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77-644: The Union Pacific Railroad (UP) came to Union County in July 1884 when the main line between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon passed through La Grande . The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (OR&N) began construction on a branch line north to Elgin that was opened in December 1890. The OR&N itself was dissolved and its assets taken over by both the UP and the Northern Pacific Railway (NP) with

154-573: A stagecoach line operated by the Overland Mail Company between Salt Lake City, Utah , and Virginia City, Nevada , from 1861 to 1866, when Wells Fargo & Company took over the stagecoach's operation. Wells Fargo ended this stagecoach service three years later. While the Council Bluffs/Omaha to San Francisco "Pacific Railroad" grade was opened in 1869, the name “Overland” was not formally adopted for any daily extra-fare train over

231-597: A credit crunch, but not bankruptcy. As boom followed bust, the Union Pacific continued to expand. A new company, with dominant stockholder Jay Gould , purchased the old on January 24, 1880. Gould already owned the Kansas Pacific (originally called the Union Pacific, Eastern Division, though in essence a separate railroad), and sought to merge it with UP. Through that merger, the original "Union Pacific Rail Road" transformed into "Union Pacific Railway". Extending towards

308-622: A daily train under that name in one form or another for almost seven decades. For the first dozen years that the SP met the UP's Overland trains, however, it dubbed its service the "Ogden Gateway Route"; its connecting westbound trains operated as the Pacific Express and eastbound trains as the Atlantic Express. The SP finally adopted the name the Overland Limited in 1899 for its portion of

385-515: A few miles east of the Nevada border. It included a 12-mile (19 km) trestle on wooden pilings across the Great Salt Lake . Opened in 1904, this line cut 43.8 miles (70.5 km) off the line, eliminated 3,919 degrees of curvature, and removed 1,515 feet (462 m) of climb from the route, thus decreasing the steepest SP grade east of Lucin from 90 feet per mile to 21. But many other sections of

462-617: A hump. Union Pacific also closed facilities in Kansas City ("Neff yard"), Hinkle, Oregon , and Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 2019. Union Pacific has owned some of the most powerful locomotives. These include members of the Challenger-type (including the 3985 ), and the Northern-type (including the 844 ), as well as the Big Boy steam locomotives (including the 4014 ). Union Pacific ordered

539-451: A new Union Pacific "Railroad". In the early 20th century, Union Pacific's focus shifted from expansion to internal improvement. Recognizing that farmers in the Central and Salinas Valleys of California grew produce far in excess of local markets, Union Pacific worked with its rival Southern Pacific to develop a spoilage-resistant rail-based transport system. These efforts came culminated in

616-428: A number of units were repainted with a large, billowing American flag with the corporate motto "Building America" on the side, where the 'UNION PACIFIC' lettering is normally positioned. Until 2017, UP operated some locomotives still in the paint scheme of their former railroads. In addition, some locomotives were renumbered by UP, varying in the degree of the previous railroads' logos being eradicated, but always with

693-552: A rail safety organization founded in 1970. As of December 2023, the Union Pacific had 7,175 locomotives on its active roster consisting of 42 different models. Union Pacific continues to use a small number of "heritage" steam locomotives and early streamlined diesel locomotives. This equipment is used on special charters (excursions). Union Pacific maintains a fleet of low-emissions locomotives. Most are used in Los Angeles basin rail yards, to satisfy an air quality agreement with

770-453: A tunnel” for much of the route. The wooden snowsheds sometimes caught fire from lightning strikes or embers from steam locomotives. Still there were some extensive views available to passengers in the Sierras, the most famous of which was that from “Cape Horn” just above the town of Colfax where the grade was carved out of the side of a mountain, providing a panoramic view across Green Valley of

847-464: A yellow patch applied over the locomotive's former number and a new UP number applied on the cab. That allowed UP to number locomotives into its roster without spending the time and money necessary to perform a complete repaint. In May 2015, UP rostered 212 "patches", consisting of: In 2017, Union Pacific decided to repaint all locomotives which were not in the current corporate colors. As of March 2018, only 41 locomotives remained unpainted. From

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924-866: Is named in honor of George H. W. Bush , the US 41st President and is exhibited at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Center at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. The locomotive, custom painted in the colors of GWH Bush's Air Force One is the only UP locomotive not painted in traditional Armour yellow. The engine also pulled the president's funeral train on his final journey to College Station in 2018. The Union Pacific system includes hundreds of yards. Most are flat yards used for local switching. Other types of yards include intermodal terminals and hump yards. Most UP intermodal terminals are typically ports, but UP also has inland terminals for transfers to trucks, such as

