Union Pacific Predecessor Railroads

Index For This Page

This page was last updated on January 6, 2023.

(Return To the Union Pacific Page)

(Listed alphabetically)

Boise, Nampa & Owyhee Railway

1897-1907 (sold to Idaho Northern Railway)

Nampa, Idaho to Stoddard, Idaho (30 miles)

OSL Stoddard Branch

Sold to Oregon Short Line in 1912, sold by UP to Idaho Northern & Pacific in 1993.

(See also: Idaho Northern Railway)

Camas Prairie Railroad

Owned jointly by OWR&N and Northern Pacific Railway.

(Read the Wikipedia article about Camas Prairie Railroad)

Chicago & North Western Railway

Union Pacific was granted control of Chicago & North Western on March 9, 1995 (other sources show April 12, 1995 as the date of control).

UP bought majority control of C&NW on April 25, 1995. The effective date of the approval for control was May 1, 1995. UP had purchased minority control of C&NW on December 13, 1994.

On August 1, 1995, UP merged with the former C&NW subsidiary Western Railroad Properties (WPRI) which C&NW had organized to build into the Wyoming Powder River Basin.

On October 1, 1995 C&NW was formally merged with UP.

Timeline

May 6, 1994
C&NW's parent company's name was changed from Chicago and North Western Holdings Corporation to Chicago and North Western Transportation Company, effective May 6, 1994. The company's stockholders approved the change on May 3, 1994. The company's wholly-owned railroad subsidiary, Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was re-named Chicago and North Western Railway Company. During February of 1994, the Company's intermediate holding company subsidiaries, Chicago and North Western Acquisition Corporation and CNW Corporation, were eliminated by merger. (SEC, C&NW Form 10-Q, dated May 13, 1994)

March 7, 1995
The federal ICC approved Union Pacific control of C&NW. The decision became effective on April 6, 1995.

March 9, 1995
Chicago and North Western Transportation Company agreed to be acquired by UP Rail, Inc., a subsidiary of Union Pacific Corporation, in a transaction in which UP Rail would acquire 100% of Chicago and North Western Transportation Company outstanding shares of common stock not already owned by Union Pacific Corporation. (SEC, C&NW Form 10-Q, dated May 16, 1995)

March 16, 1995
The respective boards of directors of Chicago and North Western Transportation Company and Union Pacific Corporation unanimously approved and executed a definitive merger agreement. (SEC, C&NW Form 10-Q, dated May 16, 1995)

March 23, 1995
UP Rail initiated an offer to acquire the entire equity interest in Chicago and North Western Transportation Company. (SEC, C&NW Form 10-Q, dated May 16, 1995)

April 25, 1995
The sale of C&NW to UP was finalized, which resulted in Union Pacific owning approximately 99.5% of the shares. Trading of Chicago and North Western Transportation Company's common stock on the New York Stock Exchange was suspended on the same date. (SEC, C&NW Form 10-Q, dated May 16, 1995)

Total purchase price of control was shown as $1,103,544,610.00 for a total of 31,529,846 shares, which together with another 12,835,304 shares that UP Corp., already owned, gave UP a full 99.47 percent of outstanding C&NW stock. (SEC, C&NW Form 8-K, dated April 26, 1996)

CNW (formerly the nation's eighth largest railroad) was located in the central transcontinental corridor, consists of more than 5,300 road miles, employs more than 6,100 people and is a major transporter of coal, grain and intermodal freight. For the year ended December 31, 1994, CNW had operating revenues of $1.13 billion, net income of $84 million and assets of $2.22 billion. (SEC, Union Pacific Form 10-Q, dated August 14, 1995)

May 1, 1995
CNW's financial results were consolidated into Union Pacific Corporation effective May 1, 1995. C&NW employees started answering the phone as Union Pacific, and the cut-over of C&NW lading and billing information to UP's TCS was started. (part from SEC, Union Pacific Form 10-Q, dated August 14, 1995)

The first C&NW locomotive was renumbered to its new UP number on June 16, 1995, when C&NW 8699, a GE C44-9W, was renumbered to UP 9668. Others followed soon after on June 23 and June 24, 1995. (Union Pacific, Mechanical Department records)

July 5, 1995
UP and former C&NW operating departments were realigned and consolidated, creating three new service units on former C&NW territory. These three new service units were: Twin Cities Service Unit, headquartered in Minneapolis; Iowa Service Unit, headquartered at Proviso in Chicago; and Proviso Service Unit, headquartered at Proviso. C&NW facilities at Cudahy, Wisconsin, and at Marshalltown, Clinton, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, were closed at the same time. (UPRR Info magazine, July-August 1995, page 6)

