UP Rail Gang 9001 Completes Rail Replacement Project in Arizona
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
(Left) Machine Operator Delbert Manygoats speaks with (Right) CEO Jim Vena.
Union Pacific
AZTEC, Ariz. - Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena visited Engineering Rail Gang 9001 in Arizona where the team finished a major rail replacement project.
The project, according to UP, is tied to the Class I’s $3.3 billion infrastructure investment planned for this year. The team is one of six groups systemwide that is responsible for yard and main line rail work, says UP. The rail gang worked to install eight miles of rail in 16 days while simultaneously reaching eight years without injury. Over the course of the project, the team needed 24 pieces of heavy equipment to remove rail, install tie plates, lay new rail, and mill down ties along with spiking and anchoring. UP states the team used a “rail-heating process to bring the steel to its neutral temperature during installation.”
UP system assistant foreperson Jason Steiner said, “Eight years without an injury says a lot about this team. . . It’s not just about rules – it’s about discipline, communication and watching out for each other. We’re professionals, and this record proves we act like it.”
UP CEO Vena visited the Rail Gang and met with several members, including Steiner, trainee Waylon, flagging foreperson Stan Montano, and Rail Equipment Operators David Begay, along with their sons.
Steiner continued, saying he was “proud to tell Jim that both of my sons are on this gang with me. . . He shared a story about his father helping him get his start on the railroad, throwing plates as a 16-year-old kid. That stuck with me – it shows he understands where a lot of us come from.”
