line trackage rights. NLR will also provide switching service for customers located on the east side of BNSF’s main line in St. Cloud and will interchange with BNSF at St. Cloud for traffic originating or terminating on the leased trackage. Customers on the lines move paper, scrap metal, stone, lumber, building products and manufactured goods.

Peter Gilbertson, Anacostia & Pacific chief executive officer, said this transaction "will benefit the customers on the lines by providing responsive, personalized service. We are eager to bring new business to the Northern Lines Railway. We will be working closely with BNSF in the months ahead to develop a safe and growing transportation service on these lines."

NLR is the ninth new railroad developed by Anacostia since the organization was formed in 1985.

"We have worked with Anacostia in other important markets and are confident that Anacostia has the local business development and operating focus to benefit the customer base along these lines in the St. Cloud area, while still enabling the customers to take advantage of BNSF’s network; connections with other railroads in North America; and the marketing opportunities we are continuing to refine and enhance," said BNSF’s Pete Rickershauser, vice president, Network Development. "This kind of service partnership has become an important part of BNSF’s ongoing effort to provide the most effective service for its customers and to ensure the most efficient use of its network assets."

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI), BNSF Railway operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with about 32,000 route miles covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. The railway is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, transports the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough coal to generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at www.bnsf.com.

Northern Lines Railway, LLC and Anacostia Rail Holdings Company are affiliates of Anacostia & Pacific Company, Inc. (www.anacostia.com), a transportation and development firm based in Chicago and New York. Anacostia & Pacific rail affiliates, which include the Chicago SouthShore & South Bend Railroad; the Louisville & Indiana Railroad; the New York & Atlantic Railway and Pacific Harbor Line, Inc., operate in major markets such as Chicago, New York, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles Long Beach.

BNSF Headquarters
BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000