Reported by Amber Gaudet for The Dallas Morning News
For as long as he can remember, Palestine, Texas, has been a rail town. The Union Pacific railyard, once home to more than 1,000 rail employees, butts up against the city marker. Nearby Reagan Park boasts an assortment of train-themed playground equipment, a dwarfed steam engine splash pad spurting water out of its chimney on hot summer days. Replica cabooses dot storefronts downtown, signifying membership in the local chamber of commerce. Just up the road from the railroad museum, a brick path in a pocket park memorializes centuries of service from carmen and passenger agents.
Increasing workforce reductions have caused railroad union leaders and regulators to raise red flags. Mechanical department employees (workers responsible for maintenance and inspections) at Class I freight railroads have been cut 41% since 2015, the Transportation Trades Department told the Federal Railroad Administration in a February letter. The letter followed a BNSF Railway furlough of 362 mechanical department workers and urged the agency to address what they characterized as unsafe industry practices.
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