ELLENDALE, Minn. – Two Union Pacific trains stuck in deep snow near Ellendale are free this week following the efforts of railroad and contractor crews to free them. Ellendale is located on the so-called “Spine Line” between Minneapolis and Des Moines, Iowa, about 30 miles north of the Minnesota-Iowa state line. The work took place […]
SEATTLE — Union Pacific and Amtrak are both working to put their West Coast networks back together after a late-winter snowstorm severed its line between Eugene, Ore., and the California border and left a passenger train stranded for more than a day. UP officials said Thursday the line was back in operation. It would not […]
UP crews built a switchback to reach a tunnel during construction. In many ways, the work done on the transcontinental railroad were feats of ingenuity and engineering. Union Pacific Importance of The Transcontinental Railroad In the 1850s, major railroad projects were viewed as projects for the public good, in much the same way we justify […]
UP No. 844 rolls south at Greeley, Colo., in July 2018. Trains: Jim Wrinn WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has told Union Pacific it doesn’t need waivers in 2019 to operate non-PTC-equipped steam locomotives Nos. 844 and 4014 on three excursions covering 11,111 miles, according to letters between UP and FRA that Trains Newswire […]
Big Boy 4014 near Green River, Wyo., on its way to restoration in 2014. Trains: Jim Wrinn OMAHA, Neb. — Fans of Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014, eager to make travel plans for the engine’s debut trip from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Ogden, Utah, in May, will have to wait a bit longer for […]
A pair of BNSF Railway units pull a train of some 130-plus stored coal hoppers from Spikebuck, Colo., about five miles west of Parkdale, Colo., where Royal Gorge Route tourist trains terminate. Jody Moore CANON CITY, Colo. — A piece of Rio Grande’s long-dormant Tennessee Pass route saw freight traffic on it again briefly Monday. […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has pulled 107 locomotives from its surge fleet and added 300 train and engine crews in response to harsh winter weather and derailments that gummed up its system over the past month. “I want to make it clear that the setbacks we’ve experienced are not due to the implementation of […]
Union Pacific directors pose at the 100th Meridian, 247 miles west of Omaha, Neb. There were still many miles to go to reach Ogden, Utah. Library of Congress collection Many railroads have had their share of drama and intrigue, but it is hard to recall another railroad with the narrative complexity and heroic scale of […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific announced another round of layoffs on Tuesday that affects 700 employees and includes the closure of the locomotive shop in Pine Bluff, Ark. UP has notified the mechanical department that 450 positions will be eliminated across the system this month. In addition, 250 other jobs were eliminated, most of them […]
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Union Pacific has about 30 freight cars to clean up and account for after a Saturday derailment northeast of Las Vegas temporarily closed the line to Salt Lake City. Las Vegas television station KSNV reports that the train derailed early in the morning, Saturday, Feb. 9. The station reported that the […]
OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific has installed positive train control equipment on 100 percent of required route miles and implemented the technology on all required passenger train routes. Implementation efforts continue to ensure PTC interoperability with other freight and passenger railroads operating on Union Pacific tracks by 2020, as allowed by federal law. One of […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific’s Big Boy is another step closer to running this year after it passed a Federally required hydrostatic test. Union Pacific posted a video on YouTube Wednesday showing workers knocking on the locomotive with hammers while pressurized water filled the boiler. One scene shows a pressure gauge at 300 pounds per […]
