Union Pacific Railroad | |
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System map (trackage rights in purple) |
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Reporting mark | UP |
Locale | United States from Chicago, Illinois, and cities along the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast |
Dates of operation | 1862–present |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
Headquarters | 1400 Douglas Street Omaha, Nebraska |
The Union Pacific Railroad (reporting mark UP) (NYSE: UNP), headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman.[1][2]
UP's route map covers most of the central and western United States west of Chicago and New Orleans. As of December 31, 2008 UP operates on 32,012 miles (51,518 km) of track, of which it owns outright 26,171 miles (42,118 km).[3] Both numbers represent the highest amount of any railroad currently operating in the United States.[4][5] It has achieved this size as a result of purchasing a large number of other railroads, notably the Missouri Pacific, Chicago and North Western, Western Pacific, Missouri-Kansas-Texas, and the Southern Pacific (including the Rio Grande). Currently, Union Pacific owns 26% of Ferromex while Grupo Mexico owns the remaining 74%.
UP's chief railroad competitor is the BNSF Railway, which covers much of the same territory in the United States.
History
The original company, prior to later uniting with the Central Pacific Railroad, 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. It was constructed westwardly from Council Bluffs to meet the Central Pacific line, which was constructed eastwardly from San Francisco bay. The line was constructed primarily by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War.[6] The two lines were joined together at Promontory Summit, Utah, fifty-three miles west of Ogden on May 10, 1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America. 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, Nebraska. Subsequently, UP took over three Mormon-built roads: the Utah Central Rail Road extending south from Ogden, Utah, 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; and it built or absorbed local lines that gave it access to Denver and to Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest. It acquired the Kansas Pacific (originally called the Union Pacific, Eastern Division, though in essence a separate railroad). It also owned narrow gauge trackage into the heart of the Colorado Rockies and a standard gauge line south from Denver across New Mexico into Texas (both parts of the Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway).
UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed in 1872, that involved bribing congressmen and stock speculations. Its early troubles led to bankruptcy during the 1870s, the result of which was reorganization of the Union Pacific Railroad as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24, 1880, with its dominant stockholder being Jay Gould. The new company also declared bankruptcy, in 1893, but emerged on July 1, 1897, reverting to the original name, Union Pacific Railroad. Such minor changes in corporate titles were a common result of reorganization after bankruptcy among American railroads. This period saw the UP sell off some of its holdings; the Union Pacific Railway, Central Branch became the Central Branch of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Southern Branch was acquired by the newly-incorporated Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad in 1870. However, the UP soon recovered, and was strong enough to take control of Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1901 and then was ordered in 1913 by the U.S. Supreme Court to surrender control of the same. UP also founded the Sun Valley resort in Idaho in 1936, the UP engineering department in Omaha designed the first ski chairlift that summer. The MP and MKT both came back into the UP fold in the 1980s. On September 11, 1996 UP finally acquired SP in a transaction envisioned nearly a century earlier.
The headquarters of the railroad operation of the UP has been in Omaha, Nebraska, since its inception. Currently they are housed in the Union Pacific Center, completed in 2003. Other important UP facilities in Omaha have included the Union Pacific Railroad Omaha Shops Facility and the Harriman Dispatch Center. The corporate headquarters of the Union Pacific Corporation were located in New York City from its initial founding in the 1860s until Drew Lewis became CEO in the mid-1980s, at which time they were relocated to Bethlehem PA, and then later to Dallas TX; the corporate headquarters of the Union Pacific Corporation are now located also in Omaha.[7]
Union Pacific Corporation
Type | Public |
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Traded as | NYSE: UNP NASDAQ: UNP |
Industry | Railroad |
Founded | July 1, 1862 |
Headquarters | Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
Area served | United States |
Key people | James Young (Chairman, President and CEO) |
Revenue | US$ 16.965 billion (2010)[8] |
Operating income | US$ 4.981 billion (2010)[8] |
Net income | US$ 2.780 billion (2010)[8] |
Total assets | US$ 43.008 billion (2010)[8] |
Total equity | US$ 17.763 billion (2010)[8] |
Employees | 42,884 (2010)[8] |
Website | UP.com |
In 1986 UP purchased Overnite Transportation, a fairly major less-than-truckload shipping carrier. UP divested itself of Overnite Trucking through an IPO in 2004.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, UP purchased several non-railroad companies, such as Skyway Freight Systems of Watsonville, California, and United States Pollution Control, Inc., but by 2000, following the appointment of Richard K. Davidson as CEO, it had divested itself of all non-railroad properties except for Overnite Trucking, and its holding company for logistical technology, Fenix Enterprises.
