Me of course I love em
Are you talking modern era, or their days of thunder?
Union Pacific was one of the tightest roads in the '30s through '50s. The days of the Big Boys, FEFs, 2 tone gray passenger trains, and Veranda Turbines were SWEET.
In modern times, I see them as a large, power house railroad. Too bad their lawyers screwed us.
But I’m can’t rate them on shipping, as I have nothing large enough that needs to be moved by rail.
I’ll agree with that, and add to it the 4-12-2 steamer, and the rest of UP’s turbines!
But in modern day, eh, I can’t say that I’m impressed, maybe they should hire better lawyers.
Drown the lawyers in the Pacific, and run the RAILROAD. The new heritage paint schemes are a step in the right direction for external and internal relations, remembering the people who built great railroads, both those on the line and those who relied on the line. Running the railroad is ALL ABOUT moving merchandise to destinations in a timely efficient manner. If everyone on the inside is working toward those ends, then the customers on the outside including the modelers will be pleased.
Will
i think they are great. they still run their steam program and to me thats a lot. and lets face it it’s a dog eat dog world and the up is here to make money.B T W i was in a cafe in walnut ridge AR witch is across the street from a small yard.anyway a up freight stoped across from us and a man came in got two take out orders.then back across to the train and off they went.
Too much too soon and they paid for it with traffic congestion and angry shippers. They seem to be pulling themselves out of it, but I still see trains parked on sidings out here on their main between Sacramento and Roseville for lack of crews. They seem to be coming around to the fact that their Overland Route is too crowded, so they’re starting to send overflow back over their ex-Rio Grande Moffat Route in Colorado, and they’re at least working on their Sunset Route to get the whole thing double-tracked through Arizona and New Mexico like their super-efficient competitor BNSF to the north. But it’s going to be a long haul, and frankly, their Public Relations Department sucks. UP reminds me of the guy that orders a fourteen-course meal and suddenly realizes that there’s no way he’s going to be able to eat the whole thing.
Tom
Good question, RedneckBob.
I like Union Pacific’s “Days of Thunder”–but through the early 80s.
In addition to the turbines, DD giants, steam program, etc; it’s also the railroad that helped make a lowly, odd looking EMD six axle locomotive famous in railroading circles: The SD40-2!-----which for a while was being snubbed by the large railroads in favor of the 20 cylinder 45 class. I used to despise this locomotive, now I’d like to have several HO models of it, two in UP.
IMHO, it’s a business that runs like many other corporations today. Like some businesses, UP has shot itself in the foot many times but also makes its contributions to society. Thousands of employees rely on UP to support themselves and family.
There is some “PR” effort as UP recently paid for the Boy Scouts to attend the circus. ( I speed read a news article about it) Union Pacific has a direct impact on our economy. BNSF, while the better run railroad, can’t handle it all alone.
I’m hoping that there will be new leadership at UP’s helm soon, but realistically that’s not likely. Inspite of agonizing many of its shippers (and Amtrak ) UP continues to post record profits.
what can i say, they are a railroad and i like any kinds of trains
I don’t think $5 more is too much to pay for those pretty paint schemes. I’ve always like UP.
it has trains …good enough for me[:)][:P][(-D][oX)]
Never shipped anything using them, so I guess I can’t comment.
From the 1940s till the Centenials were retired,they were a great railroad.From that time until the mid 90s they were so-so.Since then UP $uck$[:(!][xx(]!
They get a 3 because, up until they started playing the borg game they we’re a class act, and because of their steam program.
I give 'em an 8. I know, I know, they’re screwing us modelers over. But all around I enjoy railfanning what little UP I can. And a merger between them and CSX would be sweet, but, please, let’s not get started on mergers.
uspscsx
- They have my favourite DDiesels. Not to mention the Turbines.
I feel that the company has been smeared and brought down by its lawyers
lets look at the company, the railroad, and what the rr really represents to the country,
not what some foolish lawyers think.Hopefully they will get better lawyers soon
maybe some laywers who are model railroaders should become their lawyers
Perhaps they will undo what those lawyers did to MR.[:D]
i still gave them a 7, because unfortunatley they are not as efficient currently as BNSF
I rated them an 8, always room for improvement for everybody. The olden days of bigboys was great. In modern times, it is very difficult to run a big RR because of high costs from everything from expansion to labor costs to maintenance. I fhtey think that business will expand…how much? How fast? Based on this assumption, do they spend megabucks on track expansions to eliminate delays, and purchase more equipment,? Hire and train more people? What if the business does not materialize? Now what happens with all the extra people, equipment, and loans to pay off for track expansion and equipment? It isn’t that simple guys… when this country was expanding 100 years ago, no problem, go for it, we had no super highways for trucking. Today, not that easy guys is it !!
I rated them a 3. Overall, I can’t say I am a fan of the UP, and my home is in Omaha! In the interest of full disclosure, I am not originally from that area.
Don’t get me wrong, nothing as big and as storied as the UP can be entirely despised (hence the 3). However, my major dislike deals with nostalgia, disapperance of fallen flags rather than merge at least some of their identity (heritage paint schemes notwithstanding) and the bully like attitude they’ve taken.
They’ve blocked access to their lines and resisted at least one up start, Missouri Central, to reopen a line the UP wanted to abandon. I have no probelm with aggressively trying to outdo the competition but the UP couldn’t meet its own shippers deadlines. If the shippers go to another line (if available) or go to the trucks, what has UP accomplished by their aggressive stance?
Plus, as indicated by others, they never saw the upturn in traffic and didn’t adequately plan for it. Will they survive, of course, but they have a bit of a black eye and are taking steps to recover from it.
Finally, on the licensing issue, I’ve heard many sides and reasons. I’ll ask UP this question. If the intent was so your logo would not go on inferior or inaccurate models, publish all your paint schemes, blue prints, etc to the internet for the common modeler so we can make sure our models are as authenticate as you wi***hem to be.
RedGrey