Jump to content

Union Pacific Railroad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Graywalls (talk | contribs) at 04:36, 6 January 2020 (→Notable accidents: add picture of overpass column that Union Pacific ruined). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Union Pacific" redirects here. For other uses, see Union Pacific (disambiguation).
See also: History of the Union Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad
System map (trackage rights in purple)
General Electric ET44AH locomotive photographed in June 2016
Overview
Headquarters1400 Douglas Street
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Reporting markUP (road locomotives), UPP (passenger cars), UPY (yard locomotives)
LocaleUnited States from Chicago, Illinois, and cities along the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast
Dates of operation1862–present (legacy)
  • First (original) company, Union Pacific Rail Road: 1862–1880
  • Second company, Union Pacific Railway: 1880–1897
  • Third company, Union Pacific Railroad (Mark I): 1897–1998
  • Fourth company, Union Pacific Railroad (Mark II): 1969–present (originally Southern Pacific Transportation Company until 1998; renamed Union Pacific during UP-SP merger)
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Length32,100 miles (51,660 km)
Other
Websitewww.up.com

The Union Pacific Railroad (reporting marks UP, UPP, UPY), legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over 32,200 route-miles in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. The Union Pacific Railroad system is the second largest in the United States after BNSF and is one of the world's largest transportation companies.[1] The Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of the Union Pacific Corporation, both headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

Founded in 1862, the original Union Pacific Rail Road was part of the First Transcontinental Railroad project, later known as the Overland Route. The railroad was absorbed by the Union Pacific Railway in 1880, which was absorbed by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1897. Over the next century, UP absorbed the Missouri Pacific Railroad, the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company, the Western Pacific Railroad, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.

In 1998, the Union Pacific merged with Southern Pacific Transportation Company, itself a giant system that was absorbed by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad maintaining the Southern Pacific name.

Today, Union Pacific and its chief competitor, BNSF Railway, the nation's largest freight railroad by volume, have a duopoly on transcontinental freight rail lines in the western United States.

History

Main article: History of the Union Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific in the 19th century

See also: First Transcontinental Railroad

The original company, the Union Pacific Rail Road was incorporated on July 1, 1862, under an act of Congress entitled Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. The act was approved by President Abraham Lincoln, and it provided for the construction of railroads from the Missouri River to the Pacific as a war measure for the preservation of the Union.[2] It was constructed westward from Council Bluffs, Iowa to meet the Central Pacific Railroad line, which was constructed eastward from Sacramento, California. The combined Union Pacific–Central Pacific line became known as the First Transcontinental Railroad and later the Overland Route.

The line was constructed primarily by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War.[3] Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, the namesake of the city of Durant, Iowa, the first rails were laid in Omaha.[4] The two lines were joined together at Promontory Summit, Utah, 53 miles (85 km) west of Ogden on May 10, 1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America.[5]

The Last Spike, by Thomas Hill (1881)

Subsequently, the UP purchased three Mormon-built roads: the Utah Central Railroad extending south from Ogden to Salt Lake City, the Utah Southern Railroad extending south from Salt Lake City into the Utah Valley, and the Utah Northern Railroad extending north from Ogden into Idaho.[6]

Directors of the Union Pacific Railroad gather on the 100th meridian, which later became Cozad, Nebraska, about 250 miles (400 km) west of Omaha in the Nebraska Territory, in October 1866. The train in the background awaits the party of Eastern capitalists, newspapermen, and other prominent figures invited by the railroad executives.

The original UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed in 1872. As detailed by The Sun, Union Pacific's largest construction company, Crédit Mobilier, had overcharged Union Pacific; these costs had then been passed on to the United States government. In order to convince the federal government to accept the increased costs, Crédit Mobilier had bribed congressmen. Several prominent UP board members (including Durant) had been involved in the scheme.[7] The ensuing financial crisis of 1873 led to a credit crunch, but not bankruptcy.

As boom followed bust, the Union Pacific continued to expand. The original company was purchased by a new company on January 24, 1880, with dominant stockholder Jay Gould. Gould already owned the Kansas Pacific (originally called the Union Pacific, Eastern Division, though in essence a separate railroad), and sought to merge it with UP. Thusly was the original "Union Pacific Rail Road" transformed into "Union Pacific Railway."[8]

Extending towards the Pacific Northwest, Union Pacific built or purchased local lines that gave it access to Portland, Oregon.[9] Towards Colorado, it built the Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway: both narrow gauge trackage into the heart of the Rockies and a standard gauge line that ran south from Denver, across New Mexico, and into Texas.

