NORTH PLATTE, Neb. | Ever since railroads began crisscrossing our nation in the 1800s, North Platte has been a hub for rail traffic.
When the transcontinental railroad was completed from Omaha to Sacramento on May 10, 1869, North Platte was halfway between, making it a perfect location for a repair facility. And in 1867, the Union Pacific Railroad took advantage of the location and built shops to repair engines and rail cars in North Platte.
Early steam engines were repaired and serviced in a facility known as a roundhouse so named because of its circular or semi-circular shape. The roundhouse had a turntable that could rotate the huge engines to get them pointed in the right direction. They needed the roundhouse because those early steam engines didn't have reverse. Today's modern diesel engines can move in either direction eliminating the need for a turntable.
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Today it is the largest railroad classification yard in the world, where cars are separated and assembled into trains according to their destination. Before entering the yard cars are sorted as to direction, either eastbound or westbound. The destination is recorded on a bar code on the side of the car and then scanned and entered into the computer.
The yard has two "humps," one for cars going east and one for those going west. The humps are small hills where cars are pushed up and then released and pulled by gravity down the other side where they travel to the correct track through a series of 985 switches all controlled by computer.
Bailey Yard also has one of Union Pacific's largest facilities for refueling and servicing locomotives. The shop's 180 employees process more than 8,500 engines per month. On an average day 300 locomotives pass through the facility.
When a locomotive needs repair it can be done in the L-shaped repair shop in Bailey Yard. The shop is large enough to easily contain three football fields. The 600 employees at the shop can repair 750 locomotives each month. Eleven tracks lead in and out of the facility.
The yard is named for Edd H. Bailey, who at 17 went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as a helper in the car department. Over the next 20 plus years Bailey advanced through various departments and locations with Union Pacific until Jan. 1, 1965, when he was named President of Union Pacific. Bailey retired in 1971 but continued as a member of the board of directors until 1974. He died in 1988 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at the age of 83.
There has been a viewing platform at the yard for several years but it was in desperate need of repair. The idea to replace the aging viewing platform at Bailey Yard began in the mid-1990s when North Platte community leaders decided to construct a tower to allow visitors a better view.
The new tower also has displays depicting the history of the yard and a gift shop. The Golden Spike Tower and Visitor Center opened June 26, 2008. Visitors can now view the yard from the eight story tower. Surrounding the tower are flags from each of the 23 states in which Union Pacific operates. Near the entrance to the tower is a vintage dining car in the process of renovation. Once complete visitors will be able to experience dining as it was back in the heyday of railroading.
Entering the tower on the main floor visitors can purchase tickets then walk through the historic displays and photographs to the elevator where they can go to either the enclosed viewing area on the seventh floor or to the eighth floor open viewing area. There visitors can experience the Golden Spike Tower's motto of, "More trains than you can keep track of."
