Union Pacific – Page 26 – Railfanning.org

UP Tests Experimental Locomotive Exhaust Filter

December 15, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

OAKLAND, Calif. – Union Pacific Railroad has begun a year-long test in an Oakland rail yard to determine if an experimental after market exhaust system filter will reduce diesel engine emissions in older railroad locomotives. “Our goal is to find innovative methods of further reducing exhaust emissions to create a better environment,” said Bob Grimaila, Union Pacific’s vice president for environment and safety. A 1,500-horsepower yard locomotive built in November 1982 has been retrofitted with diesel particulate filters or “DPFs.” The DPF initiative is the result of a four-year program, funded in part by Union Pacific, to assess exhaust after

UP: Moving Record Trainloads of Coal

December 6, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

OMAHA, Neb. – With winter energy needs nearing their peak, Union Pacific is moving record trainloads of coal from Wyoming’s Southern Powder River Basin (SPRB) and coal-producing mines in Colorado and Utah. During November, Union Pacific moved 20 million tons of coal from the SPRB and Colorado and Utah, an increase of nearly 8 percent over November 2005. The railroad posted its third best average daily performance in the SPRB, averaging 35.7 trains per day. The movement of Colorado and Utah coal posted its best daily train numbers of the year in November, averaging 11.6 trains per day. Union Pacific

Service Restored on Missouri-Sponsored Amtrak Service on St. Louis-Kansas City Route

December 5, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Amtrak, the Missouri Department of Transportation and Union Pacific are celebrating the restoration of regular twice-daily round-trip trains on the St. Louis-Kansas City Missouri Mules route. “The interrupted service has been frustrating for several months for passengers,” said Missouri State Senate President Pro Tem Michael R. Gibbons. “We can all be thankful for the return of safer and smoother full service in time for the holiday season.” The celebration marks a $32 million rehabilitation of the 283-mile route, which is primarily owned by UP. Nearly 70 miles of track has been improved to make rail service

Amtrak Service Alert: All Illinois, Missouri Trains To and From St. Louis Will Operate Tuesday

December 5, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

ST. LOUIS – All Amtrak service between Chicago and St. Louis in Illinois and between Kansas City and St. Louis in Missouri is restored as of Tuesday, Dec. 5, following a severe winter storm that disrupted Union Pacific Railroad portions of the routes northeast and west of St. Louis. All five Chicago-St. Louis round-trips will operate this Tuesday, along with both Kansas City-St. Louis round-trips. Service by Amtrak Texas Eagle Trains 21 & 22 between Chicago and San Antonio, Texas, via St. Louis, and service by Amtrak Southwest Chief Trains 3 & 4 between Chicago and Los Angeles, via Kansas

Union Pacific Opens ‘State-of-the-Art’ Locomotive Shop

November 13, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. – A new Union Pacific locomotive maintenance and repair facility is designed to reduce the amount of time that coal trains spend at the Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., according to the railroad. Union Pacific and GE today commemorated the opening of yard in North Platte, Neb. — North America’s largest rail yard. The new locomotive shop will support GE locomotives which carry more than 95 percent of the coal handled by Union Pacific. “Our mindset is that coal is king and a significant part of our time is spent ensuring coal deliveries are moving as

Veterans Welcome as Rail Industry Hires 80,000 Employees; Major Railroads Cited as Top Military-Friendly Employers

November 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – The nation’s four largest railroads have all made the list of “Top 50 Military-Friendly Employers” as determined by GI Jobs magazine. The railroad industry is creating 80,000 American jobs over the next six years, and is one of the few industries that doesn’t outsource its jobs or facilities overseas. Thousands of those being hired are former military personnel, including both officers and enlisted personnel. The jobs they perform cross the entire spectrum of railroading, from locomotive engineers to conductors to civil engineers to information technology to marketing. “Today, railroads are going through a hiring boom as more and

Union Pacific Expands Recruiting Effort Through U.S. Army Partnership

November 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

OMAHA, Neb. – For the second year in a row, G.I. Jobs magazine has named Union Pacific Railroad the nation’s top Military-Friendly Employer. The magazine commended Union Pacific’s resource-laden effort and high-performance results in recruiting transitioning military personnel. According to G.I. Jobs, “Union Pacific’s No. 1 ranking is based on the resources and assets it has dedicated exclusively to recruiting members of the military.” “Military operations are based upon defining a mission, developing a plan, moving troops and equipment, and executing the plan with vigor through superior leadership skills,” said Rick McCormack, G.I. Jobs publisher. “These are also basic components

NTSB: Train Crew’s Failure to Remain Attentive Led to 2005 Wreck

October 30, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the probable cause of the Oct. 15, 2005, collision of two Union Pacific trains in Texarkana, Ark., was the failure of a train crew to remain attentive and alert and thereby able to stop before striking an observable standing train in front of them. Contributing to the severity of the wreck was the puncture of a tank car during the collision, which resulted in the release of propylene, a compressed flammable gas. Also, the yardmaster did not immediately provide emergency responders with a consist which would have immediately identified the

NTSB to Consider Two Final Accident Reports

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public board meeting Oct. 17 to consider final accident reports about a pair of crashes. The first case involves an Oct. 15, 2005, collision near Texarkana, Ark. In that wreck, a westbound Union Pacific Railroad train collided with the rear of a standing UP train in a rail yard. The collision resulted in the puncture of a railroad tank car containing propylene, a flammable gas. An unknown ignition source ignited the migrating gas, exploding a house and killing the person inside. Approximately 3,000 residents within a 1-mile radius of the

New Clean Air Technology Tested at Roseville Rail Yard

August 3, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

ROSEVILLE, Calif. – An innovative technology to capture and treat emissions from diesel train locomotives is being unveiled today in Roseville as part of a project to demonstrate the system’s effectiveness in improving air quality near working rail yards, officials say. The new system, known as the Advanced Locomotive Emission Control System (ALECS), will apply technology used to capture emissions from industrial plants to near-stationary locomotives. ALECS is expected to reduce sulfur dioxide by 99 percent, particulate matter by 99 percent, nitrogen oxide by 95 percent and water-soluble volatile organic compounds by 50 percent from captured and treated locomotive emissions.