1001-696: Is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation , which are both headquartered at the Union Pacific Center , in Omaha, Nebraska . The original company, the "Union Pacific Rail Road", was incorporated on July 1, 1862, under the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 . President Abraham Lincoln had approved the act, which authorized railroad construction from the Missouri River to the Pacific to ensure

1078-659: Is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF , with which it shares a duopoly on transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western , Midwestern and West South Central United States. Founded in 1862, the original Union Pacific Rail Road was part of the first transcontinental railroad project, later known as the Overland Route . Over the next century, UP absorbed the Missouri Pacific Railroad ,

1155-501: The New York Sun , Union Pacific's largest construction company, Crédit Mobilier, had overcharged Union Pacific; the railroad would then pass the inflated costs on to the United States government. To convince the federal government to accept the increased costs, Crédit Mobilier had bribed multiple congressmen. Several prominent UP board members (including Durant) had been involved in the scheme. The ensuing financial crisis of 1873 led to

1232-662: The American River flowing in a canyon some 1,322 feet (403 m) below. This spot was so popular that for many years the Southern Pacific stopped the Overland and most other trains for a few minutes so that passengers could get off the train and take it all in from a special observation area. When the route opened in 1869, trains reached the San Francisco Bay area from Sacramento via a 140-mile (230 km) line (built by

1309-561: The Central Corridor to Denver instead of Cheyenne . In 1996, the Union Pacific again acquired the Southern Pacific, resulting in the entire Chicago-Oakland line being owned by a single company. Heading west from Council Bluffs/Omaha over the same wide-open plains of Nebraska's Platte River Valley that had been followed by so many wagon trains from the 1840s through the 1860s, Overland trains passed first through Fremont , Grand Island , and Kearney (196 miles from Omaha) where all

1386-484: The Central Pacific Railroad line, which had been constructed eastward from Sacramento, California . The combined Union Pacific–Central Pacific line became known as the first transcontinental railroad and later the Overland Route . The line was constructed primarily by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War . Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder, Thomas C. Durant ,

1463-758: The Chicago & Northwestern trackage starting in 1936. Disputes over trackage rights and passenger revenues with the C&;NW prompted the UP to switch to the Milwaukee Road for the handling of its streamliner trains between Chicago and Omaha beginning in late 1955. The last intercity passenger train operated by UP was the westbound City of Los Angeles , arriving at Los Angeles Union Station on May 2. Since then, Union Pacific has satisfied its common carrier requirements by hosting Amtrak trains. Many Amtrak and commuter rail routes use Union Pacific rails. This list excludes

1540-720: The Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad to operate over the Joseph Branch & the Payette to Cascade line in Idaho In 1997 the Joseph Branch was identified for abandonment later that year from Elgin to Joseph following the closure of the mill in Joseph. The county governments in Union and Wallowa counties wanted to preserve this important transportation link and put together a proposal to purchase

1617-572: The Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific railroads, and 1988, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas . By 1993, Union Pacific had doubled its system to 17,385 miles (27,978 km) routes. By then, few large (class I) railroads remained. The same year that Union Pacific merged with the Chicago and North Western (1995), Burlington Northern and ATSF announced merger plans. The impending BNSF amalgamation would leave one mega-railroad in control of

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1694-578: The Missouri–Kansas–Texas with UP 1988 , the Chicago and North Western with UP 1995 , the Southern Pacific with UP 1996 , and the Denver and Rio Grande Western with UP 1989 . In October 2005, UP unveiled SD70ACe 4141 , commissioned in honor of George Bush . The locomotive has " George Bush 41" on the sides and its paint scheme resembles that of Air Force One . It was sent into storage in 2007, but returned in 2018 to power Bush's funeral train . It

1771-593: The Overland Flyer , later renamed the Overland Limited , with its eastern terminal in Chicago . The Overland Route remains a common name for the line from northern California to Chicago, now owned entirely by the Union Pacific. The route is now primarily used for freight, with a few portions used by Amtrak's California Zephyr passenger train. The name harkens back to the Central Overland Route ,

1848-749: The Suisun Marsh to Benicia . There the CPRR established a ferry service to carry its trains a little more than a mile across the Carquinez Strait to Port Costa from which they ran down the southern shoreline of the Strait and San Pablo Bay , and then along eastern side of the San Francisco Bay to the Oakland Long Wharf, thereby cutting about 50 miles (80 km) off the journey from Sacramento. After half

