Union Pacific Railroad is the lone Nebraska-based company publicly known to have donated to the new White House ballroom championed by President Donald Trump.
Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., the largest rail yard in the world, handles roughly 14,000 rail cars every day. The railroad company, which is headquartered in Omaha, is already one of the country’s largest. Now, Union Pacific is seeking a merger that would give it control of more than 40% of rail freight traffic in the United States.
Construction workers, bottom right, atop the U.S. Treasury, watch as work continues on a largely demolished part of the East Wing of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom.
President Donald Trump holds an artist rendering of the new White House ballroom while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.
Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., the largest rail yard in the world, handles roughly 14,000 rail cars every day. The railroad company, which is headquartered in Omaha, is already one of the country’s largest. Now, Union Pacific is seeking a merger that would give it control of more than 40% of rail freight traffic in the United States.
Christopher Turley, Flatwater Free Press
Rail cars travel through Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., in this long exposure photo.
Christopher Turley, Flatwater Free Press
Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., the largest rail yard in the world, handles roughly 14,000 rail cars every day. The railroad company, which is headquartered in Omaha, is already one of the country’s largest. Now, Union Pacific is seeking a merger that would give it control of more than 40% of rail freight traffic in the United States.
Christopher Turley, Flatwater Free Press
Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena talks in front of a locomotive simulator used to train engineers at the company's headquarters in Omaha on Dec. 15, 2023.
Josh Funk, Associated Press
The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.
Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., the largest rail yard in the world, handles roughly 14,000 rail cars every day. The railroad company, which is headquartered in Omaha, is already one of the country’s largest. Now, Union Pacific is seeking a merger that would give it control of more than 40% of rail freight traffic in the United States.
Construction workers, bottom right, atop the U.S. Treasury, watch as work continues on a largely demolished part of the East Wing of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom.
President Donald Trump holds an artist rendering of the new White House ballroom while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.
Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., the largest rail yard in the world, handles roughly 14,000 rail cars every day. The railroad company, which is headquartered in Omaha, is already one of the country’s largest. Now, Union Pacific is seeking a merger that would give it control of more than 40% of rail freight traffic in the United States.
Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., the largest rail yard in the world, handles roughly 14,000 rail cars every day. The railroad company, which is headquartered in Omaha, is already one of the country’s largest. Now, Union Pacific is seeking a merger that would give it control of more than 40% of rail freight traffic in the United States.