The Union Pacific Railway would later declare bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893. Again, a new Union Pacific "Railroad" was formed and Union Pacific "Railway" merged into the new corporation.[10][11]

Union Pacific in the 20th century

In the early 20th century, Union Pacific's focus shifted from expansion to internal improvement. Recognizing that farmers in the Central and Salinas Valleys of California grew produce far in excess of local markets, Union Pacific worked with its rival Southern Pacific to develop a rail-based transport system that was not vulnerable to spoilage. These efforts came culminated in the 1906 founding of Pacific Fruit Express, soon to be the world's largest lessee of refrigerated railcars.[12]

Meanwhile, Union Pacific worked to construct a faster, and more direct substitute for the original climb to Promontory Point. In 1904, the Lucin cutoff opened, reducing curvature and grades. The original route would eventually be stripped of track in 1942 to provide war scrap.[13]

To attract customers during the Great Depression, Union Pacific's chairman W. Averell Harriman simultaneously sought to "spruce up" the quality of its rolling stock and to make its unique locations more desirable travel destinations. The first effort resulted in the purchase of the first streamlined train: the M-10000.[14] The latter resulted in the Sun Valley ski resort in central Idaho; it opened in 1936 and finally was sold in 1964.[15][16] Despite the fact that the M-10000 and its successors were among the first diesel locomotives, Union Pacific completed dieselization relatively late. In 1944, UP finally received delivery of its last steam locomotive: Union Pacific 844.[17]

As the 20th century waned, Union Pacific recognized—like most railroads—that remaining a regional road could only lead to bankruptcy. At the close of December 31, 1925, UP and its subsidiaries had operated 9,834 route-miles and 15,265 track-miles;[citation needed] in 1980, these numbers had remained roughly constant (9,266 route-miles and 15,647 track-miles).[18] But in 1982, UP acquired the Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific railroads, and 1988, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas.[19] By 1993, Union Pacific had doubled its system to 17,835 route-miles.

By then, few large (class I) railroads remained. The same year that Union Pacific merged with the Chicago and North Western (1995), Burlington Northern and ATSF announced plans to merge. The impending BNSF amalgamation would leave one mega-railroad in control of the west. In order to compete, UP quickly merged with Southern Pacific, thereby incorporating D&RGW and Cotton Belt, and forming a duopoly in the West.[19] The merged railroad took the Union Pacific name.

Revenue passenger traffic, in millions of passenger-miles[Note 1]
Year Traffic
1925[Note 2] 1,065
1933[Note 2] 436
1944[Note 2] 5,481
1960 1,233
1970 333
Source: ICC annual reports
Revenue freight ton-miles (millions)[Note 3]
UP[Note 4] LNP&W S&EV P&IN
1925[20][full citation needed] 12,869 10 3
1933[20][full citation needed] 8,639 4 0.4 (into UP)
1944[20][full citation needed] 37,126 7 0.7
1960[20][full citation needed] 33,280 (into UP) (into UP)
1970[20][full citation needed] 47,575
1979[21][full citation needed] 73,708
1993[21][full citation needed] 220,697

Company officers

Presidents of all four incarnations of the Union Pacific Railroad:[citation needed]

Facilities

Ogden, Utah yard

The Union Pacific system includes hundreds of yards. Most are flat yards used for local switching. Other types of yards include intermodal terminals and hump yards. Intermodal terminals are typically ports, but UP also has terminals inland for trucks, such as the terminal in San Antonio that opened in 2009.[22][23]

Active yards

Union Pacific's active hump yards as of 2006 include:[24]

Roseville Rail Yard

The Hinkle, Oregon, and Pine Bluff, Arkansas, facilities were closed in 2019.[28]

The Neff Yard in Kansas City, Missouri, was closed in October 2019 on two days' notice.[26][28]

Locomotives and rolling stock

Union Pacific has owned some of the most powerful locomotives. These include members of the Challenger-type (including the 3985), and the Northern-type (including the 844), as well as the Big Boy steam locomotives (including the 4014). Union Pacific ordered the first (diesel) streamliner, the largest fleet of turbine-electric locomotives in the world, and still owns the largest operational diesel locomotive (the 6936).[29]

Paint and colors

Union Pacific #9214, a GE Dash 8-40C, shows the standard UP diesel locomotive livery on May 10, 1991.

UP's basic paint scheme for its diesel-electric locomotives is the oldest still in use by a major railroad. The middle two-thirds of the locomotive body is painted Armour Yellow, a color used by Armour and Company on the packaging of its meat products. A thin band of Signal Red divides this from the Harbor Mist Gray (a light gray) used for the body and roof above that point. There is also a thin band of Signal Red along the bottom of the locomotive body, but this color has gradually become yellow as new Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations for reflectorized tape came into effect in 2005; the trucks, underframe, fuel tanks and everything else beneath that line are also Harbor Mist Gray. Lettering and numbering are in Signal Red, with black outlines. Some locomotives have white-outlined blue "wings" on the nose, on either side of the renowned shield featuring white lettering on a blue background and, below it, red and white vertical stripes. Beginning in early 2002, a number of units were repainted with a large, billowing American flag with the corporate motto "Building America" on the side, where the 'UNION PACIFIC' lettering is normally positioned.

UP Locomotive GE AC4400CW 5645 in Battle Creek, Michigan, with the Flags and Flares paint scheme
Union Pacific #5391, approaching bridge at Multnomah Falls Oregon, shows the white-outlined blue "wings" on the nose

The Armour Yellow livery was first introduced on the UP's M-10000 streamliner train in 1934, although Leaf Brown was used instead of Harbor Mist Grey. The steam locomotive had different paint schemes.

