(The following story by Adam Testa appeared on The Southern Illinoisan website on July 28, 2009.)
MURPHYSBORO, Ill. — Union Pacific officials are expecting to finish a 36.5-mile rail replacement project within the next two weeks.
The project, which started in Benton in June, is expected to wrap up by Aug. 9 in Goreville, said Bill Loggins, a crew supervisor from Angleton, Texas. On Tuesday, UP crews worked on the area by the railroad crossing on Illinois Avenue near 22nd Street in Murphysboro, about eight miles from their final destination.
“We average about a mile and a half on each side of the track each day,” Loggins said. “”It’s a long process.”
More than 100 UP workers from across the country have been brought into Southern Illinois to work on the project, with a cost of well above $500,000, Loggins said. A majority of the workers come from Texas, but Arizona, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma and even Murphysboro are represented.
Loggins said the company hopes to complete as many repairs as possible while the economy lagging and rail traffic remains light. Rails in Southern Illinois continue to see a decent level of traffic because of coal transportation, he added.
The rail replacements will serve multiple purposes, Loggins said. The new rails will increase speed, decrease defects and train delays and improve safety for the vehicles and conductors driving on the rails, he said.