1925-582: The Wasatch Mountains into Emigration Cañon, perhaps the two most famous features on the Union Pacific's section of the Overland, Thousand Mile Tree and Devil's Slide , came into view on the west, and south sides of the track, respectively. Entering the Valley of the Great Salt Lake , the route soon reached Ogden, some 1,029 miles (1,656 km) from Omaha. Here the Union Pacific lines diverged to Los Angeles and

2002-653: The Western Pacific Railroad , the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad . In 1995, the Union Pacific merged with Chicago and North Western Transportation Company , completing its reach into the Upper Midwest . In 1996, the company merged with Southern Pacific Transportation Company , itself a giant system that was absorbed by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad . The Union Pacific Railroad Company

2079-448: The first diesel streamliner , the largest fleet of turbine-electric locomotives in the world , and the largest diesel locomotives ever built (including 6936 ). The yellow paint scheme was introduced in the spring of 1934. Engineers claimed the visibility of yellow would reduce grade crossing accidents. In 1941, UP introduced its yellow and gray color scheme with red highlights, which remains in use today. The middle two-thirds of

2156-477: The 1906 founding of Pacific Fruit Express , soon to be the world's largest lessee of refrigerated railcars . Meanwhile, Union Pacific worked to construct a faster, and more direct substitute for the original climb to Promontory Summit . In 1904, the Lucin cutoff opened, reducing curvature and grades. The original route would eventually be stripped of track in 1942 to provide war scrap . To attract customers during

2233-531: The 1909 Hood Realignment between Rocklin and Newcastle, double-tunneling along the Sierra Grade including at Cisco and the summit (Tunnel #41), and the 1924 agreement to share tracks across Nevada with the Western Pacific Railroad 's Feather River Route . Among the most important improvements to the original grade was the Lucin Cutoff , a new 102.9-mile (165.6 km) stretch from just west of Ogden to Lucin,

2310-613: The 1950s with the growth of the airline industry and development of the Interstate Highway System , the Overland route gradually lost its luster and service declined. After almost seven decades of continuous operation, the Overland Limited came to an end as a daily train on July 16, 1962, when the Interstate Commerce Commission approved termination of the service. While the train continued to run until Labor Day (with some additional holiday runs from Christmas to

2387-472: The 2012 season of regular excursions was scheduled to begin on June 23. 45°34′01″N 117°55′05″W  /  45.567°N 117.918°W  / 45.567; -117.918 Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad ( reporting marks UP , UPP , UPY ) is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over 32,200 miles (51,800 km) routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans . Union Pacific

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2464-598: The 22% recommendation rating from Glassdoor.com. When Union Pacific bought out the Chicago & North Western in 1995, it inherited the railroad's Metra commuter rail services in the Chicago metropolitan area : the Union Pacific North Line to Kenosha, Wisconsin , Northwest Line to Harvard, Illinois , and West Line to Elburn, Illinois , all of which operate from Ogilvie Transportation Center (the former North Western Station–a name still used by many Chicago residents). In order to ensure uniformity across

2541-610: The 63 miles (101 km) of abandoned railroad. After acquiring the line in 2002, the counties and their respective economic development agencies and chambers of commerce sought potential operators of either a short line (class III) railroad or a heritage railroad , which would offer tourist excursions. The latter option was successful and the Eagle Cap Excursion Train began on August 3, 2002, six years after abandonment. The 2003 season began on May 17, 2003, under initial operation by Idaho Northern and Pacific railroad until

2618-636: The CP/SP acquisition—the map in the May 1969 issue of Trains shows the Howell-to-Bossler stretch realigned in 1899.) By 1926, the UP route from Council Bluffs/Omaha to Ogden was continuous double track, except for the Aspen Tunnel (east of Evanston, Wyoming), which remained a bottleneck until 1949. The CP/SP portion of the route was also largely double-tracked during this period, with the completion of such projects as

2695-681: The Chicago area commuter rail system, trains are branded as Metra services and use Metra equipment. However, Union Pacific crews continue to operate the trains under a purchase-of-service agreement. In 2023, UP announced its intentions to surrender the control and operation of commuter rail services and trains in Chicago to Metra , however the UP would retain ownership and control of the right-of-ways of former Chicago & Northwestern lines radiating from Chicago. Between 1869 and 1971, Union Pacific operated passenger service throughout its historic "Overland Route". These trains ran between Chicago and Omaha on