Merger partner locomotives

A former Southern Pacific GP38-2 locomotive renumbered with UP "patch" markings

Until 2017, UP operated some locomotives still in the former railroads' paint. In addition, some locomotives were renumbered by UP, varying in the degree of the previous railroads' logos being eradicated, but always with a yellow patch applied over the locomotive's former number and a new UP number applied on the cab. This allowed UP to number locomotives into its roster without spending the time and money necessary to perform a complete repaint. In May 2015, UP rostered 212 "patches", consisting of:

  • 22 Chicago and North Western (whose CNW logos have been hidden by the "patches"),
  • 174 Southern Pacific (AC4400CW, GP40-2, MP15AC, and GP60)
  • 14 St. Louis Southwestern (GP60)
  • 2 Denver and Rio Grande Western (GP60)
  • While not technically a predecessor locomotive in the traditional sense, UP also rostered a single SD40-2 (3564) still in the 1970s paint scheme, not counting DDA40X No. 6936, which is part of the Union Pacific Heritage Fleet.

In 2017, Union Pacific decided to repaint all locomotives not in the current corporate colors. As of March 2018, only 41 locomotives remained unpainted.[30]

Commemorative color schemes

From the second half of 2005 to the summer of 2006, UP unveiled a new set of six EMD SD70ACe locomotives in "Heritage Colors," painted in schemes reminiscent of railroads acquired by the Union Pacific Corporation since the 1980s. The engine numbers match the year that the predecessor railroad became part of the Union Pacific system. The locomotives commemorate the Missouri Pacific with UP 1982, the Western Pacific with UP 1983, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas with UP 1988, the Chicago and North Western with UP 1995, the Southern Pacific with UP 1996, and the Denver and Rio Grande Western with UP 1989.[31]

In October 2005, UP unveiled SD70ACe 4141, commissioned in honor of George Bush. The locomotive has "George Bush 41" on the sides and its paint scheme resembles that of Air Force One. It was sent into storage in 2007, but returned in 2018 to power Bush's funeral train. It was donated to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in November 8, 2019.[32][33]

On March 31, 2010, UP dedicated a specially painted GE ES44AC locomotive commemorating the centennial of the Boy Scouts of America.[34]

On September 28, 2010, UP dedicated a specially painted GE ES44AC locomotive, as a tribute to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.[35]

On October 19, 2017, Union Pacific unveiled SD70AH 1943, "The Spirit of the Union Pacific", which is painted in a scheme to honor the United States armed forces.

On June 6, 2019, Union Pacific unveiled SD70ACe 1111, the "Powered By Our People" unit.[36]

UP also has a collection of locomotives painted for Operation Lifesaver.

2013 locomotive roster

As of October 2013, the Union Pacific had 8,185 locomotives on its active roster. The locomotive fleet consists of 43 different models and had an average age of 17.8 years.[37] According to Union Pacific, this is the largest fleet of diesel-electric locomotives in the US.[38]

Type Quantity
B40-8 91
C40-8 333
C40-8W 50
C41-8W 154
C4460AC 80
C44-9W 274
C44AC/CTE 1,485
C45AC/CTE 943
C6044AC 176
C60AC 75
GP15-1 160
GP38-2 664
GP38AC 2
GP39-2 49
GP40 15
GP40-2 142
GP40-2P 2
GP40M-2 65
GP50 48
GP60 194
MP15AC 41
MP15DC 102
SD40-2 505
SD60 85
SD60M 560
SD70ACe 321
SD70M 1,445
SD9043AC 371
SW1500 18

"Train Pride" equipment

See also: § Historic locomotives

Union Pacific continues to use a small number of "heritage" steam locomotives and early streamlined diesel locomotives. This equipment is used on special charters.[39][40] Union Pacific also maintains a single DDA40X locomotive, the most powerful diesel locomotive in the world.

Type Quantity
4-8-8-4 1
4-6-6-4 1
4-8-4 1
DDA40X 1
E9A 2
E9B 1

Low-emissions locomotives

Union Pacific maintains an extensive fleet of low-emissions locomotives. The majority of these locomotives have been purchased via grants from the US federal government, via the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.[citation needed] Most are used in Los Angeles basin rail yards, to satisfy an air quality agreement with the local authorities.[41][42]

One of the 20 new 2,000 hp "Green Goat" locomotives manufactured for Union Pacific's "Green" Fleet by Railpower Technologies
Type Quantity
2GS14B 1
GP22T4 10
MP20B 13
3GS21B 59
PR30C ≥6
GG20GE 21
Others ≤71

Historic locomotives

One of UP's steam locomotives hauls an excursion train through Painted Rocks, Nevada in 2009

Alone among modern railroads, UP maintains a small fleet of historic locomotives for special trains and hire in its Cheyenne, Wyoming, roundhouse.[citation needed]

