LaBarge ScadaNET Network Selected For Precedent-Setting Highway-Rail Safety Program

"LaBarge is proud that one of the nation's largest railroads is embracing our innovative technology and making it part of a precedent-setting program in what is probably the most proactive state in the country with regard to rail safety," says Craig LaBarge, chief executive officer and president.

Installation is scheduled to begin in January 2000. One to two hundred units will be placed in service each month. The contract is valued at approximately $1.5 million and includes provisions for ongoing communication services to be provided by LaBarge.

The remote status monitoring and remote alarming capabilities of LaBarge's ScadaNET Network improve the overall integrity of crossing warning systems (flashers or flashers and gates). New wireless communication technologies, along with innovative packaging and bundled network services provided by LaBarge,make remote alarming economically feasible. The ScadaNET Network will provide BNSF with near real-time crossing alarm and equipment status information, including early warning of power outages and potential equipment malfunctions at remote locations.

"When a railroad has a potential crossing malfunction, it needs to receive the information as quickly as possible," says Tom Hilleary, vice president -- business development for LaBarge's Network Technologies Group. "ScadaNET Network allows railroad signal engineers and field maintenance staff to detect and respond more quickly and efficiently to equipment problems and, in some cases, to prevent problems before they affect the operation of the crossing warning systems."

Traditionally, crossing monitoring equipment records events at highway-rail crossings and transmits the information over phone wires, costing railroads at least $30 per month per crossing. The ScadaNET Network operates through the cellular telephone network's control channels. There are no monthly telephone fees or cellular access charges. Data transmission charges are approximately 15 cents apiece.

Monitoring devices called CellularRTUs™, which are manufactured by LaBarge, will be installed at 815 BNSF highway-rail grade crossings throughout Illinois. These remote devices will deliver important status information regarding commercial power outages, battery condition and other situations affecting the operation of warning devices to BNSF's Network Operation Center in Ft. Worth, Tex. transported through LaBarge's nationwide ScadaNET Network. BNSF can then dispatch personnel to sites requiring attention or repairs. The system can provide notification using a variety of means including the Internet, e-mail, pagers and facsimile in addition to the direct data link to the railroad's dispatch center.

Other railroads utilizing the ScadaNET Network include Union Pacific Railroad, Illinois Central, I&M Rail Link, Montana Rail Link, Wisconsin Central, Ltd., and Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Company.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, BNSF operates one of the largest rail networks in North America, with 34,000 route miles of track covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces.

The ScadaNET Network is a product of LaBarge, Inc., which provides customers in diverse industrial markets with sophisticated electronic products and services through three business activities: contract electronics design and manufacturing services, wireless data communications products and network services, and turnkey engineering and construction services for the wireless telecommunications industry. Headquartered in St. Louis, LaBarge has operations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Company's web site is located at www.labarge.com.

Statements contained in this release which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Future events and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by those forward-looking statements. Important factors which could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in, or inferred by, forward-looking statements are (but are not necessarily limited to) the following: the impact of increasing competition or deterioration of economic conditions in the Company's markets; cutbacks in defense spending by the U.S. Government; lack of acceptance by the market for the BusCall™ product; lack of acceptance by the market for the products of LaBarge's Network Technologies Group; unexpected increases in the cost of raw materials, labor and other resources necessary to operate the Company's business; the availability, amount, type and cost of financing for the Company and any changes to that financing; and unexpected Year 2000 issues.

Source:
La Barge, Inc.