Union Pacific Railroad: Map, History, Logo

Last revised: November 11, 2026

The Union Pacific is the railroad the Pacific Railway Act created on July 1, 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the law during the Civil War. The company’s account of Omaha says the act chartered the Union Pacific Railroad Company to build west from the Missouri River, and authorized the Central Pacific Railroad of California, chartered in 1861, to build east from Sacramento. The two met at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869. The Union Pacific is still a Class I railroad. Headquarters are in Omaha, and the same account describes a 23-state network across the western two-thirds of the country.

What followed Promontory is as large as the building of the line. The Credit Mobilier scandal, the Kansas Pacific, E. H. Harriman, the streamliners, and the mergers that brought in the Missouri Pacific, the Western Pacific, the Chicago & North Western, and the Southern Pacific each have a history of their own. This page is the Union Pacific.

Steam locomotives are a separate roster. Diesels are a separate roster. The gas turbines, the Centennials, the Big Boys, and the named passenger trains are on their own pages.

Union Pacific gas turbine 60, Big Boy 4017, and F7s at Green River, Wyoming, about 1952

A Union Pacific publicity photograph at Green River, Wyoming, about 1952. From left to right: first-generation gas turbine 60, 4-8-8-4 Big Boy 4017, and F7s rebuilt from F3s.

On this page: At a glance · Pacific Railway Act · Building west · Promontory · Harriman · Streamliners · Steam · Diesels · The modern railroad

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Union Pacific. Mark UP
Headquarters	Omaha, Nebraska. Union Pacific Center, 14th and Douglas Street, since 2004
Gauge	4 feet, 8½ inches
Network	23 states, the western two-thirds of the country
Charter	Pacific Railway Act, signed July 1, 1862
First rail	July 1865, at Omaha
Promontory Summit	May 10, 1869
1897 sale	$110 million, to investors who included E. H. Harriman
Steam	Separate roster
Diesels	Separate roster
Officers, from August 2023	Jim Vena, chief executive officer. Beth Whited, president of the railroad

The Union Pacific Railroad logo. Author’s work.

Pacific Railway Act

The company’s Omaha history says Lincoln created the Union Pacific by signing the Pacific Railway Act on July 1, 1862. The original legislation, as that page states it, granted each railroad 6,400 acres and up to $48,000 in government bonds for each mile completed. During the Civil War that grant was not enough. Union Pacific’s account of the financing says the Pacific Railroad Act of 1864 doubled the land grant and added land-grant bonds backed by the land.

The same financing account credits Oakes and Oliver Ames, Boston shovel makers, with carrying the work when the money ran thin. They put in more than a million dollars of their own and pledged their credit. Oakes Ames said, “Go ahead – the work shall not stop, if it takes the shovel shop.” Oliver Ames was president of the railroad from 1865 to 1871.

The company’s list of presidents begins earlier. W. B. Ogden served from September 1862 to October 1863. John A. Dix served from October 1863 to 1865. Thomas C. Durant was vice president and general manager, and president of the Credit Mobilier, the construction company through which the building was contracted.

Building west

Ground was broken at Omaha in 1863. Construction waited on money. The Omaha history dates the first rail to July 1865, three months after Lincoln was assassinated. By the end of that year the railroad had spent more than $500,000 and laid only 40 miles of track. A newspaper called the result “two streaks of rust across the Nebraska prairie.”

Durant then offered the job of chief engineer to Grenville M. Dodge, a Union general and civil engineer who had already built railroads with him in Iowa. Dodge wrote, “It fell to my lot to be chief of this party.” In the letter accepting the work he required absolute control in the field. He also wrote his brother that the railroad would pay him well, and that he was afraid he might have trouble with Durant.

Ties were the prairie problem. Any tree large enough was cut. Cedar in the canyons near North Platte, and timber in the Wyoming mountains, followed. Dodge wrote that about forty cars of material supplied one mile of track, because rails, ties, bridging, fuel, and food all had to come forward from the Missouri River. Samuel B. Reed, chief of construction, kept that supply moving. The track layers were the Casement brothers, Dan and Jack. Dodge wrote that the crews could lay from one to three miles a day as the material arrived, and that one day they laid eight and a half miles. West of Cheyenne the longest trestle on the line crossed Dale Creek, a bridge 650 feet long and 150 feet above the canyon.

The surveys ran through country at war. Dodge wrote that in 1866 every mile had to be run within range of the musket. The construction history describes the Central Pacific force, building east from California, as largely Chinese.

In 1872 the Credit Mobilier scandal broke into public view. Union Pacific’s chronological history says Durant and other officers reaped $23 million in dividends from that construction company and passed its stock to influential members of Congress. The same year the railroad opened the first bridge across the Missouri River between Omaha and Council Bluffs.

