The
Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. MoPac was a
Class I railroadA Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...
growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the
St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern RailwayThe St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway was a historic railroad that operated in Missouri, and Arkansas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
(SLIMS),
Texas and Pacific RailwayThe Texas and Pacific Railway Company was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California....
(TP),
Chicago and Eastern Illinois RailroadThe Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two World Wars before being purchased by the Missouri Pacific...
(C&EI),
St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico RailwayThe St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway was a 200-mile railroad that operated from Brownsville, Texas to Gulf Coast Junction in Houston. It passed through small southeast Texas communities such as Robstown, Corpus Christi, Bay City, and Harlingen as well as the Rio Grande Valley.-History:Uriah...
(SLBM),
Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf RailwayThe Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway was formed on July 31, 1919 from the assets of the bankrupt Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway. The KO&G largely consisted of a single line from Baxter Springs, Kansas, to Denison, Texas, prior to its purchase by Missouri Pacific's Texas and Pacific Railway...
(KO&G),
Midland Valley RailroadThe Midland Valley Railroad was incorporated in 1903 for the purpose of building a line from Hoye, Arkansas, through Muskogee and Tulsa, Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas. The railroad took its name from Midland, Arkansas, a coal mining town in western Arkansas which was served by the railroad...
(MV),
Gulf Coast LinesThe Gulf Coast Lines was the name of a railroad system comprising three principal railroads, as well as some smaller ones, that stretched from New Orleans, Louisiana via Baton Rouge and Houston to Brownsville, Texas...
(GC),
International-Great Northern RailroadThe International – Great Northern Railroad was a railroad that operated in the U.S. state of Texas. It was created on September 30, 1873, when International Railroad and Houston and Great Northern Railroad merged....
(IGN), New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway (NOTM), Missouri-Illinois Railroad (MI), as well as the small Central Branch Railway (an early predecessor of MP in Kansas and south central Nebraska), and joint ventures such as the
Alton and Southern RailroadThe Alton and Southern Railway is a railroad in Illinois. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad that operates a switching railroad in the Greater St. Louis area.- Overview :...
(AS).
On January 8, 1980, the Missouri Pacific Railroad was purchased by the
Union Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
. Because of lawsuits filed by various competing railroads, the merger was not approved until September 13, 1982. After the Supreme Court denied a trial from the Southern Pacific, the merger took effect on December 22, 1982, at 2:55 p.m. However, due to outstanding bonds of the Missouri Pacific, the merger with Union Pacific did not become official until January 1, 1997.
History
On July 4, 1851, at
St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, ground-breaking for the
Pacific RailroadThe Pacific Railroad was a railroad based in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was a predecessor of both the Missouri Pacific Railroad and St. Louis-San Francisco Railway.The Pacific was chartered by Missouri in 1849 to extend "from St...
marked the beginning of what would later be known as the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The first section of track was completed in 1852. In 1865, it became the first railroad to serve
Kansas CityKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, after construction was interrupted by the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In 1872, the Pacific Railroad was reorganized as the
Missouri Pacific Railway by new investors after a railroad debt crisis. Because of corporate ties extending back to the Pacific Railroad, Missouri Pacific at one time advertised itself as being
The First Railroad West of the Mississippi.
From 1879, Missouri Pacific was under the control of highly successful but extremely controversial New York financier
Jay GouldJason "Jay" Gould was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. He has long been vilified as an archetypal robber baron, whose successes made him the ninth richest American in history. Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Gould as the 8th worst American CEO of all time...
, until his death in 1892. Gould developed a system extending through
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
,
NebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
,
ArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
,
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and
LouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. His son,
George GouldGeorge Jay Gould I was a financier and the son of Jay Gould. He was himself a railroad executive, leading both the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Western Pacific Railroad ....
, inherited control upon his father's death. The younger Gould lost control of the company after it declared
bankruptcyBankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in 1915. In 1917 the line was merged with the
St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern RailwayThe St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway was a historic railroad that operated in Missouri, and Arkansas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
(SLIMS) and reorganized as the
Missouri Pacific Railroad. Missouri Pacific later acquired or gained a controlling interest in other lines in Texas, including the
Gulf Coast LinesThe Gulf Coast Lines was the name of a railroad system comprising three principal railroads, as well as some smaller ones, that stretched from New Orleans, Louisiana via Baton Rouge and Houston to Brownsville, Texas...
,
International-Great Northern RailroadThe International – Great Northern Railroad was a railroad that operated in the U.S. state of Texas. It was created on September 30, 1873, when International Railroad and Houston and Great Northern Railroad merged....