Steam

  • UP 844 is a 4-8-4 Northern-type express passenger steam locomotive (class FEF-3). It was the last steam locomotive built for UP and has been in continuous service since its 1944 delivery. Many people know the engine as the No. 8444, since an extra '4' was added to its number in 1962 to distinguish it from a diesel numbered in the 800 series. It regained its rightful number in June 1989, after the diesel was retired and donated to the Nevada Southern Railroad Museum in Boulder City, Nevada. Overhauled in 1996, it was taken out of service on June 24, 1999, after the collapse of boiler tubes made of the wrong material. It returned to service on November 10, 2004. It was rebuilt again in 2015 and returned to service in 2016. In addition to being one of UP's oldest locomotives, it is the only steam locomotive to never be officially retired from a North American Class I railroad.
  • UP 3985 is a 4-6-6-4 Challenger class dual-service steam locomotive. It is the second-largest operational steam locomotive in the world. Delivered in 1943, it operated in revenue service until it was withdrawn from service and stored in the UP roundhouse in 1962. In 1975, it was moved to the employees' parking lot outside the Cheyenne depot. In 1979, employee volunteers began to restore it to service, completing the job in 1981, whereupon it became the largest operating steam locomotive in the world, a title it lost in 2019 to No. 4014. It was repaired in 2007, and returned to operations the following year, but further mechanical problems sent it back to storage again in October 2010 at Cheyenne. It has since been retired following 4014's restoration.
  • UP 4014 is a 4-8-8-4 Big Boy-class freight steam locomotive. It is the largest operational steam locomotive in the world. Delivered in 1941, the locomotive operated in revenue service until it was withdrawn in 1961. It was donated in late 1961 to the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California, where it became one of the eight Big Boys preserved around the United States. On July 23, 2013, UP announced that it would reacquire No. 4014 from the Southern California chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, with the goal of restoring it to service. In 2014, No. 4014 was moved from Pomona to the Union Pacific West Colton yard, then to Cheyenne. Restoration to full operating condition was completed in May 2019; its first excursion took place that month.[43]

Diesel

  • UP 951, 949 and 963B are a trio of streamlined General Motors Electro-Motive Division E9 passenger locomotives built in 1955. They are used to haul the UP business cars during excursions and charter specials. While their external appearance remains almost entirely of 1955 vintage, the original twin 1,200-hp 12-cylinder 567 series engines have been replaced with single EMD 16-645E 2,000 hp (1.5 MW) engines (which were salvaged from wrecked GP38-2 locomotives) and the electrical and control equipment similarly upgraded. The set is made of two A units and one B unit. The B unit contains an HEP engine-generator set for powering passenger cars. The two A units were recently modified to eliminate the nose doors for safety during a collision.
  • UP 6936 is an EMD DDA40X "Centennial" diesel-electric locomotive, the last of its class in service. The largest diesel locomotives ever built, they were manufactured specifically for UP.[44] The locomotive was damaged in a 2000 collision with a dump truck at a grade crossing in Livonia, Louisiana. Another collision took place in 2007.[45]

Preserved locomotives

Union Pacific 618 operates at the Heber Valley Historic Railroad

In addition to the historic fleet outlined above kept by UP itself, a large number of UP locomotives survive elsewhere. Many locomotives were donated to towns along the Union Pacific tracks, for instance, as well as locomotives donated to museums.

Union Pacific 2295, on display at Boise, Idaho, in 2009
The Union Pacific "Big Boy" #4012

Facts and figures

Two UP AC4400CWs, including an ex-CNW unit, lead a typical empty coal train west at Belvidere, Nebraska in July 2015

According to UP's 2007 Annual Report to Investors, at the end of 2007 it had more than 50,000 employees, 8,721 locomotives, and 94,284 freight cars.

Broken down by specific type of car, owned and leased:

In addition, it owns 6,950 different pieces of maintenance of way work equipment. At the end of 2007 the average age of UP's locomotive fleet was 14.8 years, the freight car fleet 28 years.

UP ranked 141st on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue in 2018 and had 41,992 employees.

Union Pacific has been rated the worst company to work for in 2019 by 247wallst.com Citing CEO Lance Fritz 12% approval rating and 22% recommend to work from Glassdoor.com [48] [49]

Passenger service

As of 2018, Union Pacific does not provide regularly-scheduled intercity passenger services.

A CNW North Line train stops at Wilmette, Illinois, in 1963.

Commuter services

When Union Pacific merged with Chicago & Northwestern, it inherited C&NW's commuter rail services in the Chicago metropolitan area: Metra's UP/North, UP/Northwest, and UP/West lines, all of which operate from the Ogilvie Transportation Center (the former North Western Station–a name still used by many Chicago residents). In order to ensure uniformity across the Chicago area commuter rail system, trains are branded as Metra services and use Metra equipment. However, Union Pacific crews continue to operate the trains under a purchase-of-service agreement.[50]

Former services

Wine label, Roma Wine Company, bottled for Union Pacific RR circa 1940s

Between 1869 and 1971, Union Pacific operated passenger service throughout its historic "Overland Route." The last passenger train operated by UP was the westbound City of Los Angeles, arriving at LA Union Station on May 2.[51] Since then, Union Pacific has satisfied its common carrier requirements by hosting Amtrak trains (see § Hosted Amtrak trains).[Note 5]

Named passenger trains once operated by Union Pacific include the following:

