History of the Southern Pacific Railroad facts for kids

The Southern Pacific was a very important railroad company in the United States. Its story began in 1865 and continued until 1998. Over the years, it was known by a few different names: the original Southern Pacific Railroad, then the Southern Pacific Company, and finally the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. Today, the legacy of the Southern Pacific lives on as part of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Early Beginnings of the Southern Pacific Railroad

Southern Pacific routes on the Pacific Coast in 1885.

A Southern Pacific train at Los Angeles' Arcade Depot in 1891.

The Southern Pacific station in Burlingame, California, around 1900. It was built in 1894.

A Southern Pacific tunnel leading into San Francisco, around 1900.

The Southern Pacific Company's network in the Western U.S., 1901.

The Belmont, California station, around 1907.

The Southern Pacific railroad grew from several smaller companies. One of the very first was the Galveston and Red River Railway (GRR). It started in Texas in 1848. Its goal was to build a railway from Galveston Bay to the Red River. The GRR laid its first tracks in Houston in 1855. In 1856, it changed its name to the Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC). The Southern Pacific later bought this company in 1883.

Another important early railroad was the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway (BBB&C). It was also started in Texas in 1850. This was the first railroad to begin operating in Texas. Construction started in 1851, and the first 20 miles (32 km) of track opened in 1853. These early lines were the foundation for the much larger Southern Pacific system.

Building the Southern Pacific Railroad

The first Southern Pacific company began in San Francisco in 1865. Business leaders like Timothy Phelps wanted to connect San Francisco with San Diego, California by train. In 1868, a famous group of businessmen bought the company. They were known as the Big Four: Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Jr., and C. P. Huntington. These same men had also started the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) in 1861.

Key Moments in Southern Pacific History

• 1868: The Southern Pacific bought the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad.
• 1873: The Southern Pacific built its first train engine in Sacramento.
• 1874: Tracks reached Bakersfield, California, and work began on the amazing Tehachapi Loop.
• 1876: The first train traveled all the way from San Francisco to Los Angeles, California. It used the newly finished Tehachapi Loop.
• 1877: Southern Pacific tracks crossed the Colorado River into Yuma, Arizona.
• 1879: Engineers at Southern Pacific started trying out the first train engines that ran on oil.
• 1880: The first Southern Pacific train arrived in Tucson, Arizona.
• 1881: Southern Pacific took control of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad and the Louisiana Western Railroad.
• 1881: Southern Pacific tracks reached El Paso, Texas, ahead of its competitor, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
• 1883: The southern part of the second transcontinental railroad was finished. Southern Pacific tracks from Los Angeles met the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway in Texas. This created the first all-weather, year-round transcontinental railroad.
• 1885: The Southern Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad companies joined together. Southern Pacific then took over all operations of the Central Pacific.
• 1886: The first refrigerator cars started running on Southern Pacific lines. These cars helped deliver fresh fruits and vegetables, like oranges from California, to the eastern United States. This helped the citrus industry grow a lot!
• 1887: Southern Pacific gained control of the Oregon and California Railroad. This gave them a route through northern California and all the way to Portland, Oregon.
• 1893: Train bandits John Sontag and Chris Evans were caught near Visalia, California.
• 1898: Sunset magazine was started by Southern Pacific to promote travel.
• 1901: Regular train service began along the beautiful Coast Line in California.
• 1901: The Union Pacific Railroad gained control of Southern Pacific. This meant many of Southern Pacific's operations became similar to Union Pacific's.
• 1904: Southern Pacific opened the Lucin Cutoff across the Great Salt Lake. This made the main railroad line shorter.
• 1906: The big 1906 San Francisco earthquake caused damage to the railroad's main office.
• 1906: Southern Pacific and Union Pacific worked together to create the Pacific Fruit Express (PFE) for refrigerator cars.
• 1907: Southern Pacific helped form the Northwestern Pacific Railroad to serve northwestern California.
• 1907: An accident occurred when the Coast Line Limited train derailed near Glendale, California, causing injuries and fatalities.
• 1909: The Southern Pacific of Mexico was created as a branch of the railroad in Mexico.

The Dumbarton Rail Bridge

• 1910: The Dumbarton Rail Bridge, the first bridge to cross San Francisco Bay, was finished.
• 1913: The Supreme Court of the United States ordered Union Pacific to sell its shares in Southern Pacific.
• 1917: Southern Pacific moved into its new main office building in San Francisco.
• 1917: The United States government took control of American railroads to help with World War I.
• 1927: Many of Southern Pacific's smaller railroads in Texas and Louisiana were leased to the Texas and New Orleans Railroad.
• 1931: Automatic block signals were added to all major Southern Pacific lines. These signals helped trains run more safely.
• 1934: The Texas and New Orleans Railroad officially merged with other Southern Pacific lines in Texas and Louisiana. This created the largest railroad in Texas.
• 1939: Passenger trains from Southern Pacific and other companies started using the new Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal.
• 1947: Southern Pacific began using its first main-line diesel train engines.
• 1951: The Southern Pacific of Mexico was sold to the Mexican government.
• 1952: A tough year for Southern Pacific in California included a train getting stuck in heavy snow on Donner Pass and an earthquake closing the line over Tehachapi Loop.
• 1953: Southern Pacific started using "piggyback" service, where truck trailers were carried on flat train cars.
• 1957: The last regular steam train engines on Southern Pacific were retired. The railroad now mostly used diesel engines.
• 1959: Southern Pacific moved more freight than any other U.S. railroad that year.
• 1961: The Texas and New Orleans Railroad officially merged with the Southern Pacific.
• 1967: Southern Pacific opened a new, long stretch of railroad called the Palmdale Cutoff. This allowed trains to avoid going through Los Angeles.

