The Union Pacific Railroad, Building America

The Union Pacific (UP), the largest and one of the most powerful railroads in the country has been with us since 1862, some 146 years. The Union Pacific is far older than any other American Class I railroad today with the Kansas City Southern in a nearby second at 111 years (beyond that CSX Transportation ranks in third at 31 years). In that time the railroad has become not only one of the most highly respected institutions in the nation but also has seen nearly every major railroading event in our country’s history, and accordingly has a very long and storied history.  Thanks to the company's forward thinking it began gobbling up larger and smaller railroads around it in the 1980s propelling it into the largest system in the country that today serves most states and communities west of the Mississippi River.

Union Pacific's famous heritage steam locomotive fleet, 4-8-4 Northern #844 and 4-6-6-4 Challenger #3785, power an excursion for Railfair 1991 as it rolls through Doyle, California during April of that year.

The Union Pacific Railroad began in 1862 being created by Congress and President Abraham Lincoln via the Pacific Railroad Act to complete a transcontinental railroad to the Pacific Coast. This the railroad began in 1863 heading west from Omaha, Nebraska to meet the Central Pacific building east from Sacramento, California. The famous meeting of the two railroads took place at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869 with a symbolic golden spike (however, a golden spike was not actually pounded into the railroad tie as gold is much too soft), with the actual final spike driven into place at 12:47 p.m. that day.

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 (GTEL) 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

Chicago Great Western

Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad

Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy)

Missouri Pacific Railroad

Pacific Electric Railway

Southern Pacific

St. Louis Southwestern Railway

Western Pacific Railroad

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.

UP C30-7 #2488 and an SD40-2 head up an eastbound freight near Deschutes, Oregon on May 23, 1984.

Union Pacific Diesel Locomotive Roster

For a current diesel locomotive roster of the Union Pacific please click here. Also, for an excellent listing of EMD-built diesel locomotives, including those owned by the UP please click here. Lastly, please click here to locate preserved UP diesel locomotives.   Please note that the below UP diesel locomotive roster only includes new units the railroad has ever purchased. The Diesel Shop link above gives an excellent current UP diesel fleet, including those units from predecessor roads. Also listed there is the Union Pacific's current "Heritage Fleet".

The American Locomotive Company

Marked as subsidiary Tidewater Southern, RS1 #746 rests at the yard in Stockton, California during March of 1971.

A set of Union Pacific MP15DCs pull transfer duty as they roll through Kansas City on July 14, 2002.

One of the most powerful steam locomotives ever built, UP Big Boy 4-8-8-4 #4004 lays over at the engine terminal and yard in Cheyenne, Wyoming on June 18, 1953. In six more years all of these magnificent locomotives will have been retired.

A UP 2-10-2 Santa Fe, #5309, rolls through the yard at Butte, Montana on February 26, 1941.

Union Pacific Steam Locomotive Roster

For a more complete roster of Union Pacific steam locomotives please click here. Also, for information regarding surviving UP steam locomotives please click here.  Please note that the below roster only includes the UP's own fleet and not that of railroad's it either controlled or owned.

UP 4-8-4 #844 frolics through the snow at Humboldt, Nevada as it leads an excursion on April 15, 2009.

Notable Union Pacific Railroad Passenger Trains

Challenger

City of Denver

City of Los Angeles

City of Portland

City of Salina

City of San Francisco

City of St. Louis

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)

Electro-Motive's massive DD40X, built during the late 1960s when manufacturers looked to see just how powerful they could build a diesel locomotive, was actually somewhat successful. UP #6900 is seen here in Salt Lake City on May 10, 1969 to participate in the centennial of the Transcontinental Railroad.

For more reading on the Union Pacific you might want to consider Union Pacific Railroad from authors Joe Welsh and Kevin Holland. Of course, being that the Union Pacific is so well known and has been around for so many years, hundreds of publications (many quite good) have been written about it detailing various subjects of the railroad. However, this book will at least give you a general overview and history of the UP (filled with many, excellent, historical and colorful photographs) at which point you can decide if you are interested in further books of study on the railroad. Even if you are a historian of the UP and have not seen this book I'm sure you will enjoy it! One other book of interest is Union Pacific's Streamliners, also from Joe Welsh. The book gives an in depth look at the railroad's famed streamliners, notably its City fleet. In any event, if you're interested in perhaps purchasing either (or both) of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.