  • Butte Special (operated between Salt Lake City and Butte, Montana)
  • Challenger (operated jointly with the Chicago and North Western Railway until October 1955, and thereafter the Milwaukee Road)
  • City of Denver (operated jointly with the Chicago and North Western Railway until October 1955, and thereafter the Milwaukee Road)
  • City of Las Vegas; later, the Las Vegas Holiday Special (1956–1967)
  • City of Los Angeles (operated jointly with the Chicago and North Western Railway until October 1955, and thereafter the Milwaukee Road)
  • City of Portland (operated jointly with the Chicago and North Western Railway until October 1955, and thereafter the Milwaukee Road)
  • City of Salina (1934–1940)
  • City of San Francisco (operated jointly with the Chicago and North Western Railway and the Southern Pacific Railroad; after October, 1955 the Milwaukee Road assumed operation of the Chicago-Omaha leg of the service)
  • City of St. Louis
  • Columbine (in service to Chicago and Denver, beginning in the 1920s)
  • Forty-Niner (operated between Chicago and Oakland)
  • Gold Coast (operated between Chicago and Oakland/Los Angeles)
  • Idahoan (operated between Cheyenne and Portland)
  • Los Angeles Limited (in service 1905)
  • Overland Flyer; renamed the Overland Limited in 1890 (1887–1963)
  • Pacific Limited (operated between Chicago and Ogden, Utah where it was split to serve Los Angeles and San Francisco, beginning in 1913. It was combined with the Portland Rose in 1947.)[53]
  • Pony Express (operated between Kansas City and Los Angeles 1926–1954)
  • Portland Rose (in service between Chicago and Portland, beginning in the 1920s)[54]
  • San Francisco Overland (originally operated between Chicago and Oakland, later terminated only at St. Louis)
  • Spokane (operated between Spokane and Portland)
  • Utahn (operated between Cheyenne and Los Angeles)
  • Yellowstone Special (operated between Pocatello, Idaho and West Yellowstone, Montana)

Hosted Amtrak trains

Many Amtrak routes use Union Pacific rails, including:

Notable accidents

21st century

  • September 4, 2007: a Union Pacific train derailment split the small town of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. About 16 cars derailed, most carrying salt that spilled into snow-like piles. The derailment interrupted traffic for about two hours.[55]
  • June 24, 2012: three crew members died and caused a property damage of $15 million when two Union Pacific trains collided head-on just east of Goodwell, Oklahoma. The eastbound train passed a stop signal on the main track and struck the westbound train in a siding about one mile (1.6 km) east of the meeting point.[56] The NTSB provided the probable causes as eastbound train's operator's vision problems and failure by the conductor to get backup assistance as required. NTSB stated UP did not comply with its own policies when it medically recertified the operator. The company only had six color tests despite the policy required a test of color test for 10 signals.[57]
  • November 15, 2012: A UP train struck a parade float in Midland, Texas, killing four U.S. military veterans.
  • May 25, 2013: in Chaffee, Missouri, a Union Pacific train collided with a BNSF train at a level junction, injuring seven, and causing damages exceeding $10 million. The accident caused a Missouri Route M overpass to partially collapse and caused a fire.[58][59] The investigation concluded the engineer most likely fell asleep, due to sleep apnea. The uncontrolled train violated four progressively more restrictive signals before colliding with the BNSF train at roughly 40 mph (64 km/h). Three months later, the Route M overpass reopened with a new design.[60][61]
  • June 3, 2016: a 96-car oil train derailed in the Columbia River Gorge near Mosier, Oregon. Eleven cars derailed, at least one caught on fire, and 42,000 US gal (160 kL) of Bakken crude oil spilled, some going into the Columbia River. Some 10,000 US gallons [38 kL] were eventually recovered.
    Going Street overpass in Portland, Oregon damaged by the Union Pacific Railroad Company
  • September 7, 2019: a Union Pacific train of two locomotives and three tank cars carrying liquefied petroleum gas derailed and crashed into an overpass support column at the Albina Yard in Portland, Oregon[62][63] The support column is for the eastbound lanes of the six-lane Going Street overpass, which is the only public access to the major industrial area Swan Island for passenger vehicles and delivery vehicles. The crash left just two lanes safe to use until repairs can be made, which is speculated to take weeks to months.[64] Since the initial crash, a third lane has been opened up.[65] The preliminary cause of crash as provided by Union Pacific is "broken rails".[66] There was nobody on board the train which was remotely operated at the time of crash.[65] A ship builder Vigor with 900 employees on the Swan Island had to adjust employee shift to stagger commute time as a result of traffic delays.[64]

San Antonio area

On June 28, 2004, a UP train collided with an idle BNSF train in a San Antonio suburb. In the course of the derailment, a 90-ton tank car carrying liquified chlorine was punctured. As the chlorine vaporized, a toxic "yellow cloud" formed, killing three and causing 43 hospitalizations. The costs of cleanup and property damaged during the incident exceeded $7 million.[67]

Deadly derailment in Macdona, Texas, on June 28, 2004.

