Dates from today's Merger Era (1982-today) bring to mind merger dates from UP's Historic
Era (1862-1900), and its later Classic Era (1945-1982). I won't bore you with all of the
hundreds of predecessor roads from the Historic Era, but not many know that the three
major component roads from the Classic Era, Oregon Short Line (OSL), Oregon-Washington
Railway & Navigation (OWR&N), and Los Angeles & Salt Lake (LA&SL),
remained well into the merger era. Specifically, they were merged with UP in December
1987. Here is a brief review:
Union Pacific Railroad (UP) operated all UP lines in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and
Wyoming, and a small bit in Utah. UP was incorporated in July 1897 as a reorganization of
Union Pacific Railway, which was in receivership since 1893. Union Pacific Railway had
been incorporated in January 1880 as a consolidation of the original Union Pacific Railway
(chartered in 1862), the Kansas Pacific Railway, and the Denver Pacific Railway &
Telegraph Co. UP Railway connected with Central Pacific in May 1869 at Promontory, Utah.
UP lines in Kansas and Colorado were purchased from predecessor companies.
Oregon Short Line Railroad (OSL) operated all UP lines in Idaho, Montana, and northern
Utah. OSL was incorporated in February 1897 as a reorganization of Oregon Short Line &
Utah Northern Railway, in receivership since October 1893. Oregon Short Line & Utah
Northern Railway had been incorporated on August 19, 1889 as a consolidation of the
original 1881 Oregon Short Line Railway and six other railroads operating in Utah and
Idaho. The original OSL Railway began construction in May 1881 at a connection with UP at
Granger, Wyo., and was completed across southern Idaho to Huntington, Ore. by November
1884. All OSL lines in Utah were purchased from predecessor companies, including, among
others, the Utah Central Railway, the Utah Southern Railway, the Utah Western Railway, and
the Utah Northern Railway, collectively known as the "Mormon Roads."
Oregon Washington Railway & Navigation Co. (OWR&N) operated all UP lines in Oregon
and Washington. OWR&N was incorporated in November 1910 as a consolidation of Oregon
Railroad & Navigation Co. and 14 other companies in the states of Oregon and
Washington. The Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. was incorporated in 1897 as a
reorganization of Oregon Railway & Navigation Co., which had been in receivership
since 1893. The original Oregon Railway & Navigation Co. was organized in 1879 and
completed a connection with OSL at Huntington, Ore., in November 1884. OR&N was
operated by OSL from January 1887 to July 1889, then operated jointly by GN, NP, and OSL
for 10 years until July 1899, when OSL purchased full control of OR&N.
Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad (LA&SL) operated all UP lines south and west of
Salt Lake City, Utah. LA&SL was a name change in August 1916 from the original 1901
San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. The SP, LA&SL (and the later
LA&SL) were controlled by William Clark until 1903, then jointly controlled by Clark
and OSL until April 1921, when UP bought Clark's half interest, making LA&SL jointly
owned by UP and OSL. (Remember that OSL was fully controlled by UP.) The connection
between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Los Angeles, Calif., was completed on May 26, 1905 at
Erie, Nev.
The St. Joseph & Grand Island Railway
was the 107 mile line across northeastern Kansas, from St. Joseph, Mo., to Upland, Kan.,
near Marysville. After the January 1936 system consolidation, the line was operated by UP
as the St. Joseph Branch, after UP gained control in 1897(?). See Ehernberger and
Gschwind's "Union Pacific Steam, Eastern District", p. 143. The current system
map shows the line as an associated short line, so apparently, UP sold the branch in the
not too distant past.
Union Pacific controlled the OSL from 1899; the LA&SL from 1921, and OWR&N's
predecessor OR&N from 1899. OSL, LA&SL, and OWR&N were formally leased for
operation by UP in November 1935, and all four railroads were consolidated for single-line
operation as the Union Pacific System on January 1, 1936.
The corporations remained separate as wholly owned companies until December 1987, when
LA&SL and OWR&N were merged into OSL on December 30th. OSL and several other
small, UP-controlled companies, including Spokane International and St. Joe & Grand
Island, were formally merged into UP, on December 31, 1987. This "corporate
clean-up" was needed to clear the way for the pending MKT merger, in August 1988. By
the way, MKT was merged with the UP-controlled MoPac, not with UP itself.
Missouri Pacific was formally merged into
Union Pacific on January 1, 1997. It wasn't so much for tax advantage, but for corporate
bonds. MP's bonds used MP's property as collateral. To renegotiate those bonds, UP would
have had to pay a much higher interest rate, so they just left the bonds as they were, and
controlled the MP instead for the 15 years until they were all paid off.
The SP bonds were much more volatile and already at a high interest rate, hence UP could
formally merge SP, D&RGW, and Cotton Belt much more quickly. D&RGW and SP's SPCSL
(Southern Pacific Chicago St. Louis) Corp. were merged with UP on June 30, 1997, only nine
months after the UP/SP merger approval. Cotton Belt (SSW, St. Louis Southwestern) was
merged on September 30, 1997. SP itself was merged on February 1, 1998.
It is on these dates that the locomotive fleets of the various roads formally passed to UP
ownership. The car fleets are under various lease agreements, so we will be seeing
UP-painted SP-lettered cars for many years to come.
As always, comments and corrections are most welcome.
Don Strack
Centerville, Utah