(The following story by Bob Belcher appeared on the Corsicana Daily Sun website on June 3.)
CORSICANA, Texas — Crews from Union Pacific Railroad got started Monday on a railroad tie and crossing replacement project through Corsicana.
Preliminary work done in May prepared several crossings through Corsicana for the replacement work. Crews are working on track and crossings from Corsicana to Grosebeck as part of a $4.7 million improvement project, according to UP spokesman Mark Davis.
Over 100 crewmen from throughout the Southwest are taking part in the work in the area. Cars, trucks and campers filled parking areas in the vicinity of the Union Pacific station near Seventh Avenue and Beaton Street over the weekend as they arrived to start work.
“There are 32,000 railroad ties and about 28,400 tons of rock to be placed,” Davis explained. The work is part of a system-wide improvement plan through the 23 states that Union Pacific operates in, he added.
Approximately 10 crossings in Corsicana will be rebuilt in the work. In May, crews removed large metal plates at the crossings and filled in the gaps with blacktop.
Davis said all the crossings should be returned to normal by August. The rail tie replacement should be completed by June, he said.