, and the
Texas and Pacific RailwayThe Texas and Pacific Railway Company was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California....
.
MoPac declared bankruptcy again in 1933, during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and entered into
trusteeshipA trustee in bankruptcy is an entity, often an individual, in charge of administering a bankruptcy estate.- United States :In the United States, a Trustee in Bankruptcy is a person who is appointed by the United States Department of Justice or by the creditors involved in a bankruptcy case.In a...
. The company was reorganized and the trusteeship ended in 1956.
By the 1980s the system would own 11,469 miles of rail line over 11 states bounded by Chicago to the east,
Pueblo, ColoradoPueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
, in the west, north to
OmahaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, south to the U.S.-Mexico border in
Laredo, TexasLaredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
, and southeast along the Gulf seaports of
LouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. MoPac operated a fleet of more than 1,500
diesel locomotiveA diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
s, almost all purchased within the previous 10 years. The company was a pioneer in the early days of computer-guided rail technology. It was a major hauler of grain, TOFC (Trailer on Flat Car), coal, ore, autos and dry goods. At the time of their mega-merger in 1982, the MoPac owned newer locomotives, more locomotives and operated more track than partner
Union Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
.
On December 22, 1982, the Missouri Pacific merged with Union Pacific and
Western Pacific RailroadThe Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California...
companies to create the largest system in its day, the "Pacific Rail Systems," under the
holding companyA holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
Union Pacific Corporation, but maintained its own corporate and commercial identity. On December 1, 1989, the Missouri Kansas Texas and the Galveston, Houston & Henderson were merged away into the Missouri Pacific after acquisition by the Union Pacific in 1988. By 1994 all motive power of the Missouri Pacific was repainted and on January 1, 1997, its corporate and commercial identity was officially merged away into the Union Pacific. UP continued to use the MoPac headquarters building at 210 N. 13th St. in downtown St. Louis for its customer service center until February 15, 2005. The former MoPac building is undergoing rehab as condominiums and is now known as Park Pacific.
Passenger train service
In the early years of the 20th century, most Missouri Pacific and St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern passenger trains were designated by number only, with little emphasis on premier
name trains. This changed in May, 1915, with the inauguration of the
Scenic Limited between St. Louis, Kansas City, and
Pueblo, ColoradoPueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
. Between Pueblo and Salt Lake City, the
Scenic Limited operated through the
Royal GorgeThe Royal Gorge is a canyon on the Arkansas River near Cañon City, Colorado. With a width of at its base and a few hundred feet at its top, and a depth of in places, the 10-mile-long canyon is a narrow, steep gorge through the granite of Fremont Peak...
over the tracks of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. From Salt Lake City to San Francisco, the
Scenic Limited operated over the Western Pacific Railroad. A second premier train, the
Sunshine SpecialThe Sunshine Special was inaugurated by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad on December 5, 1915, to provide a premium level of passenger train service between St. Louis, Little Rock, and destinations in Texas...
began operating on December 5, 1915, between St. Louis, Little Rock,
AustinAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
and San Antonio. Another named train, the
Rainbow Special was placed in service in July 1921 between Kansas City and Little Rock. The
Sunshine Special soon eclipsed the other trains in travel volume, becoming the signature train of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. An advertising slogan in 1933 proclaimed: "
It's 70-degrees in the Sunshine
when it's 100-degrees in the shade," referring to the fact that the
Sunshine Special was one of the first air-conditioned trains in the southwest. When new streamlined trains were delivered, the
Scenic Limited and
Rainbow Special names faded, but the
Sunshine Special had sufficient name recognition to co-exist along with the new
streamlinerA streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
s into the late 1950s.
In the
streamlinerA streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
era, the Missouri Pacific's premier passenger trains were collectively known as the
Eagles. A variety of
Eagle trains were operated, with the first such train inaugurated in 1940. Eagle routes included the
Missouri River Eagle (St. Louis to Kansas City and Omaha), the
Delta Eagle (
Memphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
to
Tallulah, LouisianaTallulah is a city in and the parish seat of Madison Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 9,189 at the 2000 census...
), the
Colorado Eagle (St. Louis to Pueblo and Denver, the
Texas EagleThe Texas Eagle was a named passenger train operated by the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Texas and Pacific Railway between St. Louis, Missouri and multiple destinations in the state of Texas. The train began on August 15, 1948, with the renaming of the Sunshine Special. For thirteen years,...
(St. Louis to
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
), and the
Valley Eagle (Houston to
Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
and
Brownsville, TexasBrownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
).