The San Joaquin Daylight passenger train in March 1971.

The Southern Pacific Transportation Company Era

The Southern Pacific Transportation Company (often called SPTC or SPT) was created in 1969. It took over from the older Southern Pacific Company. This new company became the final version of the Southern Pacific railroad.

Southern Pacific Transportation Company Milestones

• 1971: Amtrak took over most long-distance passenger train services in the U.S. Southern Pacific continued to run local commuter trains.
• 1972: Southern Pacific Communications began selling extra space on its communication network to other companies. This service later became part of Sprint.
• 1976: Southern Pacific won an award for its excellent safety in handling chemicals.
• 1980: Southern Pacific expanded its Cotton Belt Railroad line.

SP 8033, a GE Dash 8-39B train, leading a westbound train in Eola, Illinois in 1992.

• 1982: Southern Pacific sold its communications business to GTE.
• 1984: The Southern Pacific Company merged with Santa Fe Industries. The plan was to combine their railroads, but the government did not allow it. Southern Pacific Transportation Company was then put up for sale.
• 1985: New Caltrain trains replaced Southern Pacific equipment on the Peninsula Commute route. This marked the end of Southern Pacific passenger service using its own trains.
• 1988: Rio Grande Industries, which owned the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, bought the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. The two railroads operated together under the "Southern Pacific" name.
• 1989: Southern Pacific expanded its network to serve the Chicago area directly.
• 1991: Southern Pacific changed its company logo and lettering style.
• 1992: The Northwestern Pacific Railroad officially became part of Southern Pacific.
• 1996-1998: The Union Pacific Corporation completed its purchase of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company then changed its name to the Union Pacific Railroad. This meant the Southern Pacific became part of the Union Pacific, continuing its long history.

Southern Pacific's Shipping and Ferry Services

The Morgan Line and Sunset–Gulf Route

Southern Pacific system as of 1918.

Images showing Southern Pacific's docks and ships at Galveston, New Orleans, and New York City.

The passenger steamer Antilles.

Southern Pacific also had its own fleet of ships, known as the Morgan Line. These ships connected the railroad's western lines with ports like Galveston and New Orleans. From there, they carried freight and passengers to New York City. This "Sunset—Gulf Route" allowed Southern Pacific to control a transportation path all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts.

The Morgan Line started with a small group of steamers owned by Charles Morgan. Southern Pacific later bought this line. By 1900, their ships were well-known for traveling between New Orleans, Cuba, and other Central American ports. They also had Pacific service from San Francisco to places like Honolulu and Hong Kong.

Many of the Morgan Line's ships were built at the new shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. Some of these ships were even used by the Navy during the Spanish–American War. After the war, Southern Pacific had to build new ships to replace them. By 1921, the fleet included passenger ships, freighters, and tank ships.

Ferry Boat Operations

The Southern Pacific Company's Bay City ferry on San Francisco Bay in the late 1800s.

The Southern Pacific also ran a large fleet of ferry boats. These ferries connected Oakland with San Francisco across the bay. They built a huge pier called the Oakland Long Wharf in the 1870s for these ferries. Southern Pacific bought up many existing ferry lines to connect its northern and southern rail lines.

By 1930, Southern Pacific owned the world's largest ferry fleet. It carried 40 million passengers and 60 million vehicles each year on 43 different boats. They also had ferry service across the Mississippi River in Louisiana. However, when big bridges like the Huey P. Long Bridge (1935) and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (1936) opened, fewer people needed ferries. Southern Pacific stopped its ferry service completely in 1958.

Railroad Connections and Partners

Southern Pacific's Arizona Connections

• Arizona Eastern Railroad
• El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
• New Mexico and Arizona Railroad
• Phoenix and Eastern Railroad
• Tucson and Nogales Railroad

Southern Pacific's California Connections

• Inter-California Railway (connecting California to Baja California)
• Central Pacific Railroad
• Interurban Electric Railway
• Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad
• Northwestern Pacific Railroad
• Pacific Electric Railway
• San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway
• San Francisco and San Jose Rail Road
• South Pacific Coast Railroad
• Visalia Electric Railroad

Southern Pacific's New Mexico Connections

• El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
• El Paso and Northeastern Railway

Southern Pacific's Oregon Connections

• Oregon and California Railroad
• Portland Traction Company

Southern Pacific's Texas Connections

A former Southern Pacific railway caboose on display in Flatonia, Texas.

• Austin and Northwestern Railroad
• Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway
• Houston East and West Texas Railway
• Houston and Texas Central Railroad
• San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway
• Southern Pacific Terminal Company
• Texas and New Orleans Railroad

Southern Pacific's Mexico Connections

• Southern Pacific of Mexico
• Inter-California Railway (connecting California to Baja California)

Railroads That Followed Southern Pacific

Arizona Successors

• Arizona Eastern Railway (since 1988)
• San Pedro and Southwestern Railroad (since 2003)

Louisiana Successors

• Louisiana and Delta Railroad (since 1987)

California Successors

• California Northern Railroad
• Eureka Southern Railroad
• Napa Valley Wine Train
• Niles Canyon Railway
• North Coast Railroad
• San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad
• San Joaquin Valley Railroad

Oregon Successors

• Oregon Pacific Railroad
• Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad
• Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad

G. W. & C. B. Colton, Map Showing the Line of the True Southern Pacific Railway, around 1881.