Just curious how much UP is spending on the big boy restoration and all these tours across the country? Also, what's the point? Is it to just counteract the negative publicity from all the layoffs? how long are they going to keep this up? Hard to take them seriously on their project 55 or unified 2020 or the empire strikes back or whatever they're calling it now when they spend extravagant amounts on such random items.
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I am pretty sure that outside funding is involved, and that is the only reason that it is still running!
One of UP'S Vice Presidents said publicly recently that it costs $20,000 a day to have a steam engine on the road. Nothing about the costs when it's not on the road.
Take the number of days it has been on the road this year and multiply x $20,000 and you will get an idea. And that doesn't include things like paying the crew year-round, parts, shop costs, repairs and God knows what else.
Also doesn't include the millions spent to get it and restore it.
Union Pacific does not have an "advertising department."
What about the employees Paid to follow the big boy around to post pic and play with the crowds
Take 7000 approximate layoffs and times that by the average pay each would've gotten. 80k x 7k comes to 56 mil. Those numbers are estimated, but I'll bet they're damn close. The millions that went into that steamer did not in any way come out of the shareholders pockets. The expenses made in the steam program were at the cost of employees jobs.
Oh I don’t know do a google search for UP layoffs and see what you see. Also notice how quickly any mention of layoffs are deleted from UPs social media accounts. They usually get flooded with them as soon as a story is posted but they got their interns deleting them ASAP. Got to keep the attention on the big boy. And finally, I guess you didn’t notice they were recently rated the worst company in America. Glad we could clear that up
Wherein lies all the negative press other than y’all complaining on here?
I'm sure the whole program is under the advertising dept anyway
I live in a Train Town USA! It’s my god-dam- right to have a Big Boy pull up into my alley.
It might be like the Space Shuttle touring the United States several years ago. It flew over many of the states on an airplane platform before finally coming to rest/retirement. I equate the Big Boy to that... it is the end of the Union Pacific - as it is- and it is being shuttled around as a last hooray!
To divert the attention away from bad press due to layoffs . In essence a political plow to make UPRR LOOK GOOD. VENA WILL CUT IT ONCE ALL TGE TOURS ARE DONE !!!