WASHINGTON — When veteran Union Pacific locomotive engineer Michael Lindsey II looks at the industry he loves, he doesn’t like what he sees. So he has become outspoken on issues ranging from crew shortages and ongoing service problems to labor contracts and railroad regulation. He’s written two letters to the Surface Transportation Board this year. […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Are hump yards making an unlikely comeback? Probably not, although three mothballed humps are once again using gravity to classify freight cars. Union Pacific has reactivated the hump at Davidson Yard in Fort Worth, Texas, to ease the burden on the classification yard at West Colton, Calif., where UP is expanding the […]
DENVER—In what will most likely be its sole trip of 2022, Union Pacific No. 4014 — Big Boy — is attracting large crowds during a three-day excursion between Cheyenne, Wyo., and Denver. The proceeds from Sunday’s ticketed excursion will support the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Leading a 12-car train, including an […]
A second example of Union Pacific’s new paint scheme, the first on an EMD locomotive, is now roaming the railroad. Photographer James Hickey captured SD70ACe No. 8620 leading manifest MNPRO-26 at Buffalo Bend/Point of Rocks, Neb., near the town of Sidney, on July 27, 2022. The new standard paint scheme features a larger UP shield […]
Wabtec will modernize 600 locomotives over a three-year period for Union Pacific in a deal valued at more than $1 billion, the largest such program in railroading history. The Associated Press first reported the agreement on Tuesday evening. The program will include 525 AC4400 and AC6000 locomotives, as well as 75 Dash-9 units which will […]
Sometimes big stories hide in plain sight. One of them is the jaw-dropping way BNSF Railway has outgrown the other three big U.S. Class I railroads. Over the past two decades, BNSF has owned all of the tonnage growth on the big four U.S. systems. Its gross ton-miles are up 71% since 1996, BNSF’s first […]
WINTER PARK, Colo. — A track closure for Moffat Tunnel repairs this week is causing cancellation on part of the route for California Zephyrs departing Wednesday, July 27, from Chicago and Emeryville, Calif. Amtrak travelers with reservations on those trains that include the Denver-Salt Lake City segment were notified Sunday that the train was cancelled […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific is making the biggest change to its locomotive paint scheme in more than 20 years. It’s by no means a radical change. The traditional Armour Yellow and gray with red trim remains. But departing is the large American flag decal on the long hood. A smaller flag will be placed […]
ANAHEIM, Calif. — A new Union Pacific locomotive paint scheme has surfaced, although it is unclear whether the design represents a change, a test, or a one-off for some other purpose. Photographer Bruce Jacobs photographed the ES44AC — a C45ACCTE in UP terminology —in Anaheim on July 18. Differences from the current standard UP scheme […]
Amazon has begun soliciting business from shippers interested in using space in the company’s fleet of 53-foot intermodal containers. The move, touted in a YouTube video posted this month, puts Amazon in direct competition with intermodal providers such as J.B. Hunt, Hub Group, and the intermodal marketing companies that fill rail-owned containers. “With intermodal for […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific’s second quarter profits and revenue rose despite service problems that prompted the railroad to meter traffic, a move that helped keep the network fluid but came at the expense of lost volume. “We understood that the actions we took to improve fluidity would impact our financial performance,” CEO Lance Fritz […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific has released details of its excursion later this month with Big Boy No. 4014. In a message to members of its Steam Club, the Railroad says the 4-8-8-4 will depart Cheyenne for Denver on Thursday, July 28, at 10 a.m., with an intermediate stop in Greeley, Colo. The locomotive will […]