2772-562: The Great Depression, Union Pacific's chairman W. Averell Harriman simultaneously sought to "spruce up" the quality of its rolling stock and to make its unique locations more desirable travel destinations. The first effort resulted in the purchase of the first streamlined train : the M-10000 . The latter resulted in the Sun Valley ski resort in central Idaho ; it opened in 1936 and finally

2849-481: The Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad for use on its Payette River Flyer. As of 2010, the service was scheduled to operate on 11 days per summer season. The service was operating between Elgin and a location known as Kimmel, and a round trip excursion took about 3 1/2 hours. A "Santa Train" is operated in December (as of 2011), although it has been suspended in some years due to lack of sponsorship. As of May,

2926-625: The New Year), the name “Overland” did not appear in the schedules of the UP or SP again after its last run on January 2, 1963. The only daily passenger train between Omaha and the San Francisco Bay area today is the California Zephyr , operated by Amtrak and mostly along a different, more scenic route. The Zephyr only uses the Overland Route in the states of California and Nevada, passing through Salt Lake City instead of Ogden and traveling via

3003-489: The Pacific Northwest while the Southern Pacific (which acquired operational control of the CPRR's original Pacific route under lease in 1885) took charge of the “Overland Limited” and other trains on to San Francisco. When the route opened in 1869, trains reached the San Francisco Bay . For the 35 years after the driving of the “Last Spike” at Promontory Summit in 1869, all trains traveling west of Ogden passed over

3080-676: The Pacific Northwest, Union Pacific built or purchased local lines to reach Portland, Oregon . Towards Colorado, it built the Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway : a system combining narrow-gauge trackage into the heart of the Rockies and a standard gauge line that ran south from Denver, across New Mexico , and into Texas. The Union Pacific Railway would later declare bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893 . The resulting corporate reorganization reversed Gould's name change: Union Pacific "Railway" merged into

3157-582: The Sierra grade looks much the same to train passengers as it did when the line opened in 1868. From the start-up of the Overland Flyer in 1887 the Chicago and North Western Railway handled Overland Route trains between Chicago and Omaha. On October 30, 1955, passenger operations east of Omaha shifted to the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (the "Milwaukee Road"). As intercity passenger rail travel began to decline after World War II and into

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3234-405: The Union Pacific", which is painted in a scheme to honor the United States armed forces. On June 6, 2019, Union Pacific unveiled SD70ACe 1111, the "Powered By Our People" unit. In April 2021, Union Pacific repainted an SD70M into a commemorative paint scheme called "We Are ONE" to honor Juneteenth and Pride Month. UP also has a collection of locomotives painted for Operation Lifesaver ,

3311-556: The appearance of the dark crests of the Laramie Range . About 36 miles (58 km) further west the route reached Sherman, the highest point on the line at 8,013 feet (2,442 m), on a high and rugged upland with bold rock masses eroded into fantastic, picturesque shapes. The route crossed the Continental Divide at Creston, some 737 miles (1,186 km) west of Omaha. At Green River passengers were treated to views of two of

3388-421: The commuter services the company directly operates in Chicago (see above). On June 28, 2004, a UP train collided with an idle BNSF train in a San Antonio suburb . In the course of the derailment, a 90-ton tank car carrying liquified chlorine was punctured. As the chlorine vaporized, a toxic "yellow cloud" formed, killing three and causing 43 hospitalizations. The costs of cleanup and property damaged during

3465-513: The county could buy and equip locomotives and it continued in the fall of that year. The first full season of operation began in May 2004. The excursion trains are powered by diesel GP7u locomotives, which are stored in Elgin when not in use. Through the 2008 season, three of the passenger cars used in each train were Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs), a self-propelled type of rail car. These three cars were not used in 2009 and 2010, and were sold in 2013 to

3542-701: The eastern terminal was moved to a location where the Union Pacific could link up with the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad in Iowa. Following the Act's passage, commissioners appointed by Congress began selling stock in the federally chartered Union Pacific Railroad Company. By 1863, Durant had organized the purchase of 2,000 shares, the prerequisite amount of stock sold in order to begin the railroad's construction. The resulting track ran westward from Council Bluffs, Iowa , to meet in Utah

3619-471: The extent that the FRA, in a letter to UP's CEO, said "safety of railroad operations is paramount ... decisions that comprise that fundamental ... are unacceptable. You must ensure that highly trained and experienced personnel perform critical inspections and repairs .... Your railroad (layoffs) are far outpacing any of your Class 1 peers." In 2024 the railway celebrated 150 years of having its headquarters in Omaha. The railway's Big Boy #4014,

