A Union Pacific engine sits on the track close to the Union Pacific Railroad building on Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Palestine. Less than 100 railroad workers remain in Palestine as train companies have slashed workers and instituted efficiency measures such as Precision Scheduled Railroading, a controversial industry trend that some have blamed for a stagnating safety record and traffic delays.
Union leaders, shipping customers, regulators and other critics point to downsides. Longer trains can halt emergency response vehicles at crossings as critical minutes tick by. Heavier trains run slower, blocking crossings for longer. Children have taken to“If you put the Empire State Building on its side and then added 11 more Empire State Buildings, that’s about how big some of these trains would be,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Ohio, in February 2023 was 150 cars long.
Victorian homes sprung up in residential neighborhoods while ornate buildings replaced clapboard structures downtown. A railroad hospital and YMCA were built. Citizens donned the latest fashions from New York and Paris and an opera house hosted troupes brought in by rail. It became the second city in the state, after Galveston, to get electricity.
Shep’s BBQ has seen business decline as the workforce has dwindled. Owner Bruce Barrett, who has been at Shep’s for 39 years, remembers when local restaurants like his would cater meetings at the railyard for more than 100 people nearly every month. “The city of Palestine has basically built its whole reputation on the Union Pacific Railroad,” Mayor Mitchell Jordan said. “This is what we are known for — trains are what made Palestine Palestine.”Informative plaques and a model Union Pacific car on display in front of the Union Pacific Railroad rail yard on Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Palestine.In many ways, Palestine looks like any other town subject to the changing winds of industry.
In places like Palestine, the cuts are personal. Lohmeyer raised more than $30,000 to cover legal fees so a group of private citizens could be represented as a party to the lawsuit. At the time of the initial agreement, Palestine residents gifted land to the railroad, according to group members. The current group is a stand-in for the original landowners and any descendants, who couldn’t be located.
“That’s shorthand for the very real pressure Class I management feels from their investors,” rail industry researcher Rutter said. “Whether you call it PSR or not — the label may be misplaced, but the pressure is real.” That figure represented a fraction of local investment in the railroad, Jordan said, and didn’t come close to making the city, county or the employees whole. If the car shop closes, the lines built on the land will remain in service, officials say, though the jobs will be gone.