The Union Pacific Railroad, Building America
The Union Pacific’s original main line (that is still in use today and quite busy) is the Overland Route, which runs between Ogden, Utah; Omaha, Nebraska; and Chicago. Today’s Union Pacific is much different from the system prior to 1980 as it operates as far north as Seattle, as far west as Los Angeles/Long Beach, as far east as Minneapolis, and as far south as Dallas, Brownsville, and New Orleans (and about every west in between!). The UP of today, however, was not as large or wealthy prior to the 20th century. It struggled on and off during the late 19th century but after coming under the guidance of Edward Harriman the UP has generally lived a prosperous life since that time. As the 20th century progressed so too did the UP, being instrumental in the development of lightweight streamliners in the 1930s (the M-10000) which would be the forerunner of today’s common diesel-electric locomotives. (Please note that the below map of the UP illustrates how the railroad historically appeared in 1950, prior to its major mergers and acquisitions.)  Perhaps what the UP is best recognized for is its appetite for large power, which perhaps matches its character to some degree! It holds the record for the largest diesel and steam locomotives (the steam issue remains up to debate) ever built in the way of the American Locomotive Company’s (Alco) 4-8-8-4 “Big Boys” (behemoth steamers able to produce some 135,000 pounds of tractive effort!) and EMD’s 6600 horsepower DD40AX “Centennial” diesel-electrics (which were essentially two SD40 models under one frame). These are not the only large units the railroad operated as they also owned Alco’s largest diesel-electric and experimented with a gas-turbine electric locomotive capable of 8500 horsepower! The Union Pacific we know today began to take shape in 1982 when it purchased rival Western Pacific, which granted it access to northern California, and soon after this it would take over the Missouri Pacific to reach Chicago, St. Louis, and Texas. In 1988 the company grew even larger when it purchased the Katy (the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad) and in 1995 did the same with the Chicago & North Western Railway. Finally, just a year later in 1996 the UP purchased the gigantic Southern Pacific, a one-time powerhouse railroad that by the time of its take over by UP was a company that was floundering (so much so that it had been purchased earlier by the much smaller Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad).  The above map gives a family tree of the largest railroads which have made up Union Pacific. More information about each can be found in the below links: Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Chicago & North Western Railway Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy) St. Louis Southwestern Railway
The future of the Union Pacific is as wide open as the great western plains where the railroad operates. However, if the company’s past is any measure of what may happen in the years ahead, I think we can safely say that when the merger movement picks up again the Union Pacific and its famous shield logo will continue to flank locomotives during their daily task of moving goods across the country. Union Pacific All-Time Locomotive Rosters Notable Union Pacific Railroad Passenger Trains
Butte Special: (Salt Lake City - Butte, Montana) Columbine: (Omaha - Denver) Forty-Niner: (Chicago - Oakland) Gold Coast: (Chicago - Oakland/Los Angeles) Idahoan: (Cheyenne - Portland) Los Angeles Limited: (Chicago - Los Angeles) Pony Express: (Kansas City - Los Angeles) Portland Rose: (Denver - Portland) San Francisco Overland: Connected Chicago and Oakland, later serving only as far east as St. Louis. The Spokane: (Spokane - Portland) Utahn: (Cheyenne - Los Angeles) Yellowstone Special: (Poncatello, Idaho - West Yellowstone, Montana)
|
