1.   A mild winter and spring in much of the country damped demand for coal, hurting profits at most of the major railroads.

2.   But Ms. Molitoris has proposed having her agency insure that major railroads have adequate safety plans in place before they merge and then carry them out.

3.   But while the underdog had the shortest route, the major railroads had all the freight traffic.

4.   CSX is the only major railroad expected to report lower earnings for the quarter.

5.   Five major railroads seem too few for a country the size of the United States.

6.   Like most major railroads, Union Pacific is self-insured.

7.   The corporation would then contract with a major railroad other than Conrail to provide service on the line.

8.   The intervention announced Friday is the first such action against a major railroad.

9.   The major railroads include Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., Union Pacific Corp., Conrail Inc., Norfolk Southern Corp., CSX Corp. and Illinois Central Corp.

10.   The union asked the high court to resolve the confusion, in a suit naming the Transportation Department and nine major railroad companies.