The Union Pacific Corporation (not the railroad itself) was located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania until 1997, when Richard K. Davidson announced that it was moving to Dallas in September of that year. Two years later, on the sale of Skyway and the impending divestiture of Overnite, the UP corporate headquarters moved to Omaha to join the headquarters of the railroad.
Current trackage
Primarily concentrated west of the Mississippi River, UP directly owns and operates track in 23 U.S. states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. For administrative purposes, its network is divided into 21 “service units”: Chicago, Council Bluffs, Commuter Operations, Denver, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Kansas City, Livonia, Los Angeles, North Little Rock, North Platte, Portland, Roseville, San Antonio, Saint Louis, Tucson, Twin Cities, Utah, and Wichita (incomplete list). Each “service unit” is further divided into many different subdivisions, which represent segments of track ranging from 300-mile (480 km) mainlines to 10-mile (16 km) branch-lines.
Not including second, third, and fourth main line track, yard track, and siding track, UP directly operated some 36,206 miles (58,364 kilometers) of track, as of March 24, 2000. When the additional tracks are counted, the amount of track that it has direct control over rises to 54,116 miles (87,091 kilometers).
UP has also been able to reach agreements with competing railroads, mostly BNSF, that allow the railroad to operate its own trains with its own crews on hundreds of miles of competing railroads’ main tracks.
Furthermore, due to the practice of locomotive leasing and sharing undertaken by the Class I railroads, UP locomotives occasionally show up on competitors' tracks throughout the United States, Canada and most recently, Mexico.
In California, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) maintains a database of crossings.
Yards and facilities
Because of the large size of UP, hundreds of yards throughout its rail network are needed to effectively handle the daily transport of goods from one place to another. To reduce overall emissions, Union Pacific is acquiring a new generation of environmentally friendly locomotives for use in Los Angeles basin rail yards.
Some of the more prominent rail facilities in UP’s system include:
- The Intermodal Container Transfer Facility in Wilmington, California, serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
- Bailey Yard, the largest railroad classification yard in the world, located in North Platte, Nebraska.
- The Hinkle Locomotive Service and Repair Facility in Hermiston, Oregon.
- J.R. Davis Yard, the largest rail facility on the United States’ west coast, in Roseville, California.
- Jenks Shop, one of the largest locomotive overhaul and maintenance facilities in the world, located in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
- Global III Intermodal Facility, a critical interchange hub and loading/unloading terminal for intermodal shipments moving through the Chicago metropolitan area, in Rochelle, Illinois.
- Mira Loma Terminal in Mira Loma, California, the principal distribution center for Chrysler and Ford in Southern California
- Union Pacific Dallas Intermodal Terminal, a massive $80 million expansion of the railroad's transportation hub outside of Dallas, Texas.
- Union Pacific San Antonio Intermodal Terminal is a $90 million state-of-the-art intermodal terminal under construction in San Antonio, Texas and is expected to be complete in 2008.[9]
Active hump yards
Hump yards work by using a small hill over which cars are pushed, before being released down a slope and switched automatically into cuts of cars, ready to be made into outbound trains. UP's active humps include:[10]
- Northlake, Illinois – Proviso Yard
- Fort Worth, Texas – Davidson Yard
- Hermiston, Oregon – Hinkle Yard
- Houston, Texas – Englewood Yard
- La Porte, Texas – Strang Yard
- Kansas City, Missouri – Neff Yard
- Livonia, Louisiana
- Pine Bluff, Arkansas
- North Little Rock, Arkansas – North Little Rock Yard
- North Platte, Nebraska – Bailey Yard
- Roseville, California – Davis Yard
- Colton, California – West Colton Yard
- Beaumont, Texas – Beaumont Yard
- East St Louis, Illinois – Gateway Yard
Union Pacific Police Department
Union Pacific maintains a functioning police department staffed with Special Agents with jurisdiction over crimes against the railroad. Special Agents have federal and state arrest powers and can enforce laws even off railroad property in most states where the railroad operates. Special Agents typically investigate major incidents such as derailments, sabotage, grade crossing accidents, and hazardous material accidents and minor issues such as trespassing on the railroad right of way, vandalism/graffiti, and theft of company property or customer product.
Special Agents often coordinate with local, state, and federal law enforcement on issues concerning the railroad and are dispatched nationally through UP Headquarters in Omaha.
Union Pacific Railroad Museum
The Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa, houses one of the oldest corporate collections in the nation. It includes artifacts, photographs, and documents that trace the development of the railroad and the American West.
The completion of Union Pacific’s transcontinental railroad in 1869 helped shape the landscape and geography and brought tens of thousands of westward-bound immigrants to the American West.
