Tony Love (right), general manager of real estate for Union Pacific Railroad Co., just saw the completion of a $260- million expansion at the company's Omaha headquarters (below).

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recent forecast by 11 economists used multiple indicators to tell Nebraskans to expect solid economic growth through 2008.
   Union Pacific Railroad's Tony Love uses a much simpler barometer: the average number of freight trains crossing his state every day.
   "When you look at our infrastructure, primarily east- west, you find two really telling things that become a barometer for our economy: Bailey Yard in North Platte and Gibbon, Nebraska," said Love, general manager of real estate for Omaha- based Union Pacific Railroad Co. "We have an average of 150 freight trains a day. In that mix, you'll find virtually every type of commodity: coal, intermodal containers, automobiles and automotive parts, and other commodities. How our economy goes, so goes this corridor. It is a real gauge of how the economy is moving."
   Love should know. His company has invested more capital than any freight hauler in the nation to transform the railway infrastructure of Nebraska and the main line from California to Chicago.
   Since 2000, Union Pacific has spent more than $650 million on new facilities nationwide, including intermodal terminals and support centers.
   At Bailey Yard in North Platte, Union Pacific operates the largest railroad classification yard in the world. The yard covers 2,850 acres (1,154 hectares), reaching a total length of eight miles (12.9 km), and includes 315 miles (507 km.) of track. Every 24 hours, Bailey Yard handles 10,000 railroad cars on 135 trains bound for cities on the East, West and Gulf Coasts of America, as well as the Canadian and Mexican borders.
   Some 2,600 Union Pacific employees work at Bailey Yard, part of the company's work force of 7,759 employees statewide. The firm maintains an annual payroll in Nebraska of $534 million and operates 1,075 miles (1,730 km.) of track throughout the state. Nationwide, Union Pacific operates 32,400 miles (52,132 km.) of track, pays 50,000 workers an annual payroll of $3.6 billion, and operates 8,000 locomotives hauling 107,000 freight cars.
   In recent months, Love's primary real estate moves have involved expansions in and around Omaha.

The Denver & Rio Grande locomotive is one of six "Heritage Series" locomotives Union Pacific has just unveiled.

The company recently completed its $260- million expansion of its corporate headquarters in Omaha: an atrium- style, 19- story, 1.3 million- sq.- ft. (120,770- sq.- m.) building, the largest in all of Nebraska.
   "We also completed a data backup center and a disaster recovery center," Love says. "All were major facility projects. We are currently embarking on an expansion of our Harriman Dispatching Center in Omaha."
   The 100,000- sq.- ft. (9,290- sq.- m.) dispatching center, which has won numerous design awards, has been compared to an airport control tower for the railroad, using microwaves, fiber optics and leased telephone circuits to communicate information.
   The company also plans to spend $22.2 million this year on track improvements between Fremont and Central City, Neb. Upon completion of this project, work crews will have removed and installed 64,460 concrete ties and 15,000 wooden ties; spread 81,000 tons of rock ballast; and replaced 24 miles (38.6 km.) of straight rail.
   "This is all part of a system- wide upgrade of all our railroads," adds Love. "More specifically, we have added a third main line in central to western Nebraska. We have added more tracks in our Bailey Yard in North Central Nebraska to support our planned expansion of one of our core transcontinental routes from Los Angeles east. We have already accomplished a lot of the capacity expansion in Nebraska. We are adding a third main line in Nebraska to accommodate more traffic from California and more demand for a coal line."
   On the Nebraska economy, Love says, "My assessment is that it is still very positive. The markets are still good. The intermodal business is still very good. Omaha is still growing, and on the agriculture side, you have the grain and the ethanol explosion."
   For companies seeking expansion opportunities in Nebraska, Love offers this bit of advice: Seek out the railroads first.
   "Early communication with the railroad is very important," he says. "I liken it to an Interstate highway with a limited supply of off- ramps. That is the same situation with the railroads. Rail business volumes are at record levels. We love new business, but it needs to be in the right place with what works operationally."