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A Brief Overview
Union Pacific Railroad's Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska
is the largest reclassification yard in the world, drawing railfans from all over. It was named
in honor of Union Pacific President Edd H. Bailey. This massive
yard covers 2,850 acres, reaching a total length of eight miles,
well beyond the borders of North Platte, a community of 24,500 citizens.
Every 24 hours, UPRR's Bailey Yard handles 10,000 railroad cars. Of those,
3,000 are sorted daily in the yard's eastward and westward yards,
nicknamed "hump yards". Using a mound cresting 34 feet for eastbound
trains and 20.1 for those heading west, these two hump yards allow
four cars a minute to roll gently into any of 114 "bowl" tracks
where they become part of trains headed for dozens of destinations.
Together these two yards 18 receiving and 16 departure tracks.
Bailey Yard also sports quite the diesel repair facility on it's grounds,
providing "one-stop" servicing to trains and a locomotive repair shop. Bailey
Yard mechanical forces fill locomives with 14 million gallons of diesel
fuel every month. The shop replaces 10,000 pairs of wheels yearly
and has a fleet of trucks to repair small defects in the trains. The
shop can also repair 18 to 20 cars per hour, with shifts running 24
hours. They fix 750 locomotives annually. Bailey Yard's goods tell
the story of American commerce, for through here pass refrigerators,
TV's, coal, automobiles, potatoes, fruit, wine, lumber, corn, sugar,
steel, chemicals, and hundreds of other commodities used every day.
As goes Bailey Yard, so goes the nation, for it is an economic barometer
of America.
Fun Facts for Railfans
December 3, 1866
The first train entered what then was known as a "Hell on Wheels" town, filled with railroad construction workers and their tag-alongs.
January 2, 1867
Main line operations officially commenced at the Bailey Yard in North Platte.
1878 to 1913
William "Buffalo Bill" Cody lived and organized his Wild West show from his ranch north of the Bailey Yard. He transported the show via rail and wagon.
1897
E.H. Harriman purchased Union Pacific at an auction in Omaha, Nebraska.
1910
Union Pacific began construction on a second main line commenced through North Platte.
November 17, 1915
The Union Pacific Hotel and Depot burned and was replaced the following year.
December 25, 1941 to April 1, 1946
The North Platte Canteen located in the passenger depot served more than 6 million members of the armed forces.
November 1948
The west retarder yard was opened in the Bailey Yard.
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1966 to 1970
The eastbound hump yard and diesel shop were constructed.
April 1971
The new diesel shop was opened in the Bailey Yard.
October 1973
The Bailey Yard opened a "one-spot" car repair facility.
November 1, 1973
The passenger depot was demolished. It was replaced with a historical marker and mini-park in 1975.
March 1979
A communication and multi-purpose building was opened.
1980
The new westbound hump yard was dedicated.
1988 to 1991
Westbound and eastbound fueling facilities were constructed and a coal yard was expanded at the Union Pacific Bailey Yard.
1992
The westbound coal yard was expanded and computer-aided dispatching was installed.
1994
Bailey Yard opened it's eastbound fuel facility.
1995
The new westbound fuel facility was opened at the Bailey Yard. This was also the first year Bailey Yard was officially recognized in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest rail yard.
1996
Union Pacific/Southern Pacific merger creates nation's largest rail system.
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/facilities/bailey/index.shtml
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/facilities/bailey/byhistor.shtml
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