Category: Union Pacific

Emergency Officials Investigating After Freight Train Hauling New Vehicles Derails In Arizona

Authorities said a freight train derailed in northern Arizona about 30 miles west of Flagstaff on June 7, heavily damaging 23 rail cars. Coconino County Emergency Management (CCEM) officials said the agency is investigating the 11:20 p.m. accident involving a BNSF freight train east of Williams. “A total of 23 cars derailed and sustained heavy…


Explosives Manufacturer Reports Losing Over 30 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate

Over 30 tons of a chemical used in fertilizer and high explosives went missing from a railcar traveling west from Wyoming to California in April, and investigators still don’t know how it happened. According to news outlets, on May 10—a month after the incident—explosives manufacturer Dyno Nobel filed a report with the U.S. Environmental Protection…


Union Pacific Reaches Agreement With 2 Unions on Paid Sick Leave Days

The Union Pacific Railroad Company announced this week that it has reached voluntary agreements with two of its unions, and approving paid sick leave for 2,100 rail workers. In a statement on Feb. 20, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) said the deal will add four new days of sick leave each year, noting that…


Parked Beautifully: Ornate Train Car Harkens Back to Bygone Travel Era

While picking up a takeout order from the Holiday Inn café in West Yellowstone, Montana last summer, I was taken aback. Situated in front of the hotel is a historic Pullman train car. I ascended the metal platform stairs and entered. A true back-in-time experience awaited. And, as I am already exceptionally enamored with trains…


Investing: How to Play a Shifting Economy

By Kim Clark From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance U.S. companies prospered for decades as new markets opened for their goods and labor costs plummeted thanks to overseas production. But now, the pandemic and spreading political and military conflicts have stretched supply chains past the breaking point, prompting companies to bring many operations closer to home, says…


Person Hit by Freight Train and Killed in Palmdale Area

PALMDALE, Calif.—A person was struck and killed by a Union Pacific (UPRR) freight train Aug. 26 in Palmdale. The fatality was reported at about 5 a.m. Friday in the 38800 block of Clocktower Plaza Drive, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. According to a tweet by Metrolink, passenger rail service was affected, and…


Despite Theft Concerns Union Pacific Won’t Yet Leave Los Angeles

Union Pacific (UP) threatened to end rail traffic through Los Angeles County in response to widespread train burglary, but it has deferred a decision for the near future. The company told The Epoch Times that it would continue to work with Los Angeles law enforcement over the issue for several months. “We brought in dozens…


Lax Prosecution Contributing to LA Cargo Theft Surge, Experts Say

In recent weeks national attention became focused on photos and videos showing Union Pacific rail tracks littered with discarded cartons and boxes following organized looting just east of downtown Los Angeles. Many of the packages that had not been stolen or damaged would head towards Chicago or Canada before they finally reach the recipients’ doorsteps,…


LA-Area Cargo Thefts Turn Deadly

FONTANA, Calif.—Police were investigating the death of two people suspected of stealing cargo from containers on a Union Pacific train in Fontana, California, Dec. 29. The suspects died in a crash after fleeing from police. A train conductor called police at about 4 a.m. to report a maroon van parked along a stopped train. The…


Thieves Raid Shipping Containers on Union Pacific

LOS ANGELES—Thieves continue to target shipping containers loaded onto Union Pacific trains in the Los Angeles region, leaving open boxes strewn across the ground around the tracks. “We are aware of the problem and we’re working to resolve the issue and we’re working with local law enforcement in that county,” Union Pacific spokeswoman Robynn Tysver…