August 1, 1995
UP merged with Western Railroad Properties (WRPI), a C&NW subsidiary organized to build its line into the Wyoming Powder River Basin. (Union Pacific, Law Department records)

October 1, 1995
C&NW was formally merged into UP. (Railroad Retirement Employer Status Determination) (another, unrecorded source showed June 23, 1995 as the formal merger date; more research is needed)

Referring to effective dates for the UP-C&NW merger, Matt Holman wrote on June 19, 2006:

In the memos my father received at UP (as a National Equipment Manager) in 1995 was an itemized letter detailing the UP's planned and subsequent CNW purchase (since he would be "inheriting" all of CNW's plain boxcar fleet in the deal to his management responsibilities).

The first memo showed up in March after the federal government approved UP's takeover proposal (March 7, 1995) after much deliberation since mid-1994. As I recall it was about a 4-page document on UP stationary.

March 16, 1995 was the date UP announced via merger agreement the CNW stock purchase, to be culminated by April 25, 1995. The buyout would take place incrementally over that period (March 23, 1995 remaining shares being bought out via cash tender at $35 a share), and the official merger/buyout date was noted as April 25, 1995 effective end of the business day.

By UP's consideration, CNW's last day was April 25. Full corporate immersion by UP of CNW took place on May 1, 1995- although the UP then made the corporate merger retroactive to January 1, 1995 to reflect CNW's earnings for the partial year on UP's 8-K filings for 1996 because the merger was filed as a "purchase". This was when CNW folks started answering the phone as UP, and CNW lading and billing info cut-over to UP's TCS was started -that first night required my father to be downtown to help initiate the transfer starting at 1201 AM, later that year they finally fully cut over CNW's system to TCS - even though in court, federal arguments were being heard challenging the merger. (I have a slide of the CNW Division offices at South Pekin, IL flying the UP flag on May 15, 1995.)

Corporate lawsuits were finalized and settled June 26, 1995 in Delaware courts, fully clearing UP/MP corporations control of the CNW corporation.

The whole mess of the problem is the distinction between the rail entity and corporate side of things, since my father did work with both UP Corporation as an auditor and UP railroad as a management type I did get to see both sides of the business. It is important at this CNW/UP juncture because while the UP rail assets were acquiring CNW, UP Corporate was divesting itself of it's natural resources assets and courting SP.

Read more about C&NW's Western Railroad Properties, Inc. (WRPI) -- a subsidiary line into the coal fields of Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

Colorado Central Railroad

UP's line between Julesburg and La Salle, Colorado

(See also: Colorado Central Railroad)

Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad

Three-foot narrow gauge from 1870 to 1890.

Incorporated in 1870; construction in Colorado began in 1871.

Construction started toward Utah in 1880.

Denver to Salt Lake City line completed in March 1883, completed to Ogden in May 1883.

Converted to standard gauge in 1890.

Publicly-held corporation until November 1984 when parent company Rio Grande Industries was sold to Anschutz interests.

Rio Grande Industries (D&RGW parent company) bought controlling interest of Southern Pacific in 1988.

In 1993, RGI changed its name to Southern Pacific Rail Corp.

(See also: D&RGW History page)

(See also: entry for Southern Pacific, below)

All of the D&RGW locomotive fleet, including 135 freight units and six switch units, was combined with Union Pacific's locomotive fleet on May 1, 1997. (Union Pacific Mechanical Department records)

Denver Pacific Railway & Telegraph Co.

UP's line between Denver and Cheyenne

(see Denver Pacific Railway)

Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad

(also Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railway)

Narrow gauge line in Colorado, operating between Denver and Gunnison, with separate line to Leadville

Total of 324 miles by 1890

Controlled by Union Pacific from 1881 to 1894

Reorganized as the Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railway in 1889

Reorganized as part of the Colorado & Southern Railway in 1899

(see Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad)

Idaho Central Railway

1887-1889 (to OSL&UN)

Nampa to Boise, Idaho (19 miles)

OSL Idaho Central Branch (later became the Boise to Nampa portion of the 1923-1924 Boise Main Line).

(See also: Idaho Central Railway)

Idaho Northern Railroad

1906-1910 (sold to OWRR&N)

Enaville, Idaho to Paragon, Idaho, in Idaho's panhandle

OWRR&N Enaville Branch

(See also: Idaho Northern Railroad)

Idaho Northern Railway

1901-1912 (sold to OSL)

Nampa to Emmett, Idaho (27 miles); later completed to McCall, Idaho (46 miles) by OSL

OSL Idaho Northern Branch

Sold by UP to Idaho Northern & Pacific in 1993.

