UP Railroad
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, with which it shares a
duopoly A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...
on transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western, Midwestern and
Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
United States. Founded in 1862, the original Union Pacific Rail Road was part of the
first transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
project, later known as the Overland Route. 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 1996, the Union Pacific merged with
Southern Pacific Transportation Company The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
, itself a giant system that was absorbed by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of the Union Pacific Corporation, which are both headquartered at the Union Pacific Center, in Omaha, Nebraska.


History


Union Pacific in the 19th century

The original company, the "Union Pacific Rail Road," incorporated on July 1, 1862 under the
Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 were a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of a "transcontinental railroad" (the Pacific Railroad) in the United States through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of l ...
. President Abraham Lincoln had approved the act, which authorized railroad construction from the Missouri River to the Pacific to ensure the stability of the Union throughout the American Civil War, but construction did not complete until after that conflict's conclusion. The resulting track ran westward from
Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...
to meet in Utah the
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by Pacific Railroad Acts, U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in N ...
line, which had been constructed eastward from Sacramento, California. The combined Union Pacific–Central Pacific line became known as the
First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
and later the Overland Route. The line was constructed primarily by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War. Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, the namesake of the city of
Durant, Iowa Durant is a city in Cedar, Muscatine, and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 1,871 at the time of the 2020 census. The Scott County portion of Durant is part of the Davenport– Moline– Rock Island, IA- IL Metrop ...
, the first rails were laid in
Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
. The two lines were joined at Promontory Summit, Utah, west of Ogden on May 10, 1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America.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 The Utah & Northern Railway is a defunct railroad that was operated in the Utah Territory and later in the Idaho Territory and Montana Territory in the western United States during the 1870s and 1880s. It was the first railroad in Idaho and in M ...
extending north from Ogden into Idaho. 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; the railroad would then pass the inflated costs on to the United States government. To convince the federal government to accept the increased costs, Crédit Mobilier had bribed multiple congressmen. Several prominent UP board members (including Durant) had been involved in the scheme. The ensuing financial crisis of 1873 led to a credit crunch, but not bankruptcy. As boom followed bust, the Union Pacific continued to expand. A new company, with dominant stockholder Jay Gould, purchased the old on January 24, 1880. Gould already owned the
Kansas Pacific The Kansas Pacific Railway (KP) was a historic railroad company that operated in the western United States in the late 19th century. It was a federally chartered railroad, backed with government land grants. At a time when the first transcontin ...
(originally called the Union Pacific, Eastern Division, though in essence a separate railroad), and sought to merge it with UP. Through that merger, the original "Union Pacific Rail Road" transformed into "Union Pacific Railway." Extending towards the Pacific Northwest, Union Pacific built or purchased local lines to reach Portland, Oregon. Towards Colorado, it built the
Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway The Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway was a subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad created from what was the Colorado Central Railroad in 1890. It operated lines from Denver, Colorado through Cheyenne, Wyoming to Wendover, Wyoming and a route f ...
: a system combining 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 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...
. The resulting corporate reorganization reversed Gould's name change: Union Pacific "Railway" merged into a new Union Pacific "Railroad."


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 Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and Salinas Valleys of California grew produce far in excess of local markets, Union Pacific worked with its rival Southern Pacific to develop a spoilage-resistant rail-based transport system. These efforts came culminated in the 1906 founding of
Pacific Fruit Express Pacific Fruit Express was an American railroad refrigerator car leasing company that at one point was the largest refrigerator car operator in the world. History The company was founded on December 7, 1906, as a joint venture between the Union P ...
, soon to be the world's largest lessee of refrigerated railcars. Meanwhile, Union Pacific worked to construct a faster, and more direct substitute for the original climb to Promontory Summit. 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. To attract customers during the Great Depression, Union Pacific's chairman
W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...
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. The latter resulted in the
Sun Valley Sun Valley may refer to: Places Australia * Sun Valley, New South Wales * Sun Valley, Queensland, a suburb of Gladstone United States * Valley of the Sun, a region that covers the Phoenix metropolitan area *Sun Valley, Arizona * Sun Valley, Los A ...
ski resort in central Idaho; it opened in 1936 and finally was sold in 1964. 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. As the 20th century waned, Union Pacific recognized—like most railroads—that remaining a regional railroad would only lead to bankruptcy. On December 31, 1925, UP and its subsidiaries operated routes and tracks; in 1980, these numbers had remained roughly constant (9,266 route-miles and 15,647 track-miles). But in 1982, UP acquired the Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific railroads, and 1988, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas. By 1993, Union Pacific had doubled its system to routes. By then, few large (class I) railroads remained. The same year that Union Pacific merged with the
Chicago and North Western The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
(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 The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from D ...
and Cotton Belt, and forming a duopoly in the West. (Sidebar on "Transcon Mergers" article.) The merged railroad took the Union Pacific name.


