The Missouri Pacific Railroad, Route of the Eagles

The Missouri Pacific Railroad, better known by railroaders and railfans as the “MoPac,” was never a strong company financially but it was always a fighter. The railroad was the first to be built west of the Mississippi River and would eventually come under the Jay Gould empire, who owned scores of railroads in the 19th century. The railroad is also well remembered for its beautiful paint scheme of blue and gray with an eagle adorning the flanks of locomotives. The Missouri Pacific, like many now-fallen flags, was actually a hodgepodge of over smaller railroads put together throughout the years, even after the Missouri Pacific name was born. The MoPac's original predecessor was the Pacific Railroad, chartered in 1849 by the state of Missouri to connect St. Louis with the Missouri River. Construction on the railroad began just three years later but due to the topography (which was quite rugged west of St. Louis) and the Civil War it was not able to reach present-day Kansas City until 1865.

By also owning the Texas & Pacific the Missouri Pacific reached nearly all of Texas’s major cities and by the early 20th century it had stretched across 11 Midwestern and Western states from New Orleans and Memphis to Denver, Colorado and El Paso, Texas. For all of the railroad’s mileage and size this did not necessarily turn into substantial profits and earnings. Between its earliest beginnings and the mid-1950s the railroad witnessed over a half-dozen bankruptcies and reorganizations (the final one being in 1956).

Perhaps most interesting about the MoPac was that for the railroad’s large size, over 11,000 miles before it vanished as an independent entity, it would not own a direct line into Chicago until the late 1960s when it acquired the Chicago & Eastern Illinois. For all of these drawbacks, however, the railroad was beloved wherever it went and its famous eagle emblem, especially emblazoned on its fleet of Eagle passenger trains, was instantly recognized.

Being that the railroad was always short on cash the Missouri Pacific was constantly looking for ways to cut costs. With the advent of diesel power and the efficiencies it provided the MP was quick to purchase the new motive power and had completely dieselized by 1953. Likewise, the railroad ended the beautiful blue and gray passenger livery in the 1960s instead opting for a much simpler solid blue with white trim although locomotives continued to adorn an adaptation of the MoPac’s famous eagle. Interestingly for railfans the railroad purchased a wide variety of early diesel locomotives from Geeps (EMDs) to the handsome Alco PAs although it would eventually settle on EMDs for its second-generation diesels.

Due to the railroad’s financial situation it is not surprising that it would be purchased by another railroad, which happened in 1982 when the Union Pacific merged the railroad into its system. Interestingly when the UP purchased the MoPac the latter was much larger in both terms of route miles and locomotives. Similarly, for years the Missouri Pacific name continued to flank locomotives albeit in the Armour Yellow and Gray of Union Pacific, and the MoPac’s corporate identity was not officially dissolved until as late as 1997.

Although the Missouri Pacific was just one of several railroads to eventually be merged into Union Pacific its legacy will certainly forever be remembered. Along with Amtrak continuing to operate its Texas Eagle, the Union Pacific recently paid homage to several of its predecessors, including the MoPac, by painting one of its new EMD SD70ACe locomotives into a version of the railroad’s famous blue and gray passenger livery complete with an eagle adorning the locomotive’s nose. The unit debuted during the summer of 2005 and it received a number recognizing the Missouri Pacific’s final year of independence, 1982.

Please Click Here To Return To The Main Fallen Flags Section

For an all-time diesel locomotive roster of the Missouri Pacific please click here. Also, for an excellent listing of EMD-built diesel locomotives, including those owned by the MP please click here. Lastly, please click here to locate preserved MoPac diesel locomotives.

The American Locomotive Company

The Baldwin Locomotive Works

Electro-Motive Corporation/Electro-Motive Division

General Electric

For a more complete roster of Missouri Pacific steam locomotives please click here. Also, for information regarding surviving MP steam locomotives please click here. Please note that the below roster includes classes of steam locomotives from all of Missouri Pacific's subsidiaries save for the Texas & Pacific.

For a more complete roster of Texas & Pacific steam locomotives please click here. Also, for information regarding surviving T&P steam locomotives please click here.

Notable Missouri Pacific Railroad Passenger Trains

Colorado Eagle

Texas Eagle

Aztec Eagle: (San Antonio - Mexico City)

Houstonian: (New Orleans - Houston)

Louisiana Sunshine Special: (Little Rock - Lake Charles)

Missouri River Eagle: (St. Louis - Omaha)

Missourian: (St. Louis - Kansas City/Wichita)

Orleanean: (Houston - New Orleans)

Ozarker: (St. Louis - Little Rock)

Pioneer: (Houston - Brownsville)

Rainbow Special: (Kansas City - Little Rock)

Royal Gorge: (Kansas City - Pueblo)

Southerner: (St. Louis - El Paso/San Antonio/New Orleans)

Southern Scenic: (Kansas City - Memphis)

Sunflower: (St. Louis - Kansas City/Wichita)

Sunshine Special: (St. Louis - Hot Springs/San Antonio)

Texan: (St. Louis - Fort Worth)

Valley Eagle: (Houston - Brownsville)

(A deep thanks to the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University for allowing Ron Nixon's historic collection of the Missouri Pacific and Texas & Pacific to be featured here. Please note that the photos featured on this page feature their corresponding image number so that you may quickly and easily find more information about it from their website. To view Ron Nixon's entire collection please click here.)

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