Promontory

The last weeks were late. Weather, high water in Weber Canyon, and a revolt of unpaid workers at Piedmont held the Union Pacific special. The workers held Durant. The New York board wired $500,000 to the subcontractors to make the payroll and free him. The skies cleared on May 10, 1869.

The meeting place was Promontory Summit. Dodge’s telegram to Oliver Ames on May 8 called it that. Promontory Point is the peninsula that runs into the Great Salt Lake. The ceremony was at the summit, on a line that did not have to cross the lake.

The National Park Service account of the four ceremonial spikes puts the hour at 12:47 p.m. San Francisco contractor David Hewes had a golden spike cast at the William T. Garratt Foundry, 5 5/8 inches long, 14.03 ounces, 17.6 carat gold, engraved “The Last Spike.” Nevada sent a silver spike and Arizona a gold-and-silver spike. Governor Leland Stanford of the Central Pacific and Thomas Durant were to drive the last iron spike, which was wired, with the hammer, into the transcontinental telegraph. Stanford struck the tie. Durant missed the tie. A rail worker drove the spike home. Western Union telegrapher W. N. Shilling sent the message “D-O-N-E.” The Park Service account says Durant was ill that morning, and that Grenville Dodge spoke in his place.

The Omaha history says a coast-to-coast journey that had taken six months could then be made in ten days. Dodge, in the famous photograph of the day, stands at the right, shaking hands with Central Pacific chief engineer Samuel S. Montague.

Harriman

In 1880 the Union Pacific purchased the Kansas Pacific and the Denver Pacific. In 1884 the Oregon Short Line was completed, from the main line at Granger, Wyoming, to the Pacific Northwest by way of the Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company. In 1890 the Union Pacific Coal Company, which the chronological history calls the first subsidiary, was established. In 1905 the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad was completed. The last spike was driven west of Las Vegas, and the Union Pacific had its own line to Los Angeles.

The railroad fell into bankruptcy in 1893. In 1897 it was sold for $110 million to a group of investors that included E. H. Harriman, then president of the Illinois Central. Horace G. Burt was president of the Union Pacific from December 1897 to January 1904. Harriman himself was president from 1904 to 1909. He died on September 9, 1909. A short biography is on the Harriman page. The Lucin Cutoff, the line across the Great Salt Lake that replaced the route around the north shore, belongs to his years. The mile-by-mile account is on that page.

An 1893 system map of the Union Pacific. Author’s collection.

In 1901 Union Pacific bought 38 percent of Southern Pacific stock and took control of that railroad. In 1913 the Supreme Court ordered Union Pacific to sell a 46 percent share and to give up the control. Those two figures, and the year 1913, are the chronological history. The Southern Pacific company page records the Court’s requirement in 1912. In 1906 the Pacific Fruit Express was formed, owned jointly with the Southern Pacific. In 1978 that joint company was dissolved into the Southern Pacific Fruit Express and the Union Pacific Fruit Express.

Streamliners

In 1934 the M-10000 introduced the streamliner on Union Pacific rails. The chronological history calls it the nation’s first streamliner. In 1936 the City of San Francisco and the City of Los Angeles began service between Chicago and their namesake cities, and the City of Denver went on a daily schedule that the same history calls the fastest long-distance schedule in the United States. That year the railroad also opened Sun Valley, in Idaho, which it describes as the country’s first western ski resort, with the first chair lift, invented by railroad people in Omaha.

A 1939 system map of the Union Pacific. Author’s collection.

Union Pacific 4-8-4 825 with the Pacific Limited at Omaha Union Station in 1942

A Union Pacific publicity photograph of 4-8-4 825, an FEF-2, ready to leave Omaha Union Station in 1942 with train 21, the westbound Pacific Limited.

Union Pacific 4-8-4 823 leaving Denver with the National Parks Special on July 3, 1950

Union Pacific 4-8-4 823 leaves Denver at 5 p.m. on July 3, 1950, with train 86, the eastbound National Parks Special, bound for Omaha and then Chicago over the Chicago & North Western. American-Rails.com collection.

What remained of the eastbound City of Las Vegas at Los Angeles, about 1965

What remained of Union Pacific train 116, the eastbound City of Las Vegas, between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, at Los Angeles about 1965.

Union Pacific E9A 961 and E8A 925 at the Ogden roundhouse on May 10, 1969

Union Pacific covered wagons at the roundhouse in Ogden, Utah, on the morning of May 10, 1969. E9A 961 is at the left. E8A 925, at the right, is being washed. One set was for the City of San Francisco. The other was for the Golden Spike centennial that day. Drew Jacksich photo.