(See also: Idaho Northern Railway)

Ilwaco Railway & Navigation Co.

OWRR&N's three-feet narrow gauge line in southwestern Washington

(see Ilwaco Railway & Navigation Company)

Kansas Central Railway (Railroad)

Three-feet narrow gauge

Built in 1871-1882

165 miles

Sold to Union Pacific Railway in 1879

Converted to standard gauge in 1890

Reorganized as Leavenworth, Kansas & Pacific Railway in 1897

(see Kansas Central Railway)

Kansas Pacific Railway

UP's line across Kansas, from Kansas City west to Denver.

(see Kansas Pacific Railway)

Kearney & Black Hills Railway

UP's Kearney Branch, on the Nebraska Division

(see Kearney & Black Hills Railway)

Laramie, North Park & Western Railroad

UP's Coalmont Branch on the Wyoming Division

(see Laramie, North Park & Western Railroad)

Leavenworth, Kansas & Western Railway

Organized in 1871 as Kansas Central Railway (narrow gauge)

Converted to standard gauge in 1890

Reorganized as Leavenworth, Kansas & Western Railway in 1897

Sold to UP in May 1908

Became UP's Leavenworth Branch

(see Kansas Central Railway)

Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad

Owned jointly by UP & OSL.

Incorporated on 20 March 1901 as the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad.

Opened on 1 May 1905.

Purchased portions of OSL in Utah on 7 July 1903, in return 50 percent interest in SPLA&SL sold to OSL.

Name changed to LA&SL on 16 August 1916.

UP purchased the Clark half-interest on 27 April 1921.

Included as part of UP System on 1 January 1922.

Leased to UP on January 1, 1936

Formally merged with UP on December 30, 1987

(see SPLA&SL - LA&SL Timeline, before 1936)

Marysville & Blue Valley Railroad

(see Omaha & Republican Valley)

Missouri Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific was granted control of Missouri Pacific on December 22, 1982. The merger application was filed on September 15, 1980, and approved by the ICC on October 20, 1982, and cleared by the courts on December 22, 1982. The control of MP by UP took effect on January 1, 1983.

Missouri Kansas Texas was merged with MP on December 1, 1989.

Missouri Pacific was merged into UP on January 1, 1997.

Timeline

January 8, 1980
UP announced its intended merger with Missouri Pacific Railroad and Western Pacific Railway. (INFO, April 1980, page 4; Extra 2200 South, Issue 70, October-November-December 1979, page 20; Extra 2200 South, Issue 71, January-February-March 1980, page 18)

February 25, 1980
The boards of directors of Union Pacific Corporation and Missouri Pacific Corporation (the parent companies of their repsective railroads) sgned an agreement to merge. (INFO, April 1980, page 4)

September 12, 1980
The formal application for UP to control MP and WP was filed with the ICC.

October 20, 1982
The ICC approved UP's control and merger of Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific. (INFO, November 1982, page 7)

December 7, 1982
U. S. Court of Appeals rejected pleas from three competing railroads to stop the proposed UP-MP-WP merger. The decision allowed ten days for protestants to seek a stay from the U. S. Supreme Court to consider the appeals. (Pacific News, January 1983, page 3)

December 22, 1982
UP control and merger of WP was cleared by the U. S. Supreme Court, "At 2:25 p. m., December 22, 1982, the consolidation of the Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific railroads became a fact." (INFO, January 1983, page 3) (Notice of the approved control of MP and WP was issued over the Union Pacific teletype system just after 10:00 p. m. on the evening of December 22, 1982.)

SP was given trackage rights between Kansas City and St. Louis over Missouri Pacific. D&RGW was given trackage rights between Pueblo, Colorado and Kansas City over Missouri Pacific.

January 1, 1983
UP control of Missouri Pacific Railroad took effect. (Union Pacific law department records)

January 1, 1986
The operating departments of Missouri Pacific and Union Pacific were conslidated into a single organization, with headquarters at Omaha. (Pacific RailNews, February 1986, page 5)

January 1, 1997
Missouri Pacific Railroad was formally merged into Union Pacific Railroad. (SEC, Union Pacific Form 10-K, dated March 18, 1998; Railroad Retirement Employer Status Determination)

January 1, 1997
"Railroad historians should take note of the following fact, as of January 1, 1997, the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, offspring of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company of 1909 and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Company, ceased to exist when it was officially merged into Union Pacific. Union Pacific acquired Missouri Pacific in December of 1982." (Update Line, Union Pacific Communications Department, January 3, 1997; according to information on file in the Law Department, the last day for any Missouri Pacific business was January 7, 1997.)