Investigations of the Macdona incident revealed several serious safety lapses on the part of the Union Pacific and its employees, including employees not following the company's own safety rules.[68] While the immediate cause of the derailment was the UP crew's "fatigue," chlorine tank cars had been improperly placed near the front of the train, a danger in the case of derailment.[69]

The Macdona incident was not the first derailment in the San Antonio area. Between May and November 1994, Union Pacific trains derailed five times, killing at least 4 people.[70] Between June 2004 and March 2005, 10 trains derailed, killing as many people.[71]

In the aftermath of Macdona, the Federal Railroad Administration signed a compliance agreement with the railroad in which the railroad promised to rectify the "notable deficiencies" that regulators found.[68][71] But the relative impunity UP seemed to exhibit regarding the derailment led to suggestions that the FRA was far "too cozy...to the railroads."[68] In March 2005, Texas Governor Rick Perry supported a plan to reroute trains around large urban population centers in Texas, including San Antonio, but such a plan was purely voluntary and had no timetable associated.[71]

Trains have continued to derail in the area[72][73][74] including an incident in June 2009 where tank cars containing chlorine and petroleum naptha xylene derailed, but did not spill.[75][76][needs update]

Environmental record

In Eugene, Oregon, where pollution from a century-old railroad yard has been seeping into groundwater, the UP and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality launched a study of ground contamination in 2008. The pollutants are mostly petroleum hydrocarbons, industrial solvents, and metals.[77]

In 2007, Union Pacific Railroad worked with the US EPA to develop a way to reduce locomotive exhaust emissions. They discovered that adding an oxidation catalyst filtering canister to the diesel engine's exhaust manifold and using ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel would reduce particulate emissions by about half, unburned hydrocarbons by 38 percent, and carbon monoxide by 82 percent.[78]

The company's Fuel Master program rewards locomotive engineers who save the most fuel each month. The program has saved the company millions of dollars, much of which has been returned to the engineers. In 2006, the program's founder, Wayne Kennedy, received the John H. Chafee Environmental Award, and the program was recognized by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.[79]

In January 2018, a former waste water operator at Union Pacific Albina Yard in Portland, Oregon employed by the railroad's contractor Mott MacDonald negligently released thousands of gallons of oil into the environment. The operator was distracted by a cell phone and allowed the tank to overflow for over an hour. An engineering firm hired by Union Pacific estimates 1,800 gallons of it was released into nearby Willamette River, not including the spill that was captured by the containment booms. Employees of United States Environmental Protection Agency who were working at facilities nearby placed booms to contain the oil spill. Federal prosecutors have charged the operator Robert LaRue Webb II with violation of the Clean Water Act for releasing the oil into the environment. Webb plead guilty in August 2019[80] and was sentenced to two years probation and a $2,500 fine.[81][82][83]

EMP

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern Railroad are the largest owner-partners of EMP, a domestic interline intermodal freight transport service that rents and moves more than 35,000 53-foot containers and chassis throughout North America. Other partners in the agent-owned company include Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, I&M Rail Link, Iowa Interstate Railroad, Wisconsin Central Ltd., and Kansas City Southern Railway.[84][85][86]

Union Pacific Railroad Museum

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is a former Carnegie library[87] in Council Bluffs, Iowa, that houses artifacts, photographs, and documents that trace the development of the railroad and the American West. The company pays upkeep on the privately-owned building, which houses part of Union Pacific's corporate collection, one of the oldest in the United States. Holdings include weapons from the late 19th and 20th centuries, outlaw paraphernalia, a sampling of the immigrants' possessions, and a photograph collection comprising more than 500,000 images.[88][89]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Includes subsidiaries Oregon Short Line Railroad, Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, and St. Joseph and Grand Island Railway, but not jointly-owned subsidiaries Spokane International Railroad or Mount Hood Railroad.
  2. ^ a b c Does not include LNP&W, S&EV, or P&IN
  3. ^ Does not include jointly-owned subsidiaries Spokane International Railroad or Mount Hood Railroad; entry for 1993 includes all subsidiaries
  4. ^ Includes subsidiaries Oregon Short Line Railroad, Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, and St. Joseph and Grand Island Railway.
  5. ^ Merger partner D&RGW elected not to join Amtrak and continued operating the Rio Grande Zephyr until 1983.[52]