The museum’s collection features 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.[11]
In 2009, the America’s Power Factuality Tour stopped at the Union Pacific Railroad Museum to report on the railroad’s role in generating electricity in the United States.[12]
Locomotive and rolling stock
Paint and colors
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, so-named because it was the color used by the Armour meat company. A thin band of Signal Red divides this from the Harbor Mist Gray (a fairly light gray) used for the body and roof above that point. Signal Red is also painted at 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 (historically passenger locomotives, and some recent units from 2000 on) have white-outlined blue "wings" on the nose. More recently, some units have been repainted with a large, billowing American flag with the corporate motto "Building America" on the side, where the 'UNION PACIFIC' lettering is normally positioned. This paint scheme is known as "Building America," "Wings," or "Flags and Flares."
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. Passenger cars, cabooses, and other non-freight equipment have also been painted in a similar fashion.
The steam locomotive paint schemes are unique in their own way. Up until the mid-1940s, all steam locomotives on UP were painted in a standard scheme: the smokebox and firebox were painted graphite and the rest was painted jet black; the lettering was usually aluminum. In the late 1940s, many passenger steam locomotives were repainted in a two-tone grey scheme to match the scheme applied to some coaching stock. These locomotives were painted light grey, with one dark gray strip running from front to rear alongside the running board and in the middle of the tender. This dark grey strip was outlined in yellow (originally aluminum), and all lettering inside the strip was yellow also. After 1952, these locomotives were repainted in the same basic black color scheme as the earlier freight locomotives. The grey passenger cars were repainted in the yellow scheme.
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 UP since the 1980s. The engine numbers match the year that the predecessor railroad was absorbed into Union Pacific. 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. Although the Denver & Rio Grande Western was not a direct predecessor because it had purchased the SP in 1988 but kept the larger system's name, the Union Pacific still included it in the heritage series.[13]
In October 2005, UP unveiled another specially painted SD70ACe: 4141 has "George Bush 41" on the sides and its paint scheme resembles that of Air Force One.
On March 31, 2010, UP dedicated a specially painted GE ES44AC locomotive commemorating the centennial of the Boy Scouts of America.[14] Although it retains the standard Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist colors, the unit has a large BSA 2010 logo on the side and the scouting logo low on the side of the nose.
2008 locomotive roster
As of January 1, 2008, UP has 8,595 locomotives on its active roster.[15][16]
Type | Quantity |
---|---|
4-6-6-4 | 1 |
4-8-4 | 1 |
B40-8 | 91 |
C40-8 | 333 |
C40-8W | 50 |
C41-8W | 154 |
C4460AC | 80 |
C44-9W | 274 |
C44AC/CTE | 1338 |
C45AC/CTE | 775 |
C6044AC | 176 |
C60AC | 75 |
DDA40X | 1 |
E9A | 2 |
E9B | 1 |
GP15-1 | 160 |
GP38-2 | 334 |
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 | 948 |
SD40T-2 | 24 |
SD40T-2R | 84 |
SD50 | 10 |
SD60 | 85 |
SD60M | 560 |
SD70ACe | 321 |
SD70M | 1452 |
SD9043AC | 309 |
SW1500 | 18 |
Surviving merger partner locomotives
As of March 21, 2010, UP operates 50 Southern Pacific, 36 St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt), and 2 Chicago and North Western locomotives that are still in the former railroads' paint. In addition, many locomotives have been "patched" and 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 allows UP to number locomotives into its roster, yet it takes less time and money than it does to perform a complete repaint into UP colors. As of July 31, 2005, UP rostered 492 "patches", consisting of:
- 37 Chicago and North Western (whose CNW logos have been hidden by the "patches"),
- 445 Southern Pacific
- 47 St. Louis Southwestern
- 23 Denver and Rio Grande Western
While not technically a predecessor locomotive in the traditional sense, UP rosters a single SD40-2 (3564) in pre-merger paint.
Historic locomotives
Alone among modern railroads, UP maintains a small fleet of historic locomotives for special trains and hire in its Cheyenne, Wyoming roundhouse. The roundhouse is just south of the historic depot.
- 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. A mechanical failure occurred on June 24, 1999, in which the boiler tubes from the 1996 overhaul, being made of the wrong material, collapsed inside the boiler and put the steam locomotive out of commission. The UP steam crew successfully repaired it and returned it to service on November 10, 2004. 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 largest steam locomotive still in operation anywhere in the world. Withdrawn from service in 1962, it was stored in the UP roundhouse until 1975, when it was moved to the employees' parking lot outside the Cheyenne, Wyoming, depot until 1981 when a team of employee volunteers restored it to service. In 2007, it underwent repairs for service, and was back up and running in 2008 to continue its run.
- 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 and for charter specials. While externally they are 1955 vintage locomotives, the original twin 1200 hp 12-cylinder 567 series engines have been replaced with single EMD 16-645E 2000 hp (1.5 MW) engines and the electrical and control equipment similarly upgraded, making them more modern locomotives under the skin. Some refer to the units as "E38-2" units, as the internal equipment was taken from wrecked GP38-2 locomotives. 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 to increase safety in the event of collision.