February 1, 1997
"The Missouri Pacific Railroad became fully consolidated into Union Pacific Railroad Saturday, February 1, 1997. All MP stations became UP stations, all MP contracts were adapted as UP contracts and all MP interchanges became UP interchanges. All customers and the rail industry were officially notified about this consolidation and its effective date." (Update Line, Union Pacific Communications Department, February 4, 1997)

Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad

May 22, 1985
Union Pacific Corporation, through its Missouri Pacific subsidiary, announced that they had offered $108 million in cash and securities to purchase control of the Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad, known as the Katy. (Pacific News, August 1985, page 4; CTC Board, December 1985, page 18; CTC Board, June 1986, page 3; CTC Board, August 1986, page 8)

Before UP could either control, or merge with MKT, MKT's parent company Katy Industries was to purchase and retire 60 percent of 667,005 $110 income certificates, issued in 1958. These certificates had a total face value of over $73.3 million and had to be retired before MKT, or any successor, could pay dividends on its stock. Upon announcement of the proposed merger, a group of investors purchased, through brokerage houses, nearly half of the long forgotten certificates for $24, hoping to sell them back to Katy at their face value of $110. Katy Industries' first offer for $25 was unsuccessful and UP called off the merger talks in October 1985. Katy raised their bid to $33.50, with a deadline of November 20, 1985, which was extended to January 10, 1986.

Katy was unable to buy back its certificates and UP again withdrew their offer, after the final deadline of January 10, 1986. During summer 1986, UP made another offer, and Katy again made an offer to the certificate holders, raising the price from $33.50 to $39.50. They raised the offer to $39.75 for each $110 certificate on 9 July 1986, and apparently the offer was accepted.

November 14, 1986
UP and MKT applied for merger to the Interstate commerce Commission. Katy Industries owned and controlled both the MKT and the Oklahoma Kansas Texas (which Katy Industries had organized to purchase former CRI&P lines in Oklahoma and Texas). Both roads would be merged with Katy Industries as part of the UP-MKT merger. Final filing for the UP-MKT merger was on July 13, 1987, with hearings to begin on August 3, 1987. (Pacific RailNews, February 1987, page 5; CTC Board, August 1987, page 32)

The Katy Railroad Employees Association began making plans in January 1986 to purchase the MKT Railroad from Katy Industries if the UP-MKT merger failed. The Employees Association was opposed to the proposed UP-MKT merger but was unable to obtain financing. The Association was dissolved on 30 July 1987, because of both financing problems, and problems with the actual employee ownership plan.

May 16, 1988
UP's control of MKT was approved by the ICC. Other railroads were given 60 days to file any appeals to the merger. Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad would be leased to the Missouri Pacific Railroad until all operations were combined, then MKT would be sold to MP. (The Mixed Train, April 1988, page 10; CTC Board, June 1988, page 12; The Mixed Train, June 1988, page 16; Pacific Rail News, August 1988, page 5; The Mixed Train, August 1988, page 4)

August 12, 1988
Union Pacific was granted control of Missouri Kansas Texas. The final announced price was $110 million, to bring the 3,100-mile MKT system into UP's 21,500-mile system. (The Mixed Train, December 1988, page 9)

MKT was leased to UP-controlled Missouri Pacific until all of MKT's legal matters could be settled.

The following comes from the August 1988 issue of Pacific RailNews, page 4:

UP Purchase of Katy Approved by ICC -- One more independent Western railroad exits the scene as a result of the ICC's blessing of the acquisition of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (Katy) Railroad by Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroads.

The decision, announced on May 16, indicates few conditions (mainly trackage rights to maintain competition) were attached to the sale.

UP announced plans to acquire the M-K-T Railroad from owner Katy Industries back in May 1985. An August deadline passed with Katy unable to gather at least 60 percent of 667,000 registered shares, a necessity to complete the UP deal. After a Jan. 10, 1986, deadline passed, by which time Katy was only able to acquire $12.5 million worth of shares (60 percent would have been worth $30.1 million) the UP-Katy merger was called off.

In summer 1986, the proposed M-K-T purchase by UP was on again. UP would pay $110 million for controlling interest. Katy was to purchase 60 percent of the shares, as before, but this time the offering per-share price was raised from $33.50 to $39.50; by July 18 more than 40 percent of the shares had been purchased. It looked hopeful for a petition to the ICC before year's end.

On Nov. 14, 1986, UP applied to the ICC to purchase the Missouri-KansasTexas Railroad. Katy subsidiary Oklahoma, Kansas & Texas would be merged into the Katy just before the sale to UP took place and many line duplications would be eliminated (a later filing before the ICC would abandon 213 miles of Katy and Missouri Pacific lines when the UP-Katy combination took place). Other casualties of folding the Katy into the UP system would by Katy's Parsons, Kansas, yard and its Denison, Texas, car shops.

