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GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — If some trains at railroad crossings and along Nebraska highways seem longer lately, you probably weren't imagining things.
Without any fanfare, both Union Pacific and BNSF Railway have begun sending out longer trains — more than 8,000 feet, about one and a half miles, in length.
Over the past year or so, long trains have been used on U.P.'s main line from Omaha to North Platte and beyond, said Mark Davis, U.P.'s director of corporate relations and media, in Omaha. Many of them use “distributed power,” locomotives at the rear of the train as well as at the front, for better fuel economy.
The other main line passing through central Nebraska, the BNSF line through York and Grand Island to Broken Bow and beyond, also has had longer trains.
“It is simply more efficient to increase the size of existing trains where you can before creating a new, additional train,” said Steve Forsberg, BNSF's general director of public affairs.
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