Facilities

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. Most UP intermodal terminals are typically ports, but UP also has inland terminals for transfers to trucks, such as the terminal in San Antonio that opened in 2009 or the one in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, that opened in 2014.


Hump yards

In 2006, Union Pacific had 12 major active hump yards: * Albina Yard in Portland, Oregon, present since 1881. * Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska * Beaumont Yard in
Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...
* Davidson Yard in Fort Worth, Texas * Davis Yard in Roseville, California * Englewood Yard in Houston, Texas * Gateway Yard in
East St Louis, Illinois East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a bu ...
, owned by subsidiary Alton and Southern Railway * Livonia Yard in Livonia, Louisiana * North Little Rock Yard in North Little Rock, Arkansas * Proviso Yard in Northlake, Illinois, owned by Chicago and North Western Transportation Company until 1995 * Strang Yard in La Porte, Texas * West Colton Yard in
Bloomington, California Bloomington is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 23,851 at the 2010 census, up from 19,318 at the 2000 census. Though currently unincorporated, many of the town's political acti ...
In the late 2010s, Union Pacific began deactivating hump yards in favor of flat switching. In this, Union Pacific followed the industry-wide trend towards Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR); railway executive Hunter Harrison explained that under PSR, few yards receive enough variegated traffic to necessitate a hump. Union Pacific also closed facilities in
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
("Neff yard"),
Hinkle, Oregon Hinkle is an unincorporated community along the Umatilla River in northwestern Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It is south of Hermiston, near Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30 and Oregon Route 207, within the Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolit ...
, and Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 2019.


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).


Paint and colors

The yellow paint scheme was introduced in the spring of 1934. Engineers claimed the visibility of yellow would reduce
grade crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...
accidents. In 1941, UP introduced its yellow and gray color scheme with red highlights, which remains in use today. 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 (painted Aluminum from 1955 to 1982), underframe, fuel tanks and everything else beneath that line are also Harbor Mist Gray. Lettering and numbering are in Signal Red, with black outlines. Most 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.


Merger partner locomotives

Until 2017, UP operated some locomotives still in the paint scheme of their former railroads. 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. That 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, since retired) still in the 1970s paint scheme, not counting DDA40X No. 6936, which was part of the Union Pacific Heritage Fleet until 2022. In 2017, Union Pacific decided to repaint all locomotives which were not in the current corporate colors. , only 41 locomotives remained unpainted.