In its decision, the ICC required UP to negotiate a trackage rights agreement between Kansas City and Omaha with either the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific or Kansas City Southern. An agreement with one of these railroads would have to be completed and submitted to the commission for approval within 90 days. The ICC will also monitor the effect of the merger on Rio Grande's interchange at Herington, Kansas, via trackage rights over the ex-MP Line gained in 1983 in the UP-MP merger. This would be reviewed one year after the UP acquisition of Katy is completed. The effect of this might also be a factor in D&RGW's application to buy SP.

UP agreed to give SP trackage rights at several Texas points, including the right to serve the Georgetown Railroad (near Austin) and the Great Southwest Industrial Park between Dallas and Fort Worth. SP also will gain trackage rights over the Galveston, Henderson & Houston Railroad (now jointly owned by UP and Katy), and in San Antonio and Houston.

The ICC also authorized AT&SF to purchase a one-sixth interest in the Texas City Terminal Railroad; this would allow SP to own the same portion of the railroad as UP and Katy.

Labor protection conditions were also attached. They mainly mandate negotiating agreements with UP and Katy before the purchase is completed, to protect workers whose jobs were abolished.

No announcement had been made at press time as to the proposed merger date.

January 1, 1989
All MKT and OKT employees were subject to UP rules. (Pacific Rail News, April 1989, page 10; The Mixed Train, July 1989, page 12)

November 30, 1989
MKT subsidiaries, San Antonio Belt & Terminal, and the Oklahoma, Kansas, & Texas were merged with MKT. (MKT had organized the OK&T to purchase former CRI&P lines in Oklahoma and Texas.)

December 1, 1989
MKT was merged into Missouri Pacific.

October 8, 2012
The original MKT lease of the former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad mainline in Oklahoma was signed on November 1, 1982. To prevent the loss of this vital rail link within the state, Oklahoma had purchased the entire portion of Rock Island lines within the state's boundaries, which were then leased to Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (known as MKT, or Katy) under the name of a new subsidiary called Oklahoma-Kansas-Texas Railroad, or OKT. As noted above, the OKT subsidiary was merged into MKT in November 1989, and the MKT was merged into MP the next day. MP was in turn merged into UP on January 1, 1997. But the lease of the Oklahoma lines remained in place for the entire 30-year period of the original lease dating from 1982. Just three weeks before the lease was set to end, allowing for the State of Oklahoma to offer a new competitive lease for the state-owned 312 miles of former Rock Island trackage, the Oklahoma and Union Pacific completed a purchase agreement for Union Pacific ownership of the trackage on October 8, 2012. (Union Pacific press release dated October 8, 2012)

Montana Union Railway

UP's line between Butte and Garrison, Montana

Still owned by UP and leased to BNSF

(see Montana Union Railway)

Mount Hood Railway

Incorporated as Mount Hood Railroad on February 23, 1905; owned by Oregon Lumber Co. at Baker, Oregon.

Construction began on April 3, 1905; laying of rails began on December 15, 1905; first operation was on May 1, 1906.

Construction was formally completed on December 31, 1909.

Original route was Hood River to Dee, 16.4 miles, opened on May 1, 1906. The southern section, Dee to Parkdale, was built between March and December 1909, and placed in operation on January 1, 1910.

Extended to 22 miles owned and operated by June 30, 1911. Reduced to 21 miles in 1931.

Sold to Union Pacific on October 15, 1968. From then on it was shown as a 21-mile, operating subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad Company.

Organized on April 30, 1968 as Mount Hood Railway by Union Pacific for the purpose of purchasing and operating the Mount Hood Railroad; purchase completed on October 15, 1968; owned and operated by Union Pacific from October 16, 1968 to November 1987.

Union Pacific took possession of the Mount Hood Railroad on October 16, 1968. At that time the railroad's name was chnaged to Mount Hood Railway. (UP INFO newsletter, December 1968)

Sold by Union Pacific in November 1987.

(see Mount Hood Railway/Railroad)

Nevada Pacific Railway

Nevada Pacific Railway was incorporated on May 13, 1889, and was projected in competition with Central Pacific, to connect California with UP-controlled companies in Utah. Included as part of OSL&UN consolidation in July 1889.

According to the OSL corporate history, no construction work was done by this company. OSL&UN completed grading and tunneling work in 1890-1891 along the line projected by Nevada Pacific, south of Milford and into Nevada to Caliente (Culverwell) along the route that was later completed by LA&SL. The work by OSL&UN was stopped due to the financial difficulties of Union Pacific that ended with UP's bankruptcy in October 1893.

