I received correspondence today from Tim Brechbill at Union Pacific Railroad. The email is reproduced below with his permission. I would encourage anyone desiring clarification or with specific questions to contact Tim directly per his request.

>To: rcowles@waterw.com
>Subject: Y2k at Union Pacific Railroad
>From: Tim_L._Brechbill@notes.up.com
>Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 16:06:02 -0600

>While UP definitely has had service problems, they have not been related to
>computer systems or Year 2000.  In fact, I would say that UP's Y2k effort
>and results to date rival the best in the world!  A recent independent
>audit of the Railroad's Y2k readiness for a major U.S. automobile
>manufacturer resulted in their highest possible rating. Our TCS system will
>be fully Y2k compliant, tested and implemented 3 months ahead of plan in
>September 1998, and almost all of our systems will be certified Y2k
>compliant in 1998.  This includes full system integration future year
>testing.  All projects are on plan or ahead of schedule, and our original
>cost estimates in 1996 are still valid.  I realize the concern with the
>railroad industry, how it relates to the supply chain problem, and I
>totally support the need for more awareness, but Union Pacific will be
>ready for the Year 2000.  Please refer to our recent press release (
>http://www.uprr.com/uprr/notes/corpcomm/2f5a.htm) or call me personally at
>402-280-6964 if you have any more questions about our Year 2000 Project.

-- Anonymous, August 27, 1998

Answers

I'm not going to question the validity of the UP statement as it applies to their traffic control system. What I worry about on all railroads is their motive power. Since the mid-eighties there has been a major shift from electro-mechanical control systems to electronic controls in locomotives. This puts major railroads with very modern locomotive fleets like UP, square into the crosshairs of the embedded chip issue. And I have found no information relating to the locomotive embedded chip issues anywhere. Large numbers of locomotive failures due to Y2K could be as devastating to rail transport as any traffic control failure. It would be a crying shame to see eveyone breath a sigh of relief because the trains can be controlled, only to realize too late that there aren't enough functional locomotives to pull the trains.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 1998