Nebraska
Nebraska and trains, not surprisingly, go together. The Union Pacific Railroad, for instance, is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the largest railroad network in the United States. UP’s route map covers most of the central and western United States west of Chicago and New Orleans. As of 2008 UP operates on 32,012 miles of track, of which it owns outright 26,171 miles. Both numbers represent the highest amount of any railroad currently operating in the United States.
North Platte, Nebraska is home to Bailey Yard, the world’s largest railroad classification yard. Owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, Bailey Yard handles more than 10,000 railroad cars every day. Approximately 3,000 cars are sorted daily in the yard’s two humps and 114 bowl tracks. Because of the enormous amount of products that pass through Bailey Yard, Union Pacific describes the yard as an “economic barometer of America.”
These pictures are from North Platte, Nebraska courtesy of CSX Engineer Tom Dupee.