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 The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
with UP 1995, the Southern Pacific with UP 1996, and the Denver and Rio Grande Western with
UP 1989 The Union Pacific Heritage Fleet includes commemorative and historic equipment owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The fleet currently consists two historic steam locomotives, three historic diesel locomotives, seventeen modern diesel locomotive ...
. In October 2005, UP unveiled SD70ACe 4141, commissioned in honor of
George Bush George Bush most commonly refers to: * George H. W. Bush (1924–2018), 41st president of the United States and father of the 43rd president * George W. Bush (born 1946), 43rd president of the United States and son of the 41st president Georg ...
. The locomotive has "
George Bush George Bush most commonly refers to: * George H. W. Bush (1924–2018), 41st president of the United States and father of the 43rd president * George W. Bush (born 1946), 43rd president of the United States and son of the 41st president Georg ...
41" on the sides and its paint scheme resembles that of
Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...
. 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 The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and burial site of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States (1989–1993), and his wife Barbara Bush. Located on a site on the west campus of T ...
on November 8, 2019. On March 31, 2010, UP dedicated a specially painted
GE ES44AC The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems (now owned by Wabtec), initially designed to meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. The first pre-production u ...
locomotive commemorating the centennial of the Boy Scouts of America. On September 28, 2010, UP dedicated a specially painted
GE ES44AC The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems (now owned by Wabtec), initially designed to meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. The first pre-production u ...
locomotive, as a tribute to
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Susan G. Komen (formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure; originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; often simply as Komen) is a breast cancer organization in the United States. Komen focuses on patient navigation and advo ...
. 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. In April 2021, Union Pacific repainted an
SD70M The EMD SD70 is a series of diesel-electric locomotives produced by the US company Electro-Motive Diesel in response to the GE Dash 9-44CW. Production commenced in late 1992 and since then over 5,700 units have been produced; most of these are ...
into a commemorative paint scheme called "We Are ONE" to honor Juneteenth and Pride Month. UP also has a collection of locomotives painted for Operation Lifesaver, a rail safety organization founded in 1970.


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. According to Union Pacific, this is the largest fleet of diesel-electric locomotives in the US.


Heritage Equipment

Union Pacific continues to use a small number of "heritage" steam locomotives and early streamlined diesel locomotives. This equipment is used on special charters (excursions).


Low-emissions locomotives

Union Pacific maintains an extensive fleet of low-emissions locomotives. Most are used in Los Angeles basin rail yards, to satisfy an air quality agreement with the local authorities.


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. UP was ranked 134th on the 2019
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
list of the largest United States corporations by revenue and had 41,967 employees. The president of Union Pacific since 2015 is Lance Fritz. Union Pacific has been rated the worst company to work for in 2019 by 247wallst.com, citing CEO Lance Fritz's 12% approval rating and the 22% recommendation rating from Glassdoor.com.


Passenger service


Commuter services

When Union Pacific bought out the Chicago & North Western in 1995, it inherited the railroad's Metra commuter rail services in the Chicago metropolitan area: the 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.


Former services

Between 1869 and 1971, Union Pacific operated passenger service throughout its historic "Overland Route." These trains ran between Chicago and Omaha on the Chicago & Northwestern trackage starting in 1936. Disputes over trackage rights and passenger revenues with the C&NW prompted the UP to switch to the
Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States fr ...
for the handling of its streamliner trains between Chicago and Omaha beginning in late 1955. The last intercity passenger train operated by UP was the westbound ''City of Los Angeles'', arriving at
LA Union Station Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande St ...
on May 2. Since then, Union Pacific has satisfied its common carrier requirements by hosting Amtrak trains.


Hosted trains

Many Amtrak and commuter rail routes use Union Pacific rails. This list excludes the commuter services the company directly operates in Chicago (see above).


Amtrak

* '' Amtrak Cascades'' * '' California Zephyr'' * '' Capitol Corridor'' * '' Coast Starlight'' * '' Lincoln Service'' * ''
Missouri River Runner The ''Missouri River Runner'' is a passenger train service operated by Amtrak between Gateway Transportation Center in St. Louis and Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. The eastern half of the route runs largely along the right bank of th ...
'' * '' Pacific Surfliner'' * '' San Joaquin'' * ''
Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betwe ...
'' * '' Texas Eagle''


Commuter trains

* Altamont Corridor Express * Caltrain * FrontRunner * Metrolink ** Riverside Line ** Ventura County Line * RTD commuter rail ** G Line * Trinity Railway Express


