Union Pacific Railroad presentation at CMU

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Officials from Union Pacific Railroad say they have more capacity than they’re using right now, due to labor and driver shortages. They say they are looking forward to using more of that capacity in the future.

That’s part of what the company covered Tuesday during a presentation called “Rail 101″ at the Colorado Mesa University Ballroom.

People in the audience learned how railroads work and how they can be beneficial in terms of economic development for a community and how rail infrastructure is fairly resilient to natural disasters and weather, like wildfires and winter storms.

“One of the things we like to let people know is that we have a bunch of different car types. And some of the different car types are very utilitarian and they can transport a host of different products. And some are very specific, they are only designed for a small and narrow group of products to move,” said Nathan Anderson, Senior Director of Public Affairs with Union Pacific.

The presentation also explained transload facilities, a way to move cargo from one kind of transportation to another. For example, moving a load from a box car to a truck, or from a hopper car to a silo.

“One of the great assets that Union Pacific has in Grand Junction is a rail yard with multiple local service options. We have also a third party that is a transloader, who brings material in railcars into his facility and then delivers them directly to customers who don’t have direct rail access,” said Nathan Anderson, Senior Director of Public Affairs with Union Pacific.

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