Mark has been married to his wife Lisa for 25 years. Together they have two children, Hannah who is 23 and is currently working on a doctorate in psychology, and Ethan who is 20 and is currently serving in the United States Air Force as a technician on F-15 fighter jets while working on a bachelor's degree in business. The family loves the great outdoors and enjoys hiking and exploring National Parks such as Yellowstone, Bryce, and Zion.

 

Mark began working for Union Pacific Railroad in 1995 as a Switchman, Brakeman, and Conductor in the Omaha, NE area. These duties consisted of switching in rail yards, both flat switching and in hump yards, working on local trains, setting out and picking-up cars at stations on the main line, and as a through freight conductor on the mainline. In 2000 Mark received a promotion to Locomotive Engineer. As an engineer, Mark ran trains on the mainline between Cheyenne, WY, and North Platte, NE, and ran switch locomotives in the Cheyenne, WY rail yard. In 2007 Mark received a promotion to Manager of Track Image Recorder / Event Recorder Center at the Union Pacific Headquarters in Omaha, NE. In this position, Mark reviewed and analyzed thousands of Event Recorders for engineer performance and critical incidents and derailments. Mark has reviewed and analyzed thousands of Track Image Recorder (TIR) videos for critical and noncritical incidents. Designated as a 30(B)(6) expert witness and testified over forty times on behalf of Union Pacific Railroad. Created and facilitated Event Recorder training for field managers. Conceived and helped to create the Video Vault system and field TIR download system.

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In 2015 Mark took early retirement from Union Pacific and started Pollan Railroad Consulting, LLC. Mark now serves all railroads and industries that utilize railroad switching equipment. Mark has provided services on hundreds of cases and has testified over one hundred times.  

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