References

  1. ^ "Company Overview". Union Pacific Corporation. December 31, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  2. ^ "An Act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes Archived May 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine 12 Stat. 489, July 1, 1862
  3. ^ Collins, R.M. (2010). Irish Gandy Dancer: A tale of building the Transcontinental Railroad. Seattle: Create Space. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-4528-2631-8.
  4. ^ Union Pacific Railroad Company (April 2, 1868). Progress of the Union Pacific railroad west from Omaha, Nebraska, across the continent, making,: with its connections, an unbroken line from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean (Pamphlet ed.). 15 Vandewater Street, L. O.: C. A. Alvord. p. 5. This aid was given to two powerful companies, viz., to The Union Pacific Railroad Company, building from Omaha, on the Missouri river, West; and to The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, building from Sacramento, East.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) Text taken from OCR; may be corrupt.
  5. ^ "Ceremony at "Wedding of the Rails," May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah". World Digital Library. May 10, 1869. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  6. ^ Solomon, Brian (2000). Union Pacific Railroad. Osceola, WI: MBI. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-7603-0756-4.
  7. ^ Crawford, Jay Boyd (1880). The Credit Mobilier of America: Its Origin and History. Boston: C. W. Calkins & Co.
  8. ^ Ripley, William Zebina (1915). Railroads: Finance and Organization. 4th Ave. & 30th St., New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green, & Company. pp. 249–250.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. ^ "PNWC-NRHS". Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  10. ^ Brian Solomon (2000). Union Pacific Railroad. Voyageur Press. pp. 35–43. ISBN 9781610605595.
  11. ^ "Post-Construction". Union Pacific. Archived from the original on September 8, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  12. ^ "Pacific Fruit Express Company Forms". Union Pacific. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  13. ^ "Lucin Cutoff Opens". Union Pacific. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  14. ^ "M-10000 Streamliner Debuts". Union Pacific. Retrieved September 7, 2018. See also in the sidebar: "By 1936, Union Pacific’s shiny new Streamliners had begun to attract passengers back to the railroad, but the Depression was keeping passenger counts low."
  15. ^ "Union Pacific Railroad invention still takes skiers to the top". Union Pacific Railroad. November 29, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  16. ^ Lund, Morten (2000). "An extraordinary history of Sun Valley". Skiing Heritage Journal. pp. 20–25.
  17. ^ "UP Receives Its Last New Steam Locomotive". Union Pacific. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  18. ^ 1980 mileage is from Moody's Transportation Manual (1981); the ICC's Transport Statistics says Union Pacific System operated 8,614 route-miles at year end 1980, but the 1979 issue says 9,315 route-miles and the 1981 says 9,096, so their 1980 figures look unlikely.
  19. ^ a b "Mergers since 1980". Trains. 76 (11): 31. November 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2018 – via Proquest. (Sidebar on "Transcon Mergers" article.)
  20. ^ a b c d e ICC annual reports
  21. ^ a b Moody's report
  22. ^ Arbona, Joe (August 22, 2007). "Union Pacific Begins Construction of $90 Million State-of-the-Art Intermodal Terminal in Southwest Bexar County". San Antonio, Texas: Union Pacific. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  23. ^ Espinoza, Raquel (March 11, 2009). "Union Pacific Railroad Opens New San Antonio Intermodal Terminal". San Antonio, Texas: Union Pacific. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  24. ^ "North America's Hump Yards". Trains. July 8, 2006. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  25. ^ Theen, Andrew (December 3, 2018). "Proposal would move longtime N. Portland rail yard, develop waterfront property". oregonlive. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  26. ^ a b "'It's unethical': 200 Union Pacific workers given 2 days notice before KC's Neff Yard closed". FOX 4 WDAF-TV. October 15, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ "West Colton Yard" (PDF) (Press release). Union Pacific. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 6, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  28. ^ a b Service, Henry J. Cordes BH News. "Union Pacific sees 'outstanding' results 1 year into efficiency push, but workforce has been cut 13%". North Platte Nebraska's Newspaper. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  29. ^ Brian Solomon. Union Pacific Railroad. Voyageur Press. p. 91. ISBN 9781610605595.
  30. ^ Guss, Chris (March 2018). "Perfecting a unified look". Trains. 78 (3): 14 – via ProQuest.
  31. ^ "Denver & Rio Grande Western Colors Again Ride the Rails" (Press release). Union Pacific Railroad. June 19, 2006. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  32. ^ November 8, Jim Wrinn |; 2019. "Union Pacific donates SD70ACe No. 4141 to George H.W. Bush Presidential Library; Big Boy 4014 joins celebration | Trains Magazine". TrainsMag.com. Retrieved November 8, 2019. {{cite web}}: |last2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "Union Pacific Donates George H.W. Bush Engine 4141 To The Bush Library And Museum". wtaw.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  34. ^ "Union Pacific Railroad Unveils No. 2010 Boy Scouts of America Commemorative Locomotive" (Press release). Union Pacific Railroad. March 31, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  35. ^ "Union Pacific Railroad Unveils Its Pink Ribbon Locomotive" (Press release). Union Pacific Railroad. September 28, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  36. ^ http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/06/06-up-unveils-powered-by-our-people-special-paint-scheme
  37. ^ [Trains Locomotive 2013]
  38. ^ "Train Pride". Union Pacific. Retrieved September 7, 2018. Today Union Pacific operates the largest diesel-electric fleet in the United States.
  39. ^ "UP: Steam". Union Pacific. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  40. ^ "E-9 Streamliners". Union Pacific. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  41. ^ "New Ultra-Low Emission Locomotive Goes to Work in Union Pacific's Los Angeles Basin Rail Yards". Union Pacific. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  42. ^ Guss, Chris (August 2018). "Few flowers for gensets". Trains. 78 (8): 18–19 – via ProQuest.