North Coast Railroad

Incorporated in 1906; purchased by ORR&N in 1909; to OWRR&N in 1910

Built UP's OWRR&N Yakima Branch from Villard Junction (about seven miles north of Wallula), northwest to Yakima (97.3 miles), in 1909-1911.

Built UP's OWRR&N mainline from Ayer Junction (about 54.5 miles northeast of Wallula), northeast to Spokane (97.8 miles) in 1910-1914.

(See also: North Coast Railroad)

Omaha, Niobrara & Black Hills Railroad

(see Omaha & Republican Valley)

Omaha & Republican Valley Railway

Name changed to Omaha & Republican Valley Railroad in 1886

UP's Stromberg, Ord, Loup City, Norfolk, and Albion branches, on the Nebraska Division.

UP's line between Valley, Nebraska and Manhattan, Kansas by way of Lincoln, Beatrice, and Marysville.

(see Omaha & Republican Valley)

Oregon Short Line Railroad

1897 - 1936 (leased to UP in 1936)

(see Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern - Oregon Short Line Railroad)

Oregon Short Line Railway

1881 - 1889 (in Wyoming and Idaho)

(see Oregon Short Line Railway)

Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway

1889 - 1897

(see Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern - Oregon Short Line Railroad)

Oregon Railway & Navigation Co.

1879-1896

(see Oregon Railway & Navigation Company)

Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co.

1896-1910

(see Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company)

Oregon & Washington Railroad

1906-1910

Portland to Seattle

(see Oregon & Washington Railroad)

Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.

1910-1987

(see Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company)

Pacific & Idaho Northern Railway

1899-1936

OSL's New Meadows Branch on Idaho Division

(see Pacific & Idaho Northern Railway)

Pacific Fruit Express Company

Incorporated on 7 December 1906, owned jointly by UP and Southern Pacific Company.

San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad

First completed as the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, the SPLA&SL was known as the "Pedro", a name that is still heard today among older employees.

(Read more about SPLA&SL and LA&SL, before 1936)

Saratoga & Encampment Valley Railroad

UP's Encampment Branch, on the Wyoming Division

(see Saratoga & Encampment Valley Railroad)

Spokane International Railroad

(see Spokane International Railroad)

St. Joseph & Grand Island Railway

UP's St. Joseph Branch, on Kansas Division in northeast Kansas (St. Joseph, Missouri, to Marysville (Upland), Kansas.

UP's Fourth Subdivision between Marysville (Upland), Kansas, and Hastings, Nebraska

(see St. Joseph & Grand Island Railway)

St. Louis Southwestern (SSW)

(See Southern Pacific, below)

Southern Pacific Transportation Co.

(also St. Louis Southwestern; SSW; Cotton Belt)

(also Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad)

For information about Southern Pacific and D&RGW before they were controlled by UP in 1996, see the SP In Utah Chronology.

For general notes about SP's corporate history, see Southern Pacific Corporate History.

Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf Railway

UPD&G was under UP control between March 18, 1890, and October 13, 1893, when the UP went into receivership. A separate receiver was appointed for the UPD&G on December 18, 1893.

Controlled by UP from March 18, 1890 to October 13, 1893

Consolidation in March 1890 of 11 Colorado and Wyoming railroads:

From Wikipedia, citing "Transcontinental railway strategy, 1869-1893: a study of businessmen" by Julius Grodinsky (Beard Books, 1962; ISBN 1-58798-003-7) pages 385-386:

Creation of the company resulted from Charles Francis Adams, Jr.'s desire to operate in the Texas Panhandle area, which would give Union Pacific control over the shipping of cargoes from the Gulf of Mexico seaports to the North. In May 1889 Union Pacific and Denver, Texas and Fort Worth Railroad signed an "offensive and defensive union". Union Pacific received access to the panhandle routes in exchange for letting DTFWR to operate on Union Pacific lines as far as New York. However, in November 1889 Union Pacific changed their tactics and instead directly purchased controlling stock of the smaller railways in Panhandle area. These assets were pooled together into a new entity named Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway. It lasted until 1898 when it was merged with other companies to become the Colorado and Southern Railway.

(Read the Wikipedia article for the Union Pacific Denver & Gulf Railway)

Sold under foreclosure on November 25, 1893.

Reorganized as Colorado and Southern on January 11, 1899. The Colorado and Southern Railway Company was chartered in Colorado on December 19, 1898. The C&S company became active on January 11, 1899, when the C&S acquired the Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway Company and the Denver, Leadville and Gunnison Railway Company.