- UP 6936 is an EMD DDA40X "Centennial" diesel-electric locomotive. These were the largest diesel locomotives ever built and were manufactured specifically for UP.
- UP 5511 is a 2-10-2 steam locomotive. This locomotive is very rarely ever heard of, because it was never donated for public display. This locomotive is reportedly in excellent condition, and a restoration probably would not take more than a couple of weeks. The only thing keeping it from being restored is that it would be limited to 40 mph (64 km/h) or lower due to its large cylinders and small drivers. As of August 2004, this locomotive is being offered for sale by UP. It is currently in storage at the roundhouse where 844 & 3985 are repaired in Cheyenne, Wyoming
- UP 1243 is a 4-6-0 steam locomotive, and is the oldest locomotive owned by UP. Built in 1890 and retired in 1957, it was at first stored in Rawlins, Wyoming. It was cosmetically restored in 1990 for public display, and toured with 844 as part of the Idaho and Wyoming Centennial train, being moved on a flat car. It was moved to Omaha, Nebraska in November 1996 and put on display at the Western Heritage Museum.
In addition there are a number of other locomotives kept in storage for possible future restoration. Rio Grande (DRGW) F9B 5763 is one of the units in storage, part of the Trio (A-B-B) of F9s that served on the Rio Grande in various Passenger Duty services (From the Denver Ski Train to the Zephyr Trains) until their retirement in 1996. Sister Units 5771 (F9A) and 5762 (F9B) were donated to the Colorado Railroad Museum. Chicago & Northwestern F7 #401, used in Chicago Commuter Service, also was retained by UP.
UP 838, a twin to 844, is stored in the Cheyenne roundhouse as a parts source, though as most of its usable parts have already been applied to 844, it is more likely to see use as a source of pattern parts for reproduction replacements. Reputedly, 838's boiler is in better condition than that of 844, due to 838 having not been in steam since retirement, compared to 844's relatively heavy use since 1960.
Among the former tenants was Southern Pacific 1518 (the First Production SD7 ex EMD demo 990), transferred to the Illinois Railway Museum after sometime in storage in the UP shops.
Preserved locomotives
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.
- UP 18, 26. From 1948 to the early 1970s, UP operated a series of Gas turbine-electric locomotives. No other railroad in the world operated turbines on such a scale. At one point, UP claimed that the turbines hauled 10% of its freight. These were ultimately retired due to rising fuel costs. Union Pacific GTELs can be seen on display, UP 18 at the Illinois Railway Museum and UP 26 at the Utah State Railroad Museum.
- UP 407 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Sidney, Nebraska in July 1956.
- UP 421 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Fairbury, Nebraska in April 1956.
- UP 423 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Gering, Nebraska in July 1955.
- UP 428 – A 2-8-0 type, on display at Illinois Railway Museum, Union, Illinois.
- UP 437 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Grand Island, Nebraska in September 1955.
- UP 440 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Lincoln, Nebraska in May 1955, moved to Mid-Continent Railway Museum, North Freedom, Wisconsin in June 1975.
- UP 460 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Marysville, Kansas in April 1956.
- UP 477 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Salina, Kansas in July 1955.
- UP 480 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of North Platte, Nebraska in February 1956.
- UP 481 – A 2-8-0 type, on display at Buffalo County Historical Society, Kearney, Nebraska.
- UP 485 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Lexington, Nebraska in June 1956.
- UP 529 – A 2-8-0 type, on display at Northwest Railway Museum, Snoqualmie, Washington.
- UP 533 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Rawlins, Wyoming in December 1958.
- UP 561 – A 2-8-0 type, on display at Pawnee Park, Columbus, Nebraska.
- UP 616 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Nampa, Idaho in August 1958.
- UP 618 – A 2-8-0 type, at the Heber Valley Historic Railroad.
- UP 737 – A 4-4-0 type, was in the collection of Steamtown National Historic Site, then moved to Feather River Railroad Museum, Portola, California. Currently displayed at the Double-T Agricultural Museum in Stevinson, CA.
- UP 119 – A 4-4-0 type, the original was scrapped, and thus technically does not count as a preserved engine. However, a full sized, exact replica was built in 1979, and currently operates at the Golden Spike National Historic Site.
- UP 814 – A 4-8-4 type, on display at Dodge Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa.
- UP 833 – A 4-8-4 type, on display at Eccles Rail Center, Utah State Railroad Museum Union Station, Ogden, Utah.
- UP 1242 – A 4-6-0 type, on display at Lions Park, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
- UP 2005 – A 2-8-2 type, on display at Ross Park, Pocatello, Idaho.
