(The following story by Jimmy Isaac appeared on the Longview News-Journal website on June 25, 2009.)
LONGVIEW, Texas — Changes to Union Pacific operations in Longview have caught officials in Texarkana off guard.
The company said starting Monday that it will use cameras to allow the Longview yardmaster to monitor some operations in Texarkana.
UP Spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza said the move helps trim the budget for Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific, which has furloughed some 5,200 employees nationwide between November and April because of the economic slowdown.
Espinoza declined to comment on whether the company sustained layoffs at its Longview operations, which she said employs about 40 people.
Longview Economic Development Corp. Executive Director John Stroud said it’s his understanding that during the peak of its furloughs, Union Pacific laid off some 65 workers in Longview, Texarkana and Shreveport combined. He also said about 25 employees have returned to work, and the company expects to recall another 10 workers by July 10.
The company will stop using workers in its Texarkana rail yard tower Monday, and Longview’s yardmaster will start monitoring both locations, Espinoza said.
According to the Associated Press, Texarkana, Ark., Fire Marshal Stephen Johnson said the railroad should keep trained workers in Texarkana’s yard tower to monitor hazardous materials at all hours.
Espinoza said cameras at Longview’s yard will maintain the same level of safety for the Texarkana yard.
Workers in the Texarkana tower can’t see every yard activity anyway, as evidenced by a 2005 train derailment in Texarkana when a yardmaster was in the tower, she said.
“While we used to run three shifts in Texarkana, now we’re down to two shifts,” she said.
“The role of yardmaster is to coordinate work with the crews. It just so happened that in Texarkana, this person was up in a tower.
“Not every yard has a tower, and I think that’s what people seem to be getting excited about it.”