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. * 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 east of the meeting point. 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 requiring a color test for 10 signals. * November 15, 2012: A UP train struck a parade float in Midland, Texas, killing four and injuring 16 passengers on the parade float. * 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. 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 . Three months later, the Route M overpass reopened with a new design. * June 3, 2016: a 96-car oil train derailed in the Columbia River Gorge near
Mosier, Oregon Mosier is a city along the Columbia River in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 433 at the 2010 census. History Mosier was first settled in 1854 and incorporated as a city in 1914. The building now known as the post office ...
. Eleven cars derailed, at least one caught on fire, and of Bakken crude oil spilled, some going into the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
. Some were eventually recovered. * Mid-late 2018: the Niland Geyser, a moving mud pot, encroached on the railroad near the eastern shore of the Salton Sea, requiring extensive engineering work to first delay the movement and then build a temporary diversion. * September 7, 2019: a Union Pacific train of two locomotives and three tank cars carrying
liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...
derailed and crashed into an overpass support column at the Albina Yard in Portland, Oregon 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 cars and trucks. Four lanes were left unsafe after the derailment. Two of six lanes remain closed as of November 14, 2019. The cause of the crash was broken rails. There was nobody on board the train which was remotely operated at the time of crash. In May 2020, another Union Pacific derailment damaged a different overpass which ''
The Skanner ''The Skanner'' or ''The Skanner News'' is an African-American newspaper covering the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Its head office is in Portland, Oregon, with an additional office in Seattle, Washington. Prior to discontinuing regular ...
'' described as an ongoing safety concern. * March 21, 2022: a Union Pacific freight train derailed and fell from a viaduct in Colton, California.


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. 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. 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. 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. Between June 2004 and March 2005, 10 trains derailed, killing as many people. 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. But the relative impunity UP seemed to exhibit regarding the derailment led to suggestions that the FRA was far "too cozy...to the railroads." In March 2005, Texas Governor
Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...
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. Trains have continued to derail in the area including an incident in June 2009 where tank cars containing chlorine and petroleum naptha xylene derailed, but did not spill.


Community responsibility


Transient camp and graffiti issues

The City of San Jose, California threatened Union Pacific with a lawsuit in 2019 after years of complaints about
transient ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program ( signals intelligence/SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the five signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement:Given the 5 dialects that ...
and graffiti blight going unaddressed. For the first time in many years, Union Pacific cleaned out along the tracks starting in November 2019. San Jose Councilman Sergio Jimenez said
“The reality is that Union Pacific has not been a good neighbor,”
San Jose's mayor Sam Liccardo said
"At any given conference of mayors, you won’t hear anyone expressing confidence that Union Pacific will respond nimbly or collaboratively," and "But we are hopeful that the (memorandum of understanding) will turn a page on Union Pacific’s behavior in the past to enable a more collaborative relationship going forward."
'' The Mercury News'' reports that company has been uncooperative and non responsive to working together, such as failing to come through with graffiti abatement as Union Pacific had promised the city.


2022 Utah Legislative Action

In 2022, Legislators in Utah brought forth two separate bills specifically aimed at Union Pacific. The first, HB181, was raised after some municipalities encountered resistance from Union Pacific when attempting to upgrade rail crossings. In
Logan, Utah Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 census recorded the population was 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Cache County and Franklin ...
, Union Pacific altered a construction agreement to require the city to pay maintenance fees in perpetuity for an upgraded crossing, a mandate which was against state code. The proposed legislation would make it easier for municipalities to get crossing improvements approved, and clarifies which party must pay associated maintenance costs. The second bill, HB405, would have required Union Pacific to replace their ageing fleet of Tier 0 switching locomotives with hydrogen or electric engines by 2028, due to Utah having very poor air quality in winter months. According to Utah Senator Schultz, Union Pacific was uncooperative on the switching locomotive bill if Utah did not drop the railroad crossings bill. Ultimately, HB181 passed, and HB405 was dropped after Union Pacific made voluntary commitments to replace several tier 0 switching locomotives with less polluting tier 2 locomotives, as well as to test some all electric ones in the Utah Roper Rail Yard.


