Union Pacific was founded in 1863, and completed the first
transcontinental line across the U.S. along with
Central Pacific in 1869. Currently, the Union Pacific owns or leases 33,337 miles of track, 114,792
freight cars, and 6,847
locomotives, and serves every state west of the
Mississippi except North and South Dakota,
Alaska,
Hawaii.
College Station and
Texas A&M sit right on the main UP line from
Houston to
Fort Worth. About 24 trains go through campus every day, and that number is expected to double over the next two years.
source: Union Pacific web site (http://www.uprr.com), and my HIST 364 (history of american technology) notes