Regarding some comments made below about the plentiful traffic on the MRL, its interesting to look back at the Class 1 "spinoff era" of the late 80s. The lease of the former NP lines by BN to the MRL was part of a larger trend in the industry at the time. Cynically, one could look at this trend as simply another attempt at union busting, but I think there was more to it than that. I don't think it is incidental, that this was happening about the same time as Harvard MBAs started to infiltrate the ranks of corporate mangagement in the US. New buzzwords, like "core competencies" were in vogue. The idea was to shed "underperforming" "business units."
Besides BN/MRL, there was IC shedding the Iowa lines to Chicago Central, and their Louisville Ky. line to the P&L. CP spun off most of the Soo Line, once in acquired the MILW to the Wisconsin Central etc. Ironically the momentum sort of swung back with CN getting the IC Iowa lines, and the Whiskey Central.

One only has to look at todays business headlines and the move by Proctor and Gamble to spinoff its less profitable brands (link.), to see that the spinoff idea lives. Notice that P&G is not really an manufacturing company, it is instead, merely a holder of brands. Who actually makes soap, and puts it into a container is irrelevant.

A final note about the MRL. The MRL benefits from the old CB&Q gateways to the south and east, remember the Burlington was owned 50/50 ny the NP and the GN.