Union Pacific Railroad announced Wednesday that train cars stored on East County’s Mococo Line between Antioch and Brentwood were in the process of being removed, at least for now.

“These rail cars are being put back into service in other parts of our network,” spokesman Wesley Lujan said in a press release. “I must caution you that there is a possibility we will have to store cars there again in the future, but for now most of them should be moved by the end of this week.”

The cars, many scrawled with graffiti, have irritated residents and local officials since the railroad began using the tracks to store cars idled by the recession. Last October Lujan said the problem had peaked in April, 2009, when 166,000 cars had been stored in various locations around Union Pacific’s network in the central and western United States.

Click on the following links for letters and stories on the issue:

April 2, 2010 letter: Railroad should clean up its blight

Jan. 8, 2010 story: Complaints about rail car graffiti get results Oct. 2, 2009 story: Neighbors irked by rail cars near homes Oct. 30, 2009 letter from City of Brentwood to rail officials: Move the cars Nov. 6, 2009 letter: Rail cars not the real problem