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Union Pacific Business Car Fleet Maintenance Base Moving
August 11, 2000
Union Pacific will
be moving its century-old business fleet base across the river to
the former Chicago & North Western Roundhouse in Council
Bluffs. The plan to move the fleet from Fox Park in Omaha has
been in the works for months. In May, Omaha voters approved $198
million in bonds to build a new convention center-arena on the
105-acre site of the U.P.'s once-bustling yard. Site preparation
and environmental cleanup have begun. Interestingly, other cities
along the UP system showed interest in hosting a new business car
fleet base, with Cheyenne being one of the most vocal as it
already hosts the steam fleet. "Cheyenne was a bit too far
on the western end to be handy for us to move the cars around to
where we need them to be," said UP spokesman John Bromley.
The decision means approximately 80 U. P. employees who maintain
the cars and run the railroad's commissary will remain in the
Omaha area. Construction is to begin in a bout a year and the new
facility will open in about three years. The rail-car fleet's
future home also has strong ties to U.P. history. The first rail
of the transcontinental railroad was laid in Omaha on July 19,
1865, but President Abraham Lincoln fixed the terminus on the
Iowa side of the state line in March 1864. Gen. Grenville M.
Dodge, chief engineer during the railroad's construction, lived
in Council Bluffs.