UP and the Texas Roads

Union Pacific Railway also controlled, as part of its control of UPD&G, what has been generically called "the Texas roads," meaning the railroads from Colorado and New Mexico south into Texas.

This control by UP was only between 1890 and 1893 and was never really formalized by a common operation plan, so are not covered here.

These roads, because they were subject to Texas corporation laws, had their own receiver from 1893 on, and were controlled by Colorado & Southern after its organization in 1898. C&S continued to control what would later be a consolidated Fort Worth & Denver Railway even after C&S itself was controlled by CB&Q (in 1908) and later BN (in 1970). In 1981 BN merged with C&S, and in 1982, BN merged with FW&D. The line of ownership between C&S and FW&D was at the New Mexico/Texas state line, at Sixela, N.M., and Texline, Texas. (part from George Drury's "The Historical Guide to North American Railroads" published by Kalmbach.)

From The Handbook Of Texas, Online, "Burlington System," by George Werner:

The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific, and the Pacific Coast merged on March 2, 1970, under the name Burlington Northern, Incorporated. The name was changed to Burlington Northern Railroad the following year. On November 21, 1980, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company was merged into the Burlington Northern, thus adding the Frisco's Texas mileage to that of the Fort Worth and Denver. The Colorado and Southern was merged into the BN on December 31, 1981, and the Fort Worth and Denver became a direct subsidiary of the BN. This lasted until December 31, 1982, when the Fort Worth and Denver, in turn, was merged into the BN. In 1992 the BN owned 1,020 miles of track in Texas and operated over an additional 160 miles via trackage rights. In 1995 Burlington Northern, Incorporated, and Santa Fe Pacific Corporation agreed to a merger that would produce one of the largest railroad systems in the United States.

Union Pacific Rail Road (1862-1880)

Chartered by act of Congress in 1862

Completed construction across Nebraska, Wyoming, and part of Utah in May 1869, connecting with Central Pacific Railway at Promontory, Utah

Consolidated with Kansas Pacific Railway and Denver Pacific Railway & Telegraph Co., in January 1880 to form Union Pacific Railway.

The act of July 1, 1862, incorporating the Union Pacific Railroad Company, was formally accepted by the directors September 2, 1862, and acceptance filed in the Department of the Interior June 26, 1863. (Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads, For The Year Ending June 30, 1883)

By a joint resolution of April 10, 1869 (16 Stat., 56), it was provided that the common terminus of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads should be at or near Ogden, Utah, and that the Union Pacific Railroad Company should build, and the Central Pacific Company pay for and own, the road from Promontory Summit, 53 miles west from Ogden, from which place said roads should form one continuous line. (Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads, For The Year Ending June 30, 1883)

Union Pacific Railway (1880-1897)

Consolidation on January 24, 1880 of:

Union Pacific Railroad

Kansas Pacific Railway

Denver Pacific Railway & Telegraph Company

The Articles of Consolidation for the Union Pacific Railway were signed on January 24, 1880, and were filed with the U. S. Department of the Interior on January 26, 1880, and with the State of Kansas on April 30, 1880, with the State of Colorado on August 2, 1880, and with the State of Nebraska on September 20, 1880. The joint deed that transferred all properties and interests to the consolidated company was signed on January 24, 1880.

Union Pacific Railroad (1897-today)

Incorporated in Utah on July 1, 1897

Successor to Union Pacific Railway

Property of UPRy sold at foreclosure to UPRR on November 1, 1897

UPRR took possession of UPRy on January 31, 1898

Topeka & Northwestern Railroad was absorbed on May 24, 1908

South Omaha & Western Railroad (the Lane Cutoff) was merged into UP on June 30, 1909

Union Pacific Railroad was forced to sell its Southern Pacific stock on June 30, 1913

Acquired control by lease of the following railroads on January 1, 1936:

Oregon Short Line Railroad

Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.

Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad

Union Pacific Corporation was formed as holding company for UPRR and its interests, January 30, 1969

All non-railroad assets transferred to Union Pacific Corporation on June 26, 1971, including Champlin Oil (oil), Rocky Mountain Energy (coal), and Upland Industries (real estate)

Western Pacific Railroad merged into UP, June 17, 1987 (controlled since December 22, 1982)

Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company merged into UP, December 29, 1987 (controlled since July 1899)

Oregon Short Line Railroad merged into UP, December 30, 1987 (controlled since October 13, 1898)

Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad merged into UP, December 31, 1987 (controlled since April 27, 1921)

Chicago & North Western Railway merged into UP on October 1, 1995 (controlled since April 25, 1995)

Missouri Pacific Railroad merged into UP, January 1, 1997 (controlled since December 22, 1982)

Included Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad, merged into MP on December 1, 1989 (controlled since August 12, 1988)

Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad merged into UP, June 30, 1997 (controlled since September 11, 1996)

St. Louis Southwestern Railway merged into UP, September 30, 1997 (controlled since September 11, 1996)

Southern Pacific Transportation Company merged into UP, February 1, 1998 (controlled since September 11, 1996)

Utah Central Railroad

Utah Central Rail Road 1869-1881 -- Information about Utah's pioneer railroad between Ogden and Salt Lake City; reorganized in 1881.