- UP 2295 – A 2-8-2 type, on display at former UP passenger depot, Boise, Idaho.
- UP 2537 – A 2-8-2 type, donated to City of Walla Walla, Washington in December 1959.
- UP 2564 – A 2-8-2 type, originally on display in Oro Grande, California, May 1959, then moved to Orange Empire Railway Museum, Perris, California.
- UP 3203 – A 4-6-2 type, donated to City of Portland, Oregon in January 1958. Originally Oregon Railway and Navigation Company #197, it was moved to the Brooklyn Roundhouse in 1996 and is scheduled to return to operation by 2012.
- UP 3206 – A 4-6-2 type, originally on display at Highbridge Park in Spokane, Washington. Moved to Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds in 1978.
- UP 3977 is the only 4-6-6-4 Challenger class dual-service steam locomotive on static display. It is located in Cody Park in North Platte, Nebraska.
- UP 4004 – A Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotive, on display in Holiday Park, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
- UP 4005 – A Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotive, on display at Forney Museum of Transportation, Denver, Colorado.
- UP 4006 – A Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotive, on display at National Museum of Transport, St. Louis, Missouri.
- UP 4012 – A Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotive, originally on display at Bellows Falls, Vermont, moved to Steamtown, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
- UP 4014 – A Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotive, on display at Los Angeles County Fair Grounds, Pomona, California.
- UP 4017 – A Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotive, on display at National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
- UP 4018 – A Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotive, originally on display at Texas State Fair Grounds, Dallas, Texas. Number 4018, currently residing at the Museum of the American Railroad in Dallas, TX, almost saw a return to operation in 1998 when a film director proposed restoring the locomotive for use in a movie. However, it has been 9 years since anything has been heard of this proposal, and it is considered to have been only a whim.
- UP 4023 – A Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotive, on display at Lauritzen Gardens/Kenefick Park, Omaha, Nebraska. It has been rumoured that Number 4023 was being considered by UP for restoration to operational status.[citation needed]
- UP 4420 – An 0-6-0 type, donated to City of Evanston, Wyoming, in June 1958.
- UP 4436 – An 0-6-0 type, on display at Eccles Rail Cener, Utah State Railroad Museum Union Station, Ogden, Utah.
- UP 4439 – An 0-6-0 type, on display at Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California.
- UP 4442 – An 0-6-0 type, donated to City of Las Vegas, Nevada, in April 1960, since moved to Henderson, Nevada.
- UP 4455 – An 0-6-0 type, was operated by the Laramie Portland Cement plant hauling limestone from the quarry southwest of Laramie, Wyoming until 1965, then to Colorado Railroad Museum for display.
- UP 4466 – An 0-6-0 type built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1920, displayed at the California State Railroad Museum. It operated at the museum until 1999.
- UP 6051 – A 2-8-0 type, on display at Fairmount park, Riverside, California.
- UP 6072 – A 2-8-0 type, on display at Ft. Riley Museum, Ft. Riley, Kansas.
- UP 6237 – A 2-8-0 type, donated to City of Hastings, Nebraska in July 1956.
- UP 6264 – A 2-8-0 type, on display at Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City, Nevada.
- UP 6535 – A 2-8-0 type, on display at LaBonte Park, Laramie, Wyoming.
- UP 6900 Centennial series – Several of the huge DDA40X diesel-electric locomotives have been saved. Other than 6936 that UP maintains in its heritage fleet, none of the remaining Centennials operate. However, 6930 at the Illinois Railway Museum has operating cab controls, allowing it to couple to another locomotive and control it.
- UP 9000, a Union Pacific 9000 class 4-12-2 giant non-articulated freight locomotive, at the Fairplex in Pomona, California.
Passenger train service
Union Pacific operated through passenger service over its historic "Overland Route" between 1869 until May 1, 1971. The last passenger train operated by UP was the westbound City of Los Angeles. After May 1, 1971 Amtrak assumed operation of long-distance passenger operations in the United States. UP at various times operated the following named passenger trains:
- 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.)[17]
- Pony Express, operated between Kansas City and Los Angeles) (1926—1954)
- Portland Rose (in service between Chicago and Portland, beginning in the 1920s)[18]
- 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)
UP mainly operates commuter trains for Metra on the Union Pacific Lines: Union Pacific/North Line, Union Pacific/Northwest Line, and Union Pacific/West Line.
Many Amtrak Routes use Union Pacific rails: Amtrak Cascades, California Zephyr, Capitol Corridor, Cardinal, Coast Starlight, Hoosier State, Lincoln Service, Missouri River Runner, Pacific Surfliner, San Joaquin, Sunset Limited, and Texas Eagle.
