Traveling Exhibit Provides Close-up Look at How the Railroad Helped Build America
Omaha, Neb., April 13, 2012 – Three of the most graceful locomotives in American history will travel to San Antonio as part the “UP 150 Express Tour” to celebrate the company’s 150th Anniversary at the annual Fiesta Celebration. The sleek E-9 locomotives took over in the 1950s, when the steam era was over and increasingly powerful diesels ruled the rails. Also known as streamliners, E-9 locomotives are the last of Union Pacific’s high-speed diesel-electrics built for service on the famous streamliner and domeliner passenger trains.
Editor’s Note: Steam locomotive No. 844 is experiencing mechanical issues, changing plans for Union Pacific’s 150th Anniversary celebration in San Antonio.
The E-9 locomotives will pull a rail car that was converted into a traveling exhibit that honors Union Pacific’s rich history. Using dramatic graphics and the latest in interactive touch screen technology, the Union Pacific 150th Anniversary Traveling Exhibit shares the history of the development of the first transcontinental railroad and culminates with the modern railroad we know today.
It was 150 years ago that Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act of July 1, 1862, creating the original Union Pacific. One of America’s iconic companies, today, Union Pacific Railroad links 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail and providing freight solutions and logistics expertise to the global supply chain. From 2000 through 2011, Union Pacific spent more than $31 billion on its network and operations, making needed investments in America’s infrastructure and enhancing its ability to provide safe, reliable, fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible freight transportation.
Schedule for the UP 150 Express:
Arrival at Sunset Station
Location: Commerce Street Crossing
Thursday, April 19 at 1 p.m.
Union Pacific 150th Anniversary Traveling Exhibit Public Display
Location: San Antonio Amtrak Depot, 350 Hoefgen Street
Saturday, April 21, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Source: UP News Release dated Apr.13, 2012
NS Press Release dated Apr. 16, 2012:
Major expansion to key Norfolk Southern rail facility in Ohio supports the economy and moves freight
Project to add 275 new railroad jobs to the community of Bellevue
BELLEVUE, OHIO – Norfolk Southern this month will begin a $160 million project to expand its Bellevue rail yard in Northern Ohio, a project that will double the yard’s capacity in order to meet rising demand for freight rail transportation.
“Bellevue is already an important terminal for the classification and movement of freight, and this investment will expand and modernize Bellevue, contributing to the fluid movement of long-distance freight across our rail system,” said Mark Manion, Norfolk Southern’s chief operating officer. “This project will help us improve asset utilization and efficiency, enhance customer service, strengthen our entire 22-state system, and further confirm Ohio’s importance to freight rail transportation.”
Some 275 new railroad jobs will be added to the 700 positions currently based in Bellevue. NS employs about 3,600 people across Ohio and plans to hire another 60 in the state by the end of 2012 to address attrition and shipper needs.
Other key elements of the project include:
38 new tracks, bringing the total number of classification tracks to 80.
38.5 miles of new rail, which will allow NS to increase the number of cars classified from about 1,800 to as many as 3,600 a day.
145 miles of underground cable for communication and signal systems.
140 new automated switches to direct train traffic to the proper tracks.
11 upgraded control points, signals that will make train access to the Bellevue facility more efficient.
Bellevue is one of 12 NS classification facilities, where freight cars are collected and sorted for their final destinations. When completed in 2015, Bellevue will be the largest classification yard on the NS system.
The community of Bellevue has been a railroading center since the late 19th century, when NS’ Nickel Plate Road predecessor line came to town. Bellevue Yard opened in 1966 on NS’ Norfolk and Western Railway predecessor line. Today, 100 to 110 trains pass through daily, while 20 to 30 originate in the area and a like number terminate in the area. For the most part, the trains carry vehicles, vehicle parts, agricultural products, and consumer products.
MRL press release dated 3-27-12:
Montana Rail Link’s yearly calendar has fast become a collector’s item. It is distributed to hundreds of businesses in the U.S. and Canada and is sought by railroad enthusiasts throughout the world. MRL is currently accepting photographs for consideration for publication in our upcoming 2013 calendar.
We encourage you to submit your entries by 5:00p.m. Friday, July 2, 2012.
We look forward to sharing your photos of MRL’s people and equipment in action!
Submission information available on MRL’s website.
CN to acquire 161 locomotives to handle expected traffic increases, improve operational efficiency
Will help meet growth and customer focused service plans
MONTREAL, March 22, 2012 — CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today a major locomotive acquisition program to accommodate anticipated traffic growth and to improve operational efficiency, enabling the railway to better serve its customers.
CN will acquire 65 new high-horsepower locomotives as well as 96 second-hand high-horsepower locomotives that will be upgraded.
Keith Creel, executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said: “CN’s locomotive acquisition program represents a balanced, capital-effective approach to handle expected volume growth over the next two to five years and to meet the locomotive requirements resulting from customer focused service plans.
“The new and used motive power will enhance operational efficiency and reduce fuel consumption by permitting the retirement of older, high-maintenance locomotives and the cascading of less fuel-efficient main-line units into less-demanding yard and local switching operations, while providing additional locomotives to accommodate increased traffic.”
CN will take delivery in 2013-14 of 35 new ES44AC locomotives from GE Transportation (GE), and 30 new SD70ACe locomotives from Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD). The GE units have 4,400 and the SD70ACe units 4,300 horsepower.
Creel added: “The program includes the acquisition of alternating-current locomotives (AC), which will represent a first for CN. Our current fleet of approximately 1,900 locomotives employs direct-current (DC) traction technology, which has served us well because of the overall favourable grades of our network.
“We will harness the key advantage of AC traction – much higher adhesion or train-pulling ability at low speeds — in assigning the new AC units to heavy-haul coal service in northern British Columbia and Alberta, where steep grades and sharp rail curvature make heavy demands on our locomotives.”
CN will purchase this year 42 second-hand GE Dash 8-40C locomotives, 11 leased GE Dash 8-40C locomotives, and 43 second-hand EMD SD60 locomotives. The Dash 8 units have 4,000 and the SD60s 3,800 horsepower. These direct-current technology locomotives will be upgraded to CN specifications.
The new locomotives CN is purchasing are equipped with distributed power technology (DP), a GE product, which improves train handling and fuel efficiency. The company expects that 50 per cent of its high-horsepower locomotive fleet will have DP by the end of 2013.
DP technology permits remote control of a locomotive or locomotives throughout a train from the lead control unit. DP provides faster, smoother train starts, improved braking and lower pulling forces at the head-end and within a train, contributing significantly to improved safety. With more optimum matching of motive power to train weight, DP locomotives also allow CN to reduce fuel consumption and reduce emissions.
Creel said: “A robust, fuel-efficient locomotive fleet is critical to CN’s plan to take advantage of the traffic growth we expect in the years ahead and to ensure we have the motive-power assets to improve the supply chains of our customers and enhance their competitiveness in domestic and global markets.”
Source: CN press release dated 3/22/12
