I have made an interesting observation. The Union Pacific Railroad has an number of public relations programs such as a museum and a Steam program but an appropriate public relations attitude in dealing with the public seems to be missing.

I was at a Western Pacific Historical Society Convention a few years back and was told by a former employee of the UP that the UP "was a horrible railroad to work for" and she now works for BNSF and finds that experiance to be a definate improvement.

Or also being told that BNSF has signed an agreement with Amtrak to ensure the prompt on-time movement of its trains over its railroad tracking which UP apparently refuses to do.

And another interesting observation is that whenever an excursion operates over BNSF trackage it usually gets to its destination on time and the promoters encounter less red-tape getting the excursion approved that with the UP when their trackage is proposed to be used and they are often successful like those down the Columbia River to Wishram or Bend on the BNSF of the SP 4449 or those from LA to the Grand Canyon of the BNSF 3751.

Last year on Saturday, April 1, 2006 the Amtrak Chartered Feather River Express Excursion was three (3) hours late arriving in Portola on the Eastbound trip due to being put in the siding to let three (3) freight trains pass and the 1991 Feather River Flyer excursion was late for the same amount of time even though that excursion used UP's equipment. That lateness left many elderly riders stranded in Portola that night on the train and in motels instead of being in Reno because of the dangerous freezing temperatures outside and that many of the Charter buses operators gave up on serving the train due to its extreme lateness to Portola.

I bet that BNSF's attitude would have been the opposite in this situation and the passengers would have got to Portola on time. Right?

I've even noticed that the BNSF freight trains move faster accross UP trackage in regards to trackage rights agreements that UP's freights do on their own railroad line.

I even read the story of which CSX took a generous action of clearing its line between Cincinati and Atlanta to help the RBBB Circus Train get to its destination to Atlanta to be on time for its upcoming performance after an ice storm hit. Would UP be so generous in such a situation

Even the rude behavior among the Steam Team of the 844 and the 3985 seems to be a problem towards the public as well.

Apparently, the UP seems to have a problem running a railroad efficiently unlike the BNSF does. Is this a true observation? Any comments?

Could it be that the BNSF was marged from the BN and the ATSF whom had a more Professional management style comparatively than the MP, SP and WP that the UP was merged partially from?