
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 8, 1993                   TAG: 9306080029
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ROANOKE VALLEY ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Coal loadings on the Norfolk Southern rail system are down this year, but not because of the United Mine Workers strike.

Norfolk Southern Corp. said it loaded 490,295 coal cars during the first 21 weeks of this year, down 5.8 percent from 520,316 cars in the 1992 period.

NS spokesman Bob Auman cited the slump in the European economy, one of the chief markets for U.S. coal. He said that reduced the company's export market to Europe.

CSX was hit even harder, he said.

So far, Auman said, there are no UMW pickets at any of the mines served by NS in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky.

The current week's loadings of 15,767 coal cars reflected a short work week because of the Memorial Day holiday. It was off 26 percent from 21,412 the prior week and 21.7 percent from 20,139 in a comparable week last year. The holiday fell a week earlier in 1992. - Staff report

Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by CNB