An A-B-A set of Union Pacific E9s, 949, 963-B, and 951, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, on August 9, 1993. George Cockle photo.

The named trains, with the routes long carried for them, are these:

Butte Special, Salt Lake City–Butte
Challenger, Chicago–Los Angeles
City of Denver, Chicago–Denver
City of Los Angeles, Chicago–Cheyenne–Los Angeles
City of Portland, Chicago–Cheyenne–Portland
City of Salina, Kansas City–Topeka–Salina
City of San Francisco, Oakland–Cheyenne–Chicago
City of St. Louis, St. Louis and the Pacific Coast trains
Columbine, Omaha–Denver
Forty-Niner, Chicago–Oakland
Gold Coast, Chicago–Oakland and Los Angeles
Idahoan, Omaha–Portland
Portland Rose, Denver–Portland
San Francisco Overland, Chicago–Oakland, and later no farther east than St. Louis
Utahn, Cheyenne–Los Angeles

In 1971 the National Rail Passenger Service Act moved most of the country’s passenger trains to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. The Union Pacific’s own long-distance fleet went with them. A 1958 public timetable is on a separate page.

Steam

The chronological history says the Big Boy, which it calls the largest steam locomotive ever built, went into service in 1941, and that No. 844, built in 1944, was the last steam engine built for the Union Pacific. The railroad also used 4-6-6-4 Challengers, 4-8-4s of the FEF classes, 4-8-2s, 2-10-2s, 2-8-2s, and the 4-12-2, a type so closely tied to this railroad that it carries the Union Pacific name. The class-by-class list is the steam roster.

Union Pacific 4-12-2 9062 west of Durham, Wyoming, on August 31, 1955

Union Pacific 4-12-2 9062 leads Extra 9062 westbound, west of Durham, Wyoming, and nearing Cheyenne, on August 31, 1955. John Shaw photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Union Pacific 4-8-4 838 at the Laramie roundhouse on September 2, 1955

Union Pacific 4-8-4 838, with elephant-ear smoke deflectors, at the roundhouse in Laramie, Wyoming, on September 2, 1955. John Shaw photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Union Pacific 4-8-2 7019 at Victorville, California, on June 11, 1950

Union Pacific 4-8-2 7019, of the MT-1 class, between runs at Victorville, California, on June 11, 1950. The class was forty engines, 7000–7039. Chard Walker photo.

Union Pacific 4-8-2 7857 at Cheyenne with mixed train 354 on October 15, 1955

Union Pacific 4-8-2 7857, an MT-1, waits at Cheyenne, Wyoming, on October 15, 1955, with mixed train 354, Cheyenne to Yoder. Bob Collins photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Union Pacific 2-8-2 2728 at Echo, Utah, on August 29, 1955

Union Pacific 2-8-2 2728 takes water at Echo, Utah, on August 29, 1955, before freight 226 on the Park City Branch. John Shaw photo. American-Rails.com collection.

The steam program continued after the revenue engines were gone. In 2012, the 150th anniversary of the Pacific Railway Act, No. 844 made a goodwill tour of more than 13,000 miles. In 2013 the railroad reacquired Big Boy 4014. For the 150th anniversary of Promontory, in 2019, 4014 and 844 ran together on a tour called the Great Race to Ogden. The excursion fleet is the commemorative page. In 2005 Kenefick Park, in Omaha, was dedicated with Big Boy 4023 and Centennial 6900 on display.

Union Pacific shops in Omaha in July 1981, with Big Boy 4023 on display

The Union Pacific shops in Omaha in July 1981. Big Boy 4023 is on display in the background. American-Rails.com collection.

Diesels

The chronological history dates the first diesel freight power to 1941, the same year as the Big Boy. The railroad then bought for size. The gas turbines, the Big Blows, were a Union Pacific specialty. So were the DDA40X Centennials, the DD35 and DD35A double diesels, and the U50. Three Alco Century 855s, 60, 61, and 60B, were retired in August 1970. The E9 was the last of the passenger cab units, and the F7 was the freight cab of the Green River lineup. Every other model, with serials and order numbers, belongs on the diesel roster.

Union Pacific gas turbine set 21 near Laramie, Wyoming, about 1965

Union Pacific Big Blow gas-turbine set 21 near Laramie, Wyoming, about 1965. American-Rails.com collection.

Union Pacific U30C 2953 leaving Cheyenne, Wyoming, about 1983

Union Pacific U30C 2953, with other General Electric and Electro-Motive units, leads a westbound out of Cheyenne, Wyoming, about 1983. Mike Bledsoe photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Union Pacific GP38-2 2032 at Longview, Washington, in September 1981

Union Pacific GP38-2 2032 at the small engine house in Longview, Washington, in September 1981. American-Rails.com collection.

