OMAHA, Neb. – In the latest pandemic-related disruption, Union Pacific has told customers it will halt all shipments of international containers from West Coast ports to its Global IV terminal in Chicago for up to a week. The embargo, scheduled to begin on Sunday night, will help the railroad clear a container backlog at Global […]
Vest pocket streamliner Union Pacific’s original streamliner, the little M-10000 of February 1934, is at Chatsworth, Calif., on the Southern Pacific during its national tour. Gerald M. Best photo […]
WEED, Calif. — Union Pacific’s main line linking the Pacific Northwest and California — its Interstate 5 corridor — is likely to remain closed until at least Sept. 1 as a result of the wildfire that destroyed the massive Dry Canyon Bridge in Northern California along with 9 miles of right-of-way. The railroad informed customers […]
PALESTINE, Texas — A Texas judge has again ruled that Union Pacific must continue employment of workers at its Palestine, Texas, car shop, which the railroad had planned to close last month. The Palestine Herald-Press reports Judge Michael Davis of the 369th Judicial District Court in Rusk, Texas, must continue to observe a 1955 judgment […]
CHICAGO — As of today, top speeds are rising from 79 to 90 mph on much of Amtrak’s Chicago-St. Louis Lincoln Service corridor. With signal system testing complete and certified for reliability by the Federal Railroad Administration, the higher speed will be allowed between Laraway Road, south of Joliet, Ill., and CP Wann, two miles […]
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia — VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian, luxury cruise train Rocky Mountaineer, and Amtrak’s Coast Starlight have had their operations disrupted by western wildfires, with trains running over only part of their routes because of fire damage. The wildfire that decimated the town of Lytton, B.C., halted last week’s westbound Canadian about 100 miles […]
Intermodal analyst Larry Gross has gone out on a limb. In his latest “Intermodal in Depth” report, Gross predicts the demise of TOFC, or trailer on flatcar service, within the next four years. In some ways, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Trailers have become a smaller and smaller part of the intermodal world as […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Fires and extreme weather are disrupting Union Pacific operations in the West and Midwest, the railroad has informed customers. In Northern California, the Lava fire, in Siskiyou Canyon and the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, is disrupting operations between Redding, Calif., and Eugene, Ore. The railroad is assessing damage to infrastructure including the Dry […]
AMES, Iowa — Twenty-seven cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Thursday afternoon in Ames, briefly leaking propane from one car. KDSM-TV reports the derailment occurred about 1:30 p.m., with Ames Fire Chief Rich Higgins saying he did send an evacuation notice to nearby industrial plants after the propane leak was discovered. A Union Pacific […]
HOUSTON — Union Pacific today posted several images on Facebook and Twitter of its specially painted “We Are One” locomotive, which celebrates the company’s diversity and honors its Employee Resource Groups. The locomotive was unveiled Saturday at a Juneteenth event in Houston. The locomotive, a product of the railroad’s North Little Rock, Ark., shops, is […]
Tehachapi Loop viewing platform could open by mid-July Ground has been broken on a new viewing platform at California’s Tehachapi Loop, with completion expected by mid-July. The Tehachapi News reports the platform will end the need for those viewing trains at the loop to stand along a narrow shoulder of Woodford-Tehachapi Road, easing safety concerns. […]
Lawsuit challenges unique legal status of Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District The Indiana Supreme Court will review the unique legal status of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, operator of South Shore Line commuter trains, as a result of a lawsuit filed by a Hobart, Ind., man who was injured while performing track maintenance work. […]