Accidents
On June 28, 2004 in Macdona, Texas a UP train collided with an idle BNSF train resulting in the puncturing of a 90-ton tank car carrying liquified chlorine. As the chlorine vaporized, a toxic “yellow cloud” soon formed which killed 3 (the UP conductor and two residents nearby) and caused 43 hospitalizations. The costs of cleanup and property damaged during the incident have exceeded 7 million dollars.[19]
Another derailment in November 1994 killed a bystander in a neighboring business in San Antonio. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson demanded a federal investigation in the Union Pacific crashes around Bexar County.[20] Area civic leaders called for the rerouting of Union Pacific’s hazardous chemicals around the city altogether.[citation needed] In March 2005, Texas Governor Rick Perry supported a plan to reroute trains around large urban population centers in the state of Texas, including San Antonio [21]
Various investigations of the Macdona incident have revealed several serious safety lapses on the part of the Union Pacific and its employees; specifically, Federal Railroad Administration officials in 2004 have reported that the Union Pacific had "notable deficiencies", including its employees not following the company's own safety rules.[22] While initial reports blamed "fatigue" of the crew of the UP train,[citation needed] many other contributing factors have been cited. Among those, the improper placing of the chlorine tank cars near the front of the train.[23] Placing cars containing hazardous materials had traditionally been an operational measure used to safeguard against the likelihood of the tank cars being among the first affected in the event of a derailment and reduce their likelihood of colliding with heavier steel cars.[clarification needed]
In the aftermath of the Macdona and other incidents, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) signed a compliance agreement with the railroad in November 2004 in which the railroad promised to rectify the "notable deficiencies" that regulators found.[21][22] Specifically, the agreement mandated increased training for railroad managers and increased FRA inspectors in the region by 10 inspectors.[22] United States Assemblyman Charlie Gonzalez questioned if the agreement went far enough; he and other Congressional delegation members questioned the FRA's "partnership" approach as being "too cozy a relationship to the railroads" and cited an article in The New York Times that reported that the acting FRA administrator, Betty Monro, and the chief lobbyist for Union Pacific, Mary E. McAuliffe, had vacationed several times together on Nantucket.[22]
The railroad’s San Antonio Service Unit (SASU) has had other derailments.[24][25][26][27] Including a Schulenburg, Texas incident in June 2009 in which again tank cars containing chlorine and petroleum naptha xylene derailed but were not punctured.[28]
Facts and figures
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:
- 35,437 Covered Hoppers
- 12,272 Boxcars
- 18,647 Open-top Hoppers
- 13,780 Gondolas
- 14,148 “Other” types of cars
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.
Company officers
Presidents of the Union Pacific Railroad:
- William Butler Ogden (1862–1863)
- John Adams Dix (1863–1865)
- Oliver Ames, Jr. (1866–1871)
- Thomas Alexander Scott (1871–1872)
- Horace F. Clark (1872–1873)
- John Duff (1873–1874)
- Sidney Dillon (1874–1884)
- Charles F. Adams (1884–1890)
- Sidney Dillon (1890–1892)
- S.H.H. Clark (1890–1898)
- W.S. Pierce (acting) (1897)
- Horace G. Burt (1898–1904)
- E. H. Harriman (1904–1909)
- Robert S. Lovett (1910–1911)
- A.L. Mohler (1911–1916)
- E.E. Calvin (1916–1918)
- C.B. Seger (1918–1919)
- Carl R. Gray (1920–1937)
- William Jeffers (1937–?)
- G.F. Ashby (1946–1949)
- A.E. Stoddard (1949–1965)
- E.H. Bailey (1965–1971)
- John Kenefick (1971–1986)
- Drew Lewis (1986–1987)
- Mike Walsh (1987–1991)
- Richard K. Davidson (1991–1996)
- Ron Burns (several months in 1996)
- Jerry Davis (1996–1998)
- Ike Evans (1998–2004)
- James R. Young (2004–present)
Chief Executive Officers, Presidents, and Chairmen of the Union Pacific Corporation (parent corporation of the railroad)
- John Kenefick (several months in 1986)
- Drew Lewis (1986–1997)
- Richard K. Davidson (1997 – January 2006)
-
- James R. Young (January 2006)
-
Environmental record
Citing its development of a "green" locomotive fleet and energy conservation measures, the UP states it is "...committed to protecting the environment now and for future generations. Our employees, customers, shareholders and the communities we serve can expect our full compliance with all laws and regulations ... We will continue our leadership in caring for the environment while delivering the goods that America needs."[29] In Eugene, Oregon, the UP and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality are jointly studying ground contamination at the railroad's yard originating from over one hundred years ago, consisting mostly of petroleum hydrocarbons, industrial solvents, and metals. This has affected a nearby groundwater source.[30]
Union Pacific Railroad has recently started an experimental method of reducing emissions from the engine exhaust of their locomotives. By adding an experimental oxidation catalyst filtering canister to the diesel engine's exhaust manifold, they are attempting to reduce the amount of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter generated, much like a catalytic converter in automobiles and trucks. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle Fuels and Emissions Laboratory provided most of the funding for the test. Using Ultra Low Sulfur diesel with the oxicat resulted in reduced particulate emissions by approximately 50 percent, unburned hydrocarbons by 38 percent and carbon monoxide by 82 percent.[31]
See also
- Central Pacific Railroad, Kansas Pacific Railway, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, Missouri Pacific Railroad
- Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad, Pacific Fruit Express, Southern Pacific Railroad, Western Pacific Railroad
- California and the railroads
- First Transcontinental Railroad
- Control Car Remote Control Locomotive (ex-locomotives used by the UP for remote control)
- Renzenberger, Inc.
