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Santa Fe Pacific Corporation

 

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Santa Fe Pacific Corporation


 
 

The Santa Fe Pacific Corporation was formed as the Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation in 1984 by the merger of Santa Fe IndustriesSanta Fe Industries

Santa Fe Industries was the diversified parent company, headquartered in Chicago, of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railw...
, which owned the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the largest railroads in the Uni...
, with the Southern Pacific Company, which owned the Southern Pacific RailroadSouthern Pacific Railroad

The Southern Pacific Railroad was an American railroad....
. After the Interstate Commerce CommissionInterstate Commerce Commission

The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interslate Commerce Act of 188...
 denied their plan to merge their railroads as the Southern Pacific Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad

The Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad was intended to be formed as part of the merger between the parent companies of the S...
 the holding company name was shortened and the Southern Pacific Railroad sold.

The holding company retained all the non-rail interests of both predecessors (mainly real estate and natural resources, but Southern Pacific had also formed the telephone company known as Sprint, which was sold shortly before the merger). It was initially headquartered in ChicagoChicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S....
 and later in Schaumburg, IllinoisSchaumburg, Illinois

Schaumburg is a village in Cook County and DuPage County, Illinois....
, former Southern Pacific executive Robert KrebsRobert Krebs

Robert D. Krebs has headed three major United States railroads in succession, leading the Southern Pacific when it was acqui...
 succeeding Santa Fe head John J. Schmidt as CEO.

Almost immediately after the Southern Pacific was sold, Santa Fe Pacific issued a massive dividend, so large it was considered a return of capitalReturn of capital

Return of capital refers to payments back to "capital owners" that exceed the growth of a business....
, and financed by issuing a large amount of debt.

A few years after that, they spun off most of the company's natural resources interests as Santa Fe Gold and spun off all their non-track real estate interests, including railway stations, as Catellus Development.

In September 1995 what was left of the company merged into Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe railroad became part of the Burlington Northern Santa FeBNSF Railway

The BNSF Railway , headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is one of the largest railroad networks in North America....
, with Krebs becoming head of the merged company until his retirement.

The Santa Fe Pacific Corporation was not related to the Santa Fe Pacific RailroadSanta Fe Pacific Railroad Overview

The Santa Fe Pacific Railroad was an operating subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway that operated from J...
, which operated from 1897 to 1902.