The modern railroad

In 1969 the Union Pacific Corporation was formed as a holding company, with the railroad as one operating company. From 1960 the railroad pursued the Rock Island. In 1974 the Interstate Commerce Commission ruled for a merger, and three months later Union Pacific withdrew the offer. The Rock Island was already in receivership. In 1980 President Jimmy Carter signed the Staggers Rail Act. The same year Union Pacific, the Missouri Pacific, and the Western Pacific filed their own merger applications.

A 1965 system map of the Union Pacific. Author’s collection.

The chronological history dates the Commission’s approval of the Union Pacific–Missouri Pacific–Western Pacific merger to 1982. As conditions, the Denver & Rio Grande Western received trackage rights from Pueblo to Kansas City, and the Southern Pacific received trackage rights from Kansas City to St. Louis on the Missouri Pacific. The Missouri Pacific page dates the completed acquisition to December 22, 1982. The Missouri Pacific company continued. The Western Pacific story is on its own page.

The purchase of the Katy was completed in 1988. That page dates the Katy’s merger into the Missouri Pacific, together with the Galveston, Houston & Henderson, to December 1, 1989. On January 1, 1997, the Missouri Pacific merged into the Union Pacific Railroad. The chronological history dates that legal merger to the same day.

In 1984 Union Pacific and the Chicago & North Western finished a connector into the Powder River Basin coal field of eastern Wyoming. The first train ran on August 16, 1984. In 1989 Union Pacific bought 25 percent of Chicago & North Western stock and parked it in a voting trust. In 1995 it merged the Chicago & North Western after buying the remaining 75 percent.

Western Pacific GP40 3525, Union Pacific GP40-2 903, and Missouri Pacific GP38-2 2251 at Taylor, Texas, in the summer of 1984

Western Pacific GP40 3525, Union Pacific GP40-2 903, and Missouri Pacific GP38-2 2251, formerly Rock Island 4313, at Taylor, Texas, in the summer of 1984. Mike Bledsoe photo. American-Rails.com collection.

On August 3, 1995, Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific announced that they intended to merge. The application was filed on November 30, 1995. The chronological history says the Surface Transportation Board voted to approve the combination on July 3, 1996, and that the merger took effect on September 11, 1996. The Southern Pacific page dates common control to September 11, 1996, and the merger itself to February 1, 1997. In 1994 Union Pacific had also bid for the Santa Fe, against the Burlington Northern, and in 1995 it dropped that attempt.

The Omaha history places the railroad’s offices first in the territorial capitol, then in the Herndon House at 9th and Farnam Street in 1869, then at 14th and Dodge Street from 1911 until 2004. Union Pacific Center, at 14th and Douglas, opened in 2004. The Harriman Dispatching Center, which the chronological history dates to 1989, watches the 23-state network from Omaha. In 1999 the railroad raised its interest in Ferrocarril Mexicano to 26 percent. Jim Vena has been chief executive officer, and Beth Whited president of the railroad, since August 2023.

A proposed combination with the Norfolk Southern is before the Surface Transportation Board. That proposal has its own page.

Sources

Union Pacific, “Omaha, NE,” the company’s train-town history. July 1, 1862. The first rail in July 1865. The 6,400-acre grant and the bond figure. The 1872 bridge. The ten-day coast-to-coast trip. The headquarters from the Herndon House to 14th and Douglas. The 23-state network.
Union Pacific, “The Building of a Railroad.” Durant, the $500,000 and the 40 miles, Grenville M. Dodge, the eight and a half miles in a day, Dale Creek, and Promontory Summit.
Union Pacific, “Financing the Transcontinental Railroad.” The 1864 act doubled the land grant. Oakes Ames and the shovel shop.
Union Pacific, “Chronological History.” The corporate record used here, from the act of 1862 through the officers of 2023, including Credit Mobilier, the 1897 sale, Harriman’s death, the Southern Pacific percentages, the streamliners, the Big Boy and No. 844, and the merger years.
Union Pacific, “Chronology of Union Pacific Chief Executive Officers and Presidents.” W. B. Ogden, John A. Dix, Oliver Ames, Horace G. Burt, Harriman’s presidency, Jim Vena, and Beth Whited.
National Park Service, Golden Spike National Historical Park, “Four Special Spikes,” updated July 23, 2026. The ceremonial spikes, the missed blows, W. N. Shilling, and “D-O-N-E” at 12:47 p.m. on May 10, 1869.

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