NORTH CREEK, N.Y. (AP) - A railroad company is renovating rusty, overgrown tracks to get at millions of tons of waste rock at an abandoned mine in New York's Adirondack Mountains, part of a national resurgence of short line and regional freight lines.

The planned reopening of a 30-mile rail link is being driven by high oil prices that make rail shipping more economical than trucking.

Backers hope the Adirondack line will bring an economic boost to faded towns along its route by providing a new shipping option for minerals, logs and paper products.

Environmentalists oppose the project.

David Whorton, a spokesman for the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, says that in the past 30 years, the number of short line railroads has grown from about 70 to about 550.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)