Railmen


Other Names:River City Railmen; Union Pacific RailRoad

Omaha, NE United States
Founded: 1939

Inactive Junior
Division II/III
YearPositionScoreTheme/Songs
1985 207 77.900 (Repertoire not available)  
1986 32 62.600 (Repertoire not available)  
1987 28 63.100 (Repertoire not available)  
1988 210 73.400 The Fire and the Flame * Don't Rain on My Parade (from Funny Girl) * Mira, Mira * I Have Dreamed (from The King and I)  
1989 25 61.500 Am I Blue (from The Hard Way) * Blue Skies (from Alexander's Ragtime Band) * Why Not? * 'Round Midnight  
1990 31 59.700 I Can Cook Too (from On the Town) * When I First Saw You (from Dreamgirls) * A Little Travelin' Music * Siciliano  
1991 207 85.000 Cruisin' for a Bluesin' * Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (from Pal Joey) * Festival de Ritmo * Bridge Over Troubled Water  
1992 212 72.500 On the Other Hand * Suite Sandrine * The Embrace * He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother  
1993 207 85.300 Blue Skies (from Alexander's Ragtime Band) * Come Rain or Come Shine (from St. Louis Woman) * Storm * Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me  
1995 313 78.900 Impressions of a Global Village - Daybreak * Saya * Casmir * Africa  
Position 200+ indicates Division II, Position 300+ indicates Division III, Position 400+ indicates Mini Corps.

CORPS Photos

Nebraska’s Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps has a history dating back to 1939, when it was founded as a musical activity for employees of the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad and their families. The corps later became a junior organization primarily for employee children, and in 1983 it evolved into a competitive junior drum corps, sponsored by Union Pacific but open to all. Mark Arnold, long-time director of Denver's Blue Knights, was an organizer of this competitive corps.

Perhaps the highlight of Railmen history came in 1989 when they placed in the top 25 of the DCI Championships in Kansas City. Unfortunately their problems also began that year, because the UP began to cut back on their funding. In 1990 the UP decal was removed from the uniforms.

On the field the Railmen turned into one of the most entertaining corps on the circuit, finishing in the top 10 of Drum Corps World’s most entertaining corps poll and just missing the top 25 at Championships in Buffalo in 1990. Even with new red and white uniforms and a crowd-friendly jazz show, the corps was able to complete only part of a normal tour when the UP withdrew all financial support.

The next couple of years were financially difficult, as the corps was forced to rely on dues, contest winnings, and proceeds from its two sponsored shows, the DCM in Belview and the DCI in Omaha, for their funding. Even with large numbers on the field and crowd-pleasing shows, travel was curtailed and staff went unpaid. The corps ceased junior corps operations in March of 1994, but formed a senior/alumni corps to perform at DCM. An attempted comeback in 1995 with a show of African music was only partially successful, and the corps, down to nine members in the horn line, folded permanently at the end of the season.

Perhaps the Railmen’s finest legacy through the years was that, unlike other Division II or III corps that serve as feeders for larger Open Class groups, the Railmen’s members tended not to move but to stay with their home corps all the way through age-out.

[Terry Montgomery, RAMD, 4/6/94; DCW, 5/04, p.23]

Members (14)

Member Name Section Years Involved
Dheere, Jeff drumline 1986 to 1988
Higgins, Scott Percussion 1985 to 1989
king, joshua perc/baritone 1989 to 1990
Lawless, Larry Percussion Caption Head 1982 to 1987
Myers, Ben Bass Line 1991
Paulson, Al Field commander/Staff 1981 to 1993
paying, not Melo 1989 to 1990
Retzlaff, Theresa Colorguard 1988 to 1992
Smith, Wendy Color guard 1984 to 1987
Smith, Wendy Guard staff 1992 to 1993
Stavropoulos, Angela French Horn 1989 to 1990
Wallace, Clay Snare 1992 to 1993
Willingham, Alan Colorguard 1991 to 1992
Wilson, Dan Contra 1993

CORPS 12 items

Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,DH1-1989UnionPacific(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,DH2-1989(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,KR1-Bugler(eBay)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,LP1-Bugler(DST-0.625x0.875)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by Donn Stroh
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,LP2-2014(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by UNKNOWN
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,Patch1-Train(RE-3.5x3.0)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,Patch2-1939(RE-2.75x3.0)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,Patch3-75thAnnAlumni(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,Pin1(RE-2.25)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,Pin2-BlackLettersOnPink(RCR)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Railmen

Railmen,Omaha,NE,Toy1-Frisbee(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Railmen
PDF Document

322-323, Railmen from the Steve Vickers Collection

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