- Railex
- Hell on Wheels (T.V. series involving the Union Pacific in 1865)
Notes
- ^ Union Pacific Railroad. "UP: Executive Profiles – James R. Young, President and Chief Executive Officer". http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/exec/index.shtml#young. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ "Union Pacific Elects President and CEO James R. Young Chairman of the Board" (Press release). Union Pacific Railroad. 2007-01-30. http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/releases/financial/2007/0130_youngceo.shtml. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ http://www.up.com/investors/attachments/secfiling/2009/upc10k_020609.pdf
- ^ "Union Pacific Railroad Company – 2005" (PDF). Association of American Railroads. http://aar.org/PubCommon/Documents/AboutTheIndustry/RRProfile_UP.pdf. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
- ^ "Railroad Industry Profiles". Association of American Railroads. 2008. Archived from the original on 2007-12-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20071222093432/http://www.aar.org/AboutTheIndustry/RailroadProfiles.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
- ^ Collins, R.M. (2010). Irish Gandy Dancer: A tale of building the Transcontiental Railroad. Seattle: Create Space. pp. 198. ISBN 978-1452826318. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1452826315.
- ^ [UP:Chronological History http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/uprr-chr.shtml]
- ^ a b c d e f "2010 Form 10-K, Union Pacific Corporation". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/100885/000119312511024531/d10k.htm.
- ^ UP: Union Pacific Begins Construction of $90 Million State-of-the-Art Intermodal Terminal in Southwest Bexar County
- ^ Trains Magazine (July 8, 2006). "North America's Hump Yards". http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=537. Retrieved June 27, 2008.
- ^ "About Us: The Union Pacific Railroad Museum". http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/museum/index.shtml. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ "History on Rails: Union Pacific Railroad Museum from Abraham Lincoln to today". http://factualitytour.americaspower.org/history-rails-union-pacific-railroad-museum-takes-us-abraham-lincoln-today. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ "Denver & Rio Grande Western Colors Again Ride the Rails" (Press release). Union Pacific Railroad. 2006-06-19. http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/releases/heritage_and_steam/2006/0619_drgw.shtml. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- ^ "Union Pacific Railroad Unveils No. 2010 Boy Scouts of America Commemorative Locomotive" (Press release). Union Pacific Railroad. 2010-03-31. http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/releases/community/2010/0331_boyscouts.shtml. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- ^ http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/reference/locorost.shtml
- ^ http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/attachments/locorost.pdf
- ^ "Pacific Limited". Union Pacific Railroad. http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/attachments/special_trains/historical_equipment/pacific_limited.pdf. Retrieved 1 December 2011.(PDF)
- ^ "Portland Rose". Union Pacific Railroad. http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/attachments/special_trains/historical_equipment/portland_rose.pdf. Retrieved 1 December 2011. (PDF)
- ^ "Chlorine Rail Car Incident". Aristatek. http://www.aristatek.com/newsletter/0708August/TechSpeak.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ "Man Killed in Fifth Train Derailment in San Antonio Since May". New York Times. 2004-11-11. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/11/national/11derail.html. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ a b Bogdanich, Walt (March 19, 2005). "Texas Has Pact With Railroad To Move Lines". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE7DA113CF93AA25750C0A9639C8B63.
- ^ a b c d Nordberg, Jenny; Bogdanich, Walt (November 17, 2004). "Regulators Plan to Step Up Union Pacific Safety Checks". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/17/politics/17rail.html.
