2018 Archive
Community 12272018
Bush Funeral Train Crew 'Just Taking Care of Another Sailor'
For Union Pacific Locomotive Engineer June Nobles and Conductor Randy Kuhaneck, the honor of operating former President George H.W. Bush’s funeral train Dec. 6 was a matter of duty for a fallen sailor.
Innovation 11162018
New California Locomotives Designed to Reduce Emissions
Union Pacific has been aggressively working to achieve lower emissions switchers over the past 16 years.
Heritage 10312018
Steam Update: Big Boy’s New Suspension System Promises a Smooth Ride
With completion of steam giant No. 4014’s massive front engine restoration looming, the UP Steam Team has rebuilt and installed a cushion to cradle all that heavy metal: a brand new coil and leaf-spring suspension system.
Community 10102018
California Nonprofit Turns Aspiring into Achieving
Like most aspiring filmmakers, Jonathan Galan grew up watching and studying movies. His biggest barrier to becoming a filmmaker, he realized, wasn’t that he didn’t have the right equipment, but rather, he didn’t have the right mindset.
Heritage 10052018
The Eighth Wonder of the World’s Crown Jewels
Done. A single word telegraphed around the nation triggered champagne toasts, cannon booms from coast to coast, fireworks and the ringing of The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. It was a celebration of the country’s greatest achievement – completion of the transcontinental railroad – and the joining of East and West. Reporters, politicians and workers heralded the completion as the Eighth Wonder of the World on May 10, 1869.
Safety 09262018
This Traffic Ticket Could Save Your Life
An unnerving feeling of anticipation washes over Brent Nay as the 200-ton locomotive he’s riding in approaches a railroad crossing in Las Vegas, Nevada. The red lights begin to flash; the red-and-white arms fall. Would traffic stop?
Safety 09262018
Problem on the Tracks? Call Us First
What should you do when there is an emergency at a railroad crossing?
Safety 09182018
Big Data Tech Helps Predict Rail Failure
The goal: Take the data collected across more than 32,000 miles of track, plug it into a computer, and accurately predict which track section will break next. They call it predictive analytics, and it’s the science of harvesting vast amounts of data about the past and using it to predict the future.
Community 09122018
Little Rock Central High Legacy Inspires Locomotive Engineer
As a former student of Little Rock Central High School, Union Pacific Locomotive Engineer Harlee Watson is acutely aware of the struggles African-Americans experienced during the Civil Rights Movement.
Safety 09072018
Removing Mental Health Stigma Key to Suicide Prevention
Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Robin Williams – the deaths of such notable figures put suicide in recent news across the globe. But suicide is more than a headline; it’s a tragedy that hits close to home.
Heritage 08292018
Steam Update: Big Boy’s Cylinders Undergo ‘Boring’ Process
Union Pacific’s Steam Team has a new boring process that is anything but boring. Used to restore steam locomotive No. 4014’s main cylinders, Ed Dickens compares the 1930s-era “boring bar” to a spider.
Community 08222018
Building America a Playground at a Time
Despite being points of pride for most communities, it’s easy to take playgrounds for granted. For most people, their primary role is to keep kids occupied – and out of their parents’ hair -- throughout long summer days.
Innovation 08072018
It’s All About Drag: Revolutionizing Railroad Fuel Conservation
Inside Union Pacific’s new aerodynamics laboratory, Wayne Kennedy slides on big green sound-proof ear muffs and cranks the motor powering a mach 0.2 wind tunnel. The 50-foot-long wood, steel and acrylic glass machine roars to life. Smoke swirls around a G-scale model train.
Safety 07182018
Through Dirt, Rock and Water: Reopening Tunnel No. 11
Union Pacific’s Chad Rose said it was hard to understand the scale of what happened until he looked inside the tunnel. “My first thought was, is everyone okay?” said Rose, Union Pacific senior director of maintenance of way.
Community 07112018
Innovative Arkansas Non-Profit Supports Inventive Minds
America is in the midst of a “maker movement,” a world-wide initiative aimed at teaching people to make products rather than consume them. Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, and its “Lead Maker” Dr. Chris Jones, want to deliver this new type of freedom to rural Arkansas.
Innovation 06122018
No Bad Apples in This Bunch
Some say one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. Sarah Gross thinks she can prevent that with the right kind of filter.
Innovation 06042018
Landmark Merger Creates Ocean of Challenge
Halloween 2016 was no trick-or-treat moment for Mark Simon, Union Pacific’s assistant vice president of intermodal marketing and sales. That was the day he learned Japan’s three largest ocean carriers – MOL, NYK and K Line – would merge to become ONE: Ocean Network Express.
Community 05232018
Revamped Union Pacific Foundation Targets Key Community Needs
When Union Pacific Chairman E. Roland Harriman voiced his support for the railroad's first corporate philanthropy program more than 60 years ago, he could never have dreamed his actions would help the teens of today learn how to make “wearable tech.”
Community 05162018
Big Shoulders Fund Brings STEM to Underrepresented Students
In Chicago’s inner-city schools, phrases like “I’m just not good at math” echo among low-income Latino and African-American students. Many of these students don’t consider a career in the STEM fields a possibility.
Heritage 05072018
Steam Update: Modern Bolts and Big Announcements
Before we get to the details of the Steam Team’s big May 10 announcement, here's a look at how new technology is being applied to locomotive No. 4014’s restoration.
Community 04302018
Union Pacific and National Park Foundation Invite You to Explore America's Backyard
Close your eyes and picture a majestic landscape. Listen for chirping birds and the rustling of leaves. For Union Pacific Project Manager Josh Ford, a visit to Montana’s Glacier National Park changed his perspective – he found a place of hope.
Safety 04262018
Positive Train Control: Complex Technology Framework Explained
It's only fitting that as the 150th anniversary of the driving of the golden spike approaches – a monumental effort that joined a nation – that American railroads are implementing Positive Train Control (PTC), a technology framework that brings the rail industry into a new era.
Community 04122018
Wyoming High School Display Honors Transcontinental Railroad
Jim Gilman’s high school art class in Powell, Wyoming, is taking its learning outside the classroom by transforming academic hallways and alcoves into lifelike interactive museum exhibits.
Heritage 03222018
Putting the 'Big Boy' Back Together
Since disassembling UP No. 4014, the ‘Big Boy,’ the Union Pacific Steam Team has cleaned, inspected and repaired nearly every part of the locomotive down to its smallest piece.
Community 02082018
'The Tech' Stokes Curiosity in Tomorrow's Innovators
Deep in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, the next generation of innovators is putting on their safety goggles, rolling up their sleeves and diving into a new world of science. And they’re not even old enough to drive.
Heritage 01032018
A Look Inside the Spine of the 'Big Boy'
Union Pacific's steam team finally is getting down to the bones of UP No. 4014, the 'Big Boy.' The locomotive's big steel front engine bed has been exposed and has a glossy new coat of black paint.