Environmental record

In Eugene, Oregon, where pollution from a century-old rail 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. In 2007, Union Pacific Railroad worked with the
US EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
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. The company's Fuel Master program rewards locomotive engineers who save the most
fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
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. 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 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 The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...
for releasing the oil into the environment. Webb plead guilty in August 2019 and was sentenced to two years probation and a $2,500 fine. In 2016, the Union Pacific Railroad Co. was named as a defendant in a lawsuit seeking cleanup of a contaminated rail yard site that operated in
Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...
, from the late 1800s until the 1960s. In 2020, Houston residents living near a Union Pacific Railroad Company rail yard filed lawsuits against the Union Pacific. These lawsuits followed the finding by the State of Texas of a higher-than-expected incidence of certain cancers in residents living close to the yard. A State of Texas report released in 2021 identified an additional cancer cluster of
lymphoblastic leukemia Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the lymphoid line of blood cells characterized by the development of large numbers of immature lymphocytes. Symptoms may include feeling tired, pale skin color, fever, easy bleeding or bruisin ...
in children.


EMP

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are the largest owner-partners of EMP, a domestic freight 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 freight company include CN Railway,
CP Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
,
I&M Rail Link The I&M Rail Link was a railroad operating in the north central portion of the United States. The company commenced operations on April 5, 1997, acquiring lines from the Canadian Pacific Railway and Soo Line Railroad. On July 31, 2002, the Io ...
, Iowa Interstate Railroad, Wisconsin Central Ltd., and Kansas City Southern Railway.


Union Pacific Railroad Museum

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is a former Carnegie library in
Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...
, 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.


See also

*
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by Pacific Railroad Acts, U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in N ...
*
First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
* ''Hell on Wheels (TV series), Hell on Wheels'' (TV series involving Union Pacific set in 1865) * History of rail transportation in California * Kansas Pacific Railway * Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad * Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad * Missouri Pacific Railroad * Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company * Oregon Short Line *
Pacific Fruit Express Pacific Fruit Express was an American railroad refrigerator car leasing company that at one point was the largest refrigerator car operator in the world. History The company was founded on December 7, 1906, as a joint venture between the Union P ...
* Railex *
Southern Pacific Transportation Company The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
* Sun Valley, Idaho * Western Pacific Railroad


Notes


References


Further reading

* * – covers impact of the railroad on the region it served from the 1860s to the 1890s. * – heavily illustrated * * * * * – the standard scholarly history * * * * * * illustrated account of the Union Pacific and other North American Railroads


External links

* {{Authority control Union Pacific Railroad, Class I railroads in North America First transcontinental railroad Arizona railroads Arkansas railroads California railroads Colorado railroads Idaho railroads Illinois railroads Iowa railroads Kansas railroads Louisiana railroads Minnesota railroads Missouri railroads Montana railroads Nebraska railroads Nevada railroads New Mexico railroads Oklahoma railroads Oregon railroads Tennessee railroads Texas railroads Utah railroads Washington (state) railroads Wisconsin railroads Wyoming railroads Southern Pacific Railroad Rail lines receiving land grants Railway companies established in 1862 Railway companies disestablished in 1880 Railway companies established in 1897 Companies based in Omaha, Nebraska Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies operating former Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad lines, Companies operating former Chicago and North Western Transportation Company lines Companies operating former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad lines Companies operating former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad lines Companies operating former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad lines Companies operating former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad lines, Companies operating former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad lines Companies operating former Illinois Central Railroad lines Companies operating former Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad lines, Companies operating former Missouri Pacific Railroad lines, Companies operating former New York Central Railroad lines Companies operating former Northern Pacific Railway lines Companies operating former St. Louis–San Francisco Railway lines Companies operating former St. Louis Southwestern Railway lines, Companies operating former Southern Pacific Transportation Company lines, Companies operating former Union Pacific Railroad lines, Companies operating former Western Pacific Railroad lines, Defunct Michigan railroads Defunct South Dakota railroads Rail in St. Louis Railway lines in Omaha, Nebraska Superfund sites in Oregon Economy of the Western United States 1862 establishments in Nebraska Territory American companies established in 1862