- ^ "NTSB – Remarks by Robert L. Sumwalt". National Transportation Safety Board. http://www.ntsb.gov/speeches/sumwalt/rls070522.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- ^ "Train derailment leaves big mess". pro8news. http://www.pro8news.com/news/local/86466522.html. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ "Train derails near New Braunfels". San Antonio Express News. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Train_derails_near_New_Braunfels_without_injuries.html. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ "UP train derails in Atascosa County". San Antonio Express News. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Union_Pacific_train_derails_in_Atascosa_County.html. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ "Train derails near Schulenburg, spills chemical". The Victoria Advocate. http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2009/jun/15/er_train_derailment_061609_54757/. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
- ^ "Schulenburg Train Derailment". United States Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epaosc.org/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=5112. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ Union Pacific Railroad. "UP: Environmental Management". http://www.uprr.com/she/emg/index.shtml. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ "Union Pacific Railyard Cleanup, Eugene". Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/cu/wr/UPRREugene/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ "Union Pacific Tests Exhaust Catalyst on Locomotives". Environmental Leader. 2007-01-18. http://www.environmentalleader.com/2007/01/18/union-pacific-tests-exhaust-catalyst-on-locomotives/. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
References
- Ambrose, Stephen E. (2000). Nothing Like It In The World; The men who built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863–1869. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84609-8.
- Cooper, Bruce C., "Riding the Transcontinental Rails: Overland Travel on the Pacific Railroad 1865–1881" (2005), Polyglot Press, Philadelphia ISBN 1-4115-9993-4
- Cooper, Bruce Clement (Ed), "The Classic Western American Railroad Routes". New York: Chartwell Books/Worth Press, 2010. ISBN 9780785825739; BINC: 3099794.
- Trains News Wire (May 17, 2005), UPS to buy Overnite trucking company. Retrieved May 18, 2005 — details UPS/Overnite deal.
- Union Pacific Railroad
- Thousands of photographs from as early as 1860 taken by employees of the Union Pacific railroad
- Union Pacific Historical Society
- The Union Pacific Railroad "Building America"
- Union Pacific Railroad 19th Century Stereoview Exhibit (at the Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum)
- Union Pacific Railroad, History of the UP logo: Decorative Victorian logos. Retrieved February 24, 2005.
- Union Pacific Railroad, History of the UP logo: Early shields. Retrieved February 24, 2005.
- Union Pacific Railroad, Significant individuals. Retrieved February 24, 2005.
Books
- Athearn, Robert G. Union Pacific Country (1976) 480pp; covers impact of the railroad on the region it served from the 1860s to the 1890s.
- Cahill, Marie, and Lynne Piade. The History of the Union Pacific: America's Great Transcontinental Railroad (1996), heavily illustrated
- Galloway, John Debo, The First Transcontinental Railroad: Central Pacific, Union Pacific (1990)
- Kelly, John (2009) Union Pacific Railroad – Photo Archive: Passenger Trains of the City Fleet Iconografix ISBN 978-1583882368
- Klein, Maury. Union Pacific: Volume I, 1862–1893 (U of Minnesota press, 2006); 820pp excerpt and text search; the standard scholarly history
- Klein, Maury. Union Pacific: Volume II, 1894–1969 (2006) excerpt and text search
- Klein, Maury. Union Pacific: The Reconfiguration: America's Greatest Railroad From 1969 to the Present(Oxford University Press; 2011), vol 3.
- Mitchell, Thomas Warner. "The Growth of the Union Pacific and Its Financial Operations," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Aug., 1907), pp. 569–612 in JSTOR
External links
- Union Pacific's official website and system map
- Railserve's Union Pacific News
- Perry, John D.; Wright, William Wierman; LeConte, John Lawrence (1868). Letter of John D. Perry, President of the Union Pacific Railway, Eastern ... Union Pacific Railway: Reports Showing the Necessity and Advantages of its Construction to the Pacific By Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division, President. Philadelphia: Review Printing House. http://books.google.com/?id=jJUpAAAAYAAJ&dq=John%20D.%20Perry%20Kansas%20Railway&pg=PP2#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved February 19, 2011.
- Photographs of the Construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1868–69 at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University
- Heritage paint photos: Union Pacific 1982 (Missouri Pacific), Union Pacific 1983 (Western Pacific), Union Pacific 1988 (Missouri-Kansas-Texas),
- Union Pacific 1989 (Denver & Rio Grande Western), Union Pacific 1995 (Chicago and North Western), Union Pacific 1996 (Southern Pacific), and Union Pacific 4141 (Air Force One)
- Golden Spike Tower and Visitor Center
- A Brief History of Union Pacific's Passenger Trains
- Manifest Destiny? The Union Pacific-Southern Pacific Merger
- The Union Pacific/Southern Pacific Rail Merger: A Retrospective on Merger Benefits
- Union Pacific at the Internet Movie Database
- Railex in partnership with the Union Pacific
- Nevada Central RR Branch of the UP 1880–1888 http://nevada-railways.net/
- Railroad Photograph collection, including photos of Union Pacific construction] at Newberry Library
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