Other notable trains the MoPac operated included:
- the Houstonian (between New Orleans and Houston);
- Missourian (between St. Louis and Kansas City);
- Orleanean (between Houston and New Orleans);
- Ozarker (between St. Louis and Little Rock);
- Pioneer (between Houston and Brownsville);
- Southerner (service from St. Louis and Kansas City to New Orleans, via Little Rock);
- Southern Scenic (between Kansas City and Memphis);
- Sunflower (between St. Louis and Wichita); and
- the Texan (between St. Louis and Fort Worth).
Missouri Pacific gained a reputation for aggressively discontinuing passenger trains after the mid-1960s, and when the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
) assumed passenger train operations on May 1, 1971, the St. Louis to Kansas City route was the only Missouri Pacific route to be included as part of Amtrak's basic system. On March 13, 1974, Amtrak restored passenger train service over segments of Missouri Pacific-Texas and Pacific's original
Texas Eagle route between St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and
LaredoLaredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
.
Equipment Colors and Painting
In the early days of steam, the MP generally used
GoldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
lettering on its steam locomotives. This was further broken down by using two different types of fonts: Block for the numbers and Roman for the lettering (including subsidiary markings and classifications). Once Lewis W. Baldwin became president of the Missouri Pacific in April 1923, the color of the lettering changed to Aluminum.
The Missouri Pacific was known for its "Eagle" color scheme designed by
Raymond LoewyRaymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...
. It consisted of Dark Cerulean, Icterine Yellow, and Isabelline Gray. These colors were mostly applied to passenger locomotives, passenger cars, merchandise boxcars and first-generation freight locomotives starting on October 22, 1939, and ending on April 27, 1961.
When Texas & Pacific was acquired by the Missouri Pacific, the railroad discontinued its Swamp Holly Orange & Black for the Eagle Colors (except Icterine Yellow) in its new order of GP18's 1145-1149 in May 1960. A traditional practice of railroads using the parent company's colors.
Under the Downing B. Jenks presidency, the Eagle Scheme was abandoned due do the belief of Mr. Jenks not wanting to waste money on a fancy paint scheme (considering it ironic since the railroad was not having financial woes). Effective April 28, 1961, all locomotives (new or to be repainted) were to receive an alternative version of Dark Cerulean, which the term "Jenks Blue" is derived (also sometimes called "Dark Eagle Blue") from.
With the Union Pacific Merger taking into effect on December 22, 1982, the Missouri Pacific sought to keep its Jenks Blue scheme. However, a study in late 1983 indicated the expense of all three railroads paint schemes were too costly. Union Pacific then allowed the Missouri Pacific & Western Pacific railroads to create a new scheme. The first new scheme attempt by the Missouri Pacific was a 'simple logo-simple scheme' design. Originally planned for the locomotive to be completely painted Armor Yellow (including trucks, frame, and fuel tank) with the application of the Missouri Pacific 20-inch lettering along the carbody & a Buzzsaw logo on the nose and air equipment doors. The plan was then reintroduced to have a black frame, trucks, and fuel tank. The final revision introduced the unit to be repainted in a standard Union Pacific scheme with 'MISSOURI PACIFIC' instead of 'UNION PACIFIC' lettering along the carbody.
Once the test scheme was completed, the lettering was deemed unsatisfactory due to the word 'MISSOURI' being too large to fit on smaller four-axle carbodies. Effective May 14, 1984, the Union Pacific scheme was to be used, but in substitution of the Union Pacific 'Jinx' lettering font, a renovated version of lettering was used. Using the font format seen on reporting marks and locomotive numbers, 'North Little Rock' lettering was used, as it fit the large and small cabodies decently. On January 1, 1986, the scheme was discontinued after the consolidation of the Missouri Pacific & Union Pacific operating departments. To this day, the paint scheme remains controversial, as management, employees and railfans were divided into appreciating the scheme or refusing it.
Honorary tribute
On July 30, 2005, UP unveiled a brand new EMD SD70ACe locomotive,
Union Pacific 1982Union Pacific 1982 is an EMD SD70ACe locomotive owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. It is one of six SD70ACe locomotives referred to as the UP's Heritage units, units painted to pay tribute to predecessor railroads acquired by Union Pacific. UP 1982 is painted in Missouri Pacific colors...
, with Missouri Pacific paint and logos, as part of a new heritage program.
Notable employees
- Carl Ingold Jacobson
Carl Ingold Jacobson was a City Council member in Los Angeles, California, from 1925 to 1933. He was tried on a morals charge, and then it was later shown that he was the victim of a frame-up by local police authorities.-Biography:...
, Los Angeles, California, City Council member, 1925–33
External links