Video Extra: Union Pacific turbine and diesel action in the 1960s

Yellow locomotive on freight train in yard

View three video clips of gas turbines and diesels in action on UP’s Overland Route main line across Wyoming in the 1960s. These clips are from Herron Rail Video’s DVD program “Rails West,” featuring the films of Donald J. Krofta. Diesels and Turbines at Green River Passenger at Laramie Turbine East from Laramie […]

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Video Extra: Union Pacific turbine and diesel action in the 1960s

Yellow locomotive on freight train in yard

View three video clips of gas turbines and diesels in action on UP’s Overland Route main line across Wyoming in the 1960s. These clips are from Herron Rail Video’s DVD program “Rails West,” featuring the films of Donald J. Krofta. Diesels and Turbines at Green River Passenger at Laramie Turbine East from Laramie […]

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Union Pacific trains per day

Union Pacific tonnage map image

This map reflects an average day for the Union Pacific Railroad in late 2003. Trains per line per day is indicated above each major line segment except where data is not available. These numbers have changed little since our previous UP trains-per-day map in the November 2001 issue, except for the Sunset Route between West […]

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Union Pacific predecessors

Union Pacific predecessors map thumbnail

Jeff Wilson and Robert Wegner This Map of the Month appeared in the October 2004 issue of Trains magazine. It’s fitting that the largest U.S. railroad today, the Union Pacific, was born as part of a grandiose plan — to build the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. From that not-so-humble beginning, UP has grown into the […]

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Union Pacific steam program conductor Reed Jackson dies NEWSWIRE

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Reed Jackson, a 35-year Union Pacific veteran with 12 years of major involvement in the railroad’s steam program, died Saturday of complications of surgery. He was 54 years old. Jackson’s father was a superintendent on Denver & Rio Grande Western, and Jackson worked briefly for Rio Grande before being furloughed and […]

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Union Pacific changes colors NEWSWIRE

Three Union Pacific employees conduct a job briefing at Colton, Calif., wearing new high-visibility green vests. David Lustig OMAHA, Neb. – Most Union Pacific employees will switch from wearing orange to green safety vests. The railroad said it believes the green vests afford better visibility than traditional orange. Workers that maintain structures must continue to […]

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Railbuses & Motor cars: Would you ride one of these?

Alaska Railroad

Railbuses & Motor cars Railbuses and motor cars have run all over North America. Here are some other outrageous conveyances rail passengers have sampled over the years. This Kalamazoo, Mich., railbus was operated by the Alaska Railroad during summers to transport passengers between Portage and Whittier, south of Anchorage. Known as the “Ice Worm,” the […]

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Union Pacific begins uranium tailings move in Utah

Moab, Utah, uranium tailings

A gantry crane moves containers filled with uranium tailings from train to truck outside Moab, Utah, in April. Union Pacific will ship the tailings over a 10-year contract. Sandy Lonsdale After nearly 60 years resting beside the Colorado River near Moab, Utah, the nation’s largest uranium tailings pile began moving by rail in April to […]

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