(The following appeared on the Wyoming Business Report website on December 22, 2009.)
OMAHA, Neb. Union Pacific Railroad is used to setting records for carrying Wyoming coal in unit trains, and now it is setting records for hauling grain and soybeans, too.
The Omaha-based railroad announced last week that it set a monthly record last month for moving loaded agricultural unit trains from facilities across its network. In November, the railroad moved 400 agricultural unit trains, breaking the previous record of 381 trains during October 2006. Of the 400 trains, 338 of them were grain and soybean unit trains and 62 were grain product trains.
"With record crop production levels, we knew this would be a busy year. Every area, from operating to engineering to our dispatch center, was ready for the challenge and provided peak service levels for our customers," said Paul Hammes, Union Pacific vice president and general manager agricultural.
UP also said it moved a record 35,558 carloads of grain and soybeans in November, beating the previous record 33,797 cars in 2007, and moved its second highest number of soybean cars in November.
Union Pacific Railroad is the nations largest, linking 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country.
