OMAHA, Neb. -- Members of the 55th Wing received a rare chance to ride on Union Pacific’s Western Heritage Fleet May 27 where they received an up-close look at some of the fleet’s railcars that date back to 1912.
“I was really surprised at how nice the cars were,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Buck Pate, an air traffic controller who was invited to attend with his wife, Jaylon.
During the trip, Offutt members and their spouses received briefings from UP management while enjoying a train ride on some of UP’s oldest railcars.
The event was hosted by Greg Garrison, Union Pacific regional vice president of transportation for the northern region who provided a UP mission briefing. He also thanked Offutt members for their service and noted the strong relationship between UP and the military.
“Twenty percent of our employees are veterans,” Garrison said. “Many of our jobs at UP align well with the type of work you do…we build America, the 55th Wing defends it.”
Last summer, Offutt hosted eleven UP employees for a mission briefing and tour of the base. The event was planned after U.S. Air Force Maj. Damon Wagoner, an Offutt instructor pilot, and his neighbor Tim Brandt, a UP engineer, recognized the similarities between the two organizations.
“There are a lot of parallels between being an instructor pilot and being an engineer and manager of operating procedures,” Wagoner said. “Hopefully, we can take some of their best practices and apply them to how we do business. Safety was a big one I asked about on Friday just to see how they handle some of their safety concerns.”
Pate was one of the Offutt volunteers who gave a tour last summer of the air traffic control tower and said he was intrigued by the similarities of air traffic control and train dispatching discussed during the presentations.
“They really geared some of it towards my field so I could understand it,” Pate said. “I also thought it was pretty cool that they gave us an inside look at some of their upcoming technologies.”
The day-long trip began at the Durham Western Heritage Museum in downtown Omaha and traveled to Grand Island, Neb., and back.
Throughout the day, passengers were allowed to tour and enjoy six of the 10 railcars that included the “Council Bluffs,” a baggage and recreation car outfitted as a gym, the “Powder River,” a four-bedroom deluxe sleeper with a lounge, the “Omaha,” an eight-bedroom sleeper, the “City of San Francisco,” a dome lounge with a bar in the belly and total seating for 64, the “City of Denver,” a flat diner where lunch was provided and the “Fox River,” an inspection car that includes an observation area with a large glass window and stepped-up theatre seating for presentations.
Offutt members said they were thoroughly impressed by the experience and appreciative of UP’s support for the military.
“It’s fantastic to see a company like UP that really strives to hire military veterans,” Wagoner said. “They consistently make the top 10 or 20 companies for being military friendly.”