OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific will boost the biodiesel fuel blend in its EMD locomotives as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Progress Rail has approved the use of 20% biodiesel blend in the railroad’s EMD locomotives with 710 and 645 engines, up from 5%. Progress subsequently announced it had given similar approval for […]
HOUSTON — After a display day on Tuesday, Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 resumed its 2021 tour on Wednesday, resuming its trek toward New Orleans. The 4-8-8-4 and its train is show here leaving Houston on Wednesday’s move to Beaumont, Texas. Today, it is scheduled to continue to Livonia, La., where it will lay […]
OMAHA, Neb. — It will take several more weeks for Union Pacific to fully recover from California wildfires that disrupted service on its I-5 and Feather River corridors. “Everyone here is focused on ensuring that we can get the system ramped back up,” says Eric Gehringer, UP’s executive vice president of operations. “It is not […]
DENVER — Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer launched its first all-U.S. route Sunday with the first departure from Denver of the “Rockies to the Red Rocks” daytime excursion to Moab, Utah. The train utilizes leased Union Pacific SD70 locomotives pulling SilverLeaf coaches, former Canadian National cars from the 1950s which have been remanufactured with larger windows and […]
OMAHA, Neb. — The weather-related service disruptions just keep mounting for Union Pacific. Already hit hard this summer by fire-related closures, the railroad on Saturday informed customers of a series of washouts caused by torrential rains in Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas. “Our engineering teams are actively working to restore service to areas which […]
OAKLAND, Calif. — Amtrak will resume operation of the Coast Starlight over its full Seattle-Los Angeles route, beginning with departures from both endpoints on Monday, Aug. 23, following completion of bridge work between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, Calif. However, the train’s sleeping-car inventory currently remains limited for more than a month after its […]
Union Pacific Big Boy differences from its 2019 tour are subtle, but you can still see them. Here are some of the most visible changes to the engine that you can spot as the engine rolls by or during one of its display stops. Big Boy cylinder head and piston head covers Big Boys had […]
BIG BOY HOT SPOT Location If you’re for Union Pacific Big Boy Hot Spot this summer, don’t miss the Dexter, Missouri, community. Dexter is situated in the rural southeast corner of Missouri in Stoddard County, about halfway between St. Louis and Memphis. It is surrounded by fertile soil, vast row-crop farmland, and straight, high speed […]
These are the steam locomotives on Big Boy’s 2021 route. In August and September 2021, Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 will travel from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to New Orleans through Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, among other places. Classic Trains offers this photo gallery of steam locomotives from railroading’s high-period, showcasing those […]
Independent analyst Anthony B. Hatch is fond of saying that one of freight railroads’ enduring advantages is owning and maintaining their own infrastructure. Nothing could drive that point home better than the repair blitz that Union Pacific launched after its 1,200-foot Dry Canyon Bridge sustained heavy damage from a wildfire. The 150-foot-tall span in Hotlum, […]
NEW ORLEANS — Limited tickets remain for the Aug. 22 excursion from New Orleans to Plaquemine, La., to be pulled by UP Big Boy No. 4014. The excursion, the only one planned on this year’s Big Boy tour, is a fundraiser for the Union Pacific Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The trip along the Mississippi […]
PALESTINE, Texas — County officials have accepted a donation of more than $14,000 for the court case seeking to keep Union Pacific from closing its car shop in Palestine, per an agreement that originated more than a century ago. The Palestine Herald-Press reports the Anderson County Commissioners Court has accepted $14,500 raised by an online […]
