Railroad fans of all stripes congregate at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1969, for the Golden Spike centennial celebration, including a trainload that came from New York City behind High Iron 2-8-4 No. 759 and a Union Pacific streamliner west of Kansas City. Arthur W. Zimmerla, collection of Arthur A. Zimmerla […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific has released the schedule for Big Boy No. 4014’s “Westward Bound Tour” to Roseville, Calif., and back, which begins June 30, and concludes July 26, and will include one excursion — July 14 from Roseville to Sparks, Nev. The locomotive will be on display for two days in Roseville (July […]
CHICAGO — Freight train operations across the U.S.-Mexican border should be as seamless as they are across the U.S.-Canadian border, Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena told a shipper group last week. Cross-border trains entering the U.S. from Canada use Canadian crews to reach the nearest rail yard — and vice versa. “I never used to […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has tightened its domestic intermodal schedules between the Los Angeles Basin and Chicago by two days, and now offers three-day transit time that is competitive with team driver truck service. “In an effort to better serve our customers and simultaneously penetrate volume moving over the road, Union Pacific is pleased […]
MEXIA, Texas — About a dozen cars of grain derailed on a Union Pacific train Wednesday evening near Mexia, KCEN-TV reports. KXXV-TV places the incident in Shiloh, Texas, about 5 miles southeast of Mexia, and says it occurred about 6:45 p.m., after heavy rains and flooding in the area led to a washout, according to […]
WASHINGTON — A Union Pacific track maintenance manager was killed when he was struck by an excavator operated by a contract worker, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on a fatal April 11 incident near McNeil, Ark. The incident occurred about 6:22 p.m. as a work crew was replacing a culvert on […]
CHICAGO — Imagine if the two Class I railroad steam stars of this year — Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 No. 2816 and Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 — showed up at the same place at the same time and shared the same stage. It just might happen one day. Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena […]
PYOTE, Texas — About 20 cars of a Union Pacific intermodal train derailed today (May 1) near the West Texas community of Pyote, KMID/KPED-TV reports. The Ward County Sheriff’s Office reported it responded about 3 p.m. to a report of a derailment adjacent to Interstate 20. No injuries were reported and no hazardous materials have […]
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — Amtrak’s Missouri River Runners will be cancelled for a fourth straight day on Wednesday, May 1, Amtrak announced tonight (Tuesday, April 30). Service on the route between St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., will continue to be covered by chartered buses. Trains 318 and 319, which normally provide through service to […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has discontinued efforts to gather information for an assessment of Union Pacific’s safety culture, telling the railroad it found indications of activities by the railroad that “adversely impact the integrity” of the process. The railroad, in a statement to Trains News Wire, says the issue arose from a mistake […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific today took the wraps of its first mother-slug set of hybrid switching locomotives that can run on diesel fuel or batteries. The units, SD40-2 slug set UPY No. 409 and UPY No. 309, were converted at the railroad’s Jenks Locomotive Shop in North Little Rock, Ark., and will begin testing […]
PORTLAND, Ore. — A Union Pacific train derailed early this morning at the east end of Portland’s historic Steel Bridge, closing the heavily used bridge while authorities assessed its structural integrity. The derailment also meant the vertical lift portion of the bridge could not be raised, impacting ship traffic on the Willamette River. “The issue […]