Utah Central Railway

Utah Central Railway 1881-1889 -- Information about the UP-controlled consolidated company that extended between Ogden and Frisco in west central Utah, made up of Utah Central Railroad, Utah Southern Railroad, and Utah Southern Railroad Extension.

Utah Eastern Railroad

Absorbed by UP in 1881.

(See also: Utah Eastern Railroad, 1879-1887)

Utah Northern Railroad

Utah Northern Railroad 1871-1878 -- Information about the pioneering narrow gauge line that was built north from Ogden and into Idaho; merged with others to create Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern in 1889.

Utah Southern Railroad

Utah Southern Railroad 1870-1881 -- Information about the pioneering railroad built south from Salt Lake City; merged with Utah Central Railway of 1881.

Utah Southern Railroad Extension 1879-1881 -- Information about the UP-controlled line between Salt Lake City and the mines at Frisco; merged with Utah Central Railway of 1881.

Utah Parks Company

Owned by LA&SL

(See also: Utah Parks Company)

Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad

1873-1878

A narrow gauge railroad in southeastern Washington that furnished some of Oregon Railway & Navigation's narrow gauge locomotives. Some of the line's locomotives were sold in 1883 to Mill Creek Flume & Manufacturing Company, which itself was sold to ORy&N in 1887.

(See also: Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad)

(See also: Mill Creek Flume & Manufacturing Company)

Western Pacific Railway

Between January and March 1980, UP purchased 87 percent of the stock of Western Pacific Railway. Upon ICC approval of UP control of WP in October 1982, the remainder of WP's stock was sold to UP.

January 21, 1980
Union Pacific announced that it would make an offer to acquire the Western Pacific Railroad. (INFO, April 1980, page 4)

March 3, 1980
Union Pacific announced that it had purchased all of the tendered shares of Western Pacific, resulting in ownership of 84 percent of all outstanding stock. (INFO, April 1980, page 4)

Late April 1980
The board of directors for both Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific approved the prospective merger of the two roads in late April 1980.

September 15, 1980
UP and WP applied to the ICC for control of WP by UP, and later merger with UP. (UP applied to control and merge MP on the same day.)

September 13, 1982
UP was given ICC approval to control Missouri Pacific Railroad and Western Pacific Railway. (UP Law Department Records)

October 20, 1982
The ICC approved UP's control and merger of Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific. (INFO, November 1982, page 7)

December 7, 1982
U. S. Court of Appeals rejected pleas from three competing railroads to stop the proposed UP-MP-WP merger. The decision allowed ten days for protestants to seek a stay from the U. S. Supreme Court to consider the appeals. (Pacific News, January 1983, page 3)

December 22, 1982
UP control and merger of WP was cleared by the U. S. Supreme Court, "At 2:25 p. m., December 22, 1982, the consolidation of the Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific railroads became a fact." (INFO, January 1983, page 3)

(Notice of the approved control of MP and WP was issued over the Union Pacific teletype system just after 10:00 p. m. on the evening of December 22, 1982.)

Excellent coverage of the UP-WP merger was provided in the December 1983 issue of CTC Board magazine, "Uncle Pete Plucks The Feather," which included a variety of photos and commentary by Wayne Monger.

January 1, 1983
Union Pacific control of Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific took effect. This was the formal date that UP took over the accounts and interests of WP and MP. (UP Law Department Records)

July 1983
Union Pacific Corporation announced that it had acquired the last outstanding shares of Western Pacific stock, giving the Union Pacific parent corporation 100 percent control of WP. Prior to the merger Union Pacific owned 87 percent of WP stock. (UP InfoNews employee magazine, July 1983)

June 15, 1987
Western Pacific's two subsidiaries, Tidewater Southern and Sacramento Northern, were merged into WP.

June 17, 1987
Western Pacific Railway was formally merged with Union Pacific Railroad.

Western Railroad Properties, Inc. (WRPI)

(Read about Western Railroad Properties, Inc.; WRPI -- Information about C&NW's line into the coal fields of Wyoming's Powder River Basin.)

Yakima Valley Transportation Company

Owned by OSL

(Read the Wikipedia article for Yakima Valley Transportation Company)

###