All the live-long day Union Pacific putting down 70,000 crossties By Loyd Cook It’s a staple of life, here in Navarro County. As a major crossroads for the railroads, tracks criss-cross the countryside. And maintenance of those tracks are an important facet of the operations of the railroads through this area. Joe Arbona, a Union Pacific spokesperson, said two “tie gangs” are moving through the county replacing crossties underneath the rails — approximately 70,000 crossties. That’s a lot of wood. “It’s part of our continuing effort to maintain and improve our track operations,” Arbona said Wednesday. The project began in Chandler on Aug. 16 and is expected to wrap up about seven miles east of Corsicana by Oct. 8, he said. The track is rated for speeds up to 60 mph by the Federal Railroad Agency. Presently, the entire project is basing itself out of Chandler, but the Union Pacific has put in a staging area in a lot located in their right-of-way in Kerens, Arbona said. The large project carries a $7 million price tag. A large amount of motorized track-repair equipment has been dotting the rail lines in the area and a significant amount of manpower is in use. Union Pacific even has a white bus for moving track workers around the area as the project progresses. “Those tie gangs can be sizable with a lot of guys,” Arbona said. “So you have to have vehicles and equipment available.” ————— Loyd Cook may be contacted via e-mail at lcook@corsicanadailysun.com
