Amtrak’s California Zephyr calls at Omaha in September 2018. Trains: Jim Wrinn OMAHA, Neb. — Faced with uncertain restoration dates on the California Zephyr’s regular BNSF Railway route owing to extensive flooding in Iowa, beginning Thursday, March 21, Amtrak is rerouting the train over the Union Pacific’s former Chicago & North Western main line between […]
Read More…
UP No. 4014 was steam testing, UP said on March 20, 2019. Facebook screen shot CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific said Wednesday it is steam testing restored Big Boy No. 4014. In a post to the company’s Official Union Pacific Steam Club Facebook page, the railroad showed a 13 second video clip taken from the […]
Read More…
Lonely. Isolated. Desolate. Remote. The list of words to describe how this place — one of the (if not the) most sacred sites in American railroad history — feels is nowhere long enough. To come here into the high desert is to be on a pilgrimage for a glimpse into the unending sagebrush, rocks, and […]
Read More…
Construction crews working westward on the Union Pacific encountered rough going when they reached Utah’s Weber Canyon. Trains collection If you built a transcontinental railroad today from scratch, how long would it take, given the regulatory environment of the modern world? Nobody knows for sure, but the best guess is about 57 years. Here’s a […]
Read More…
Union Pacific trains and ocvered wagons congregate near the end of track at Archer, Wyo., in 1867 during construction westward. Union Pacific 1832: Proponents call for transcontinental railroad 1845: New England merchant and traveler, Asa Whitney begins advocacy for Pacific Railroad 1853: Congress appropriates $150,000 for survey of five routes 1855-1860: 12 volumes of findings […]
Read More…
DAVENPORT, Iowa – Railroaders are working “around the clock” this week to restore and maintain service along water-logged routes in the Midwest, but the worst may be yet to come as communities along the Mississippi River brace for major flooding in the coming days. Over the weekend, flooding affected hundreds of miles of BNSF Railway […]
Read More…
HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division F59PHI diesel locomotive. Amtrak (“Stay off the tracks. I pack a punch.” slogan [one road number], “Stay off! Stay Away! Stay Alive!” slogan [one number], blue-and-silver scheme, and Cascades scheme), Metra (Cascades patchout in one number and blue-and-silver patchout), Metropolitan Transport Agency (Montreal), Utah Front Runner, and fantasy paint schemes […]
Read More…
OMAHA, Neb. — Widespread flooding across the Union Pacific system has forced the railroad to announce a number of service embargoes. A UP notice to customers notes that flooding and track washouts have UP lines out of service in the Omaha, Blair, Columbus, Lincoln, and Falls City subdivisions, and that the widespread nature of the […]
Read More…
Darrell Wendt BNSF lines out-of-service map as of March 15 BNSF Railway MILWAUKEE — Union Pacific and BNSF Railway are halting trains and assessing damage to hundreds of miles of rail lines threatened or damaged by rising flood waters in the Missouri River valley. Rapidly warming temperatures in the past two weeks have led to […]
Read More…
Flemming Ørneholm’s HO scale Eaglecreek & Northern, which was featured in the February 2012 Model Railroader, is a testament to his ingenious use of space. In less than 7 x 12 feet, Flemming’s HO scale layout captures the sprawling vistas of the west along the Union Pacific. With massive UP 4-8-8-4 Big Boys regularly hauling […]
Read More…
MANKATO, Minn. – Emergency crews are responding to a derailed Union Pacific coal train and subsequent fire in Ottawa, about 18 miles north of Mankato along the Minnesota River in southern Minnesota. The line, connecting the Twin Cities with Sioux City, Iowa, was previously part of the Chicago & North Western system. The derailment, which […]
Read More…
OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific has issued the following customer service advisory following a week of extreme weather in the Midwest. The troubles essentially close the railroad’s main line between Boone, Iowa, and Gibbon, Neb., a source close to the railroad tells Trains News Wire. Announcement Number: CN2019-13 Categories: General Announcements Posted Date: March 14, […]
Read More…