  43. ^ "Union Pacific Railroad Acquires Big Boy Locomotive No. 4014". Union Pacific. July 23, 2013. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  44. ^ "Centennial DD40X". www.up.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  45. ^ "Accident Investigation Report HQ-2007-29". Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety. May 16, 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  46. ^ "Pictures of UP 1243". www.rrpicturearchives.net. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  47. ^ "Union Pacific 4012: Big Boy". National Park Service. December 6, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  48. ^ "Union Pacific". Fortune. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  49. ^ {{Cite Web|url=https://moneyinc.com/worst-companies-to-work-for/}}
  50. ^ "Metra History". Metra. August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  51. ^ See Solomon, Brian, Railroad Color History: Union Pacific Railroad, p. 72 (photo of last westbound City of Los Angeles taken at Las Vegas on May 2, 1971). MBI Publishing, 2000.
  52. ^ "Scenic route to be taken by Amtrak". Eugene Register-Guard. March 17, 1983. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
  53. ^ "Pacific Limited" (PDF). Union Pacific Railroad. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 16, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2011.(PDF)
  54. ^ "Portland Rose" (PDF). Union Pacific Railroad. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 16, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2011. (PDF)
  55. ^ Alicia Ebaugh, Journal staff writer. "Derailment cuts traffic in Sergeant Bluff". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  56. ^ "NTSB: Why didn't train wait before Oklahoma crash?". The Washington Times. June 26, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  57. ^ "Train engineer's vision problems led to deadly Oklahoma wreck, NTSB rules". Oklahoman.com. June 18, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  58. ^ "NTSB Launches Go-Team to Missouri to Investigate Collision Between Two Freight Trains That Partially Collapsed a Highway Overpass". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  59. ^ Hendricks, Christy. "NTSB investigating after train collision, overpass collapse in Scott County". KFVS12. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  60. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  61. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  62. ^ "Union Pacific train with liquefied gas derails in Portland". Associated Press. September 7, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  63. ^ "Union Pacific train derails in Portland's Albina Yard, cracks support beam of overpass". Fox 12 Oregon. September 7, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  64. ^ a b Young, Molly (September 8, 2019). "Swan Island traffic could be backed up for months after train slams into vital Going Street bridge". The Oregonian. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  65. ^ a b Theen, Andrew (September 25, 2019). "Portland approves $1 million repair contract for Going Street bridge smashed by train". oregonlive. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  66. ^ "Union Pacific identifies broken rail as cause of Portland train derailment, crash into columns". Fox 12 Oregon. September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  67. ^ "Chlorine Rail Car Incident" (PDF). Aristatek. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  68. ^ a b c Nordberg, Jenny; Bogdanich, Walt (November 17, 2004). "Regulators Plan to Step Up Union Pacific Safety Checks". The New York Times.
  69. ^ "NTSB – Remarks by Robert L. Sumwalt". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  70. ^ "Man Killed in Fifth Train Derailment in San Antonio Since May". The New York Times. November 11, 2004. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  71. ^ a b c Bogdanich, Walt (March 19, 2005). "Texas Has Pact With Railroad To Move Lines". The New York Times.
  72. ^ "Train derailment leaves big mess". pro8news. Archived from the original on March 8, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  73. ^ "Train derails near New Braunfels". San Antonio Express News. Retrieved April 18, 2010.[permanent dead link‍]
  74. ^ Davila, Vianna (November 4, 2009). "UP train derails in Atascosa County". San Antonio Express News. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  75. ^ "Train derails near Schulenburg, spills chemical". The Victoria Advocate. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  76. ^ "Schulenburg Train Derailment". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  77. ^ "Union Pacific Railyard Cleanup, Eugene". Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Archived from the original on May 26, 2008. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
  78. ^ "Union Pacific Tests Exhaust Catalyst on Locomotives". Environmental Leader. January 18, 2007. Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  79. ^ BioAge Media. "Green Car Congress: DOT Secretary Commends Union Pacifics Conservation Program, Says US Needs to Go on Energy Diet". greencarcongress.com. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  80. ^ "Portland Man Pleads Guilty to Clean Water Act Violation for Discharging Oil Into Willamette River". Department of Justice - U.S. Attorney’s Office. August 5, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  81. ^ Bernstein, Maxine (June 24, 2019). "Union Pacific plant operator allowed thousands of gallons of oil to spill into Willamette River, feds say". oregonlive. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  82. ^ Bernstein, Maxine (October 28, 2019). "Former Union Pacific plant officer who allowed gallons of oil to seep into Willamette River gets probation". oregonlive. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  83. ^ "Ex-railroad plant operator who allowed oil spill sentenced". AP NEWS. October 29, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  84. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2015-01-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  85. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  86. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved 2015-01-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  87. ^ "Museum History". UPRR Museum. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  88. ^ "U.P. History and Photos". Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  89. ^ "UPRR Museum". Retrieved April 2, 2017.

Further reading

Library resources about
Union Pacific Railroad
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Union Pacific Railroad.
  • Official website Edit this at Wikidata
  • Business data for Union Pacific:
  • System map
  • Photographs of the Construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1868–69 at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University
  • Thousands of photographs from as early as 1860 taken by employees of the Union Pacific railroad
  • Union Pacific Historical Society
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Union_Pacific_Railroad&oldid=934370471"