3696-494: The incident exceeded $ 7 million. Investigations of the Macdona incident revealed several serious safety lapses on the part of the Union Pacific and its employees, including employees not following the company's own safety rules. While the immediate cause of the derailment was the UP crew's "fatigue", chlorine tank cars had been improperly placed near the front of the train, a danger in the case of derailment. Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad) The Overland Route

3773-499: The line from La Grande to Elgin transferring to the UP. UP extended the line over the next two decades north and east to Wallowa by 1908 and eventually to Enterprise and Joseph . Under UP operation, the line was commonly referred to as the "Joseph Branch". UP identified the Joseph Branch for divestiture or abandonment in the late 1980s or early 1990s. In 1993, the line was sold to the railroad holding company Rio Grande Pacific Corporation (RGPC) of Fort Worth, Texas . RGPC created

3850-431: The local authorities. According to UP's 2007 Annual Report to Investors, at the end of 2007 it had more than 50,000 employees, 8,721 locomotives, and 94,284 freight cars. Broken down by specific type of car, owned and leased: In addition, it owns 6,950 different pieces of maintenance of way work equipment. At the end of 2007, the average age of UP's locomotive fleet was 14.8 years, the freight car fleet 28 years. UP

3927-483: The locomotive body is painted Armour Yellow , a color used by Armour and Company on the packaging of its meat products. A thin band of Signal Red divides this from the Harbor Mist Gray (a light gray) used for the body and roof above that point. There is also a thin band of Signal Red along the bottom of the locomotive body, but this color has gradually become yellow as new Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations for reflectorized tape came into effect in 2005;

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4004-441: The most spectacular rock formations in Wyoming—Man's Face directly southwest of the station, and Castle Rock just north of it. Six miles after crossing the Bear River at Evanston the route entered Utah, a land which would provide passengers with close-up views of some of the most unusual rock formations of the entire trip. After passing Henefer where Brigham Young and his Mormon pioneers had turned southward in 1847 to cross

4081-426: The namesake of the city of Durant, Iowa , the first rails were laid in Omaha . The two lines were joined at Promontory Summit, Utah , 53 miles (85 km) west of Ogden on May 10, 1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America. Leland Stanford, founder of the Central Pacific Railroad which itself eventually was merged with Union Pacific, himself drove the golden spike , inscribed with

4158-415: The original 1860s grade were harder to improve on, notably over the Sierra Nevada between Colfax, California , and Reno, Nevada . The newer second track follows a better route here and there, but the original route changed little (except for the removal of the wooden snowsheds, or their replacement by nonflammable concrete ones) until the 1993 abandonment of the 6.7-mile section of the Track No. 1 crossing of

4235-487: The original Western Pacific Railroad) by way of Stockton over Altamont Pass , and on through Niles Canyon first to a pier at Alameda , and shortly thereafter to the nearby two-mile long Oakland Long Wharf (later called the "SP Mole") from which San Francisco was then accessed by ferry. In 1876, however, the CPRR acquired a line built by the California Pacific Railroad from Sacramento to Vallejo and in 1879 completed an extension of that road 17 miles (27 km) across

4312-414: The region in 1874. Passing through other western Nevada mining centers and through Wells , an important supply point on the old Emigrant Trail , the line then followed the valley of the 300-mile (480 km) long Humboldt River . Devil's Peak, a perpendicular rock rising 500 feet (150 m) from the edge of the Humboldt River, dominated the canyon scenery at Palisade while the last major stop in Nevada

4389-416: The road progressed across Nebraska towards Wyoming . By the time travelers on the Overland Route crossed into Wyoming at Pine Bluffs , they had traveled some 470 miles (760 km) westward and risen in elevation above sea level from the 1,033 feet (315 m) at Omaha to 5,047 feet (1,538 m). The Rocky Mountains first came into passengers’ view 20 miles (32 km) further on at Hillsdale with

4466-401: The route in just 56 hours. E. H. Harriman bought the bankrupt Union Pacific in 1897; in 1901, he assumed control of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific as well. The rebuilding of the Overland Route followed: hundreds of miles of double track, hundreds of miles of signals, and dozens of realignments to reduce grades, curvature, and perhaps distance. (The rebuilding actually started before

4543-427: The route until almost two decades later. On November 13, 1887, the Union Pacific inaugurated service of its Overland Flyer between Omaha and Ogden, Utah , where passengers and through cars were transferred to the Southern Pacific, which had acquired the CPRR's operations on that line in 1885 under a 99-year lease. The UP changed its designation to the Overland Limited on November 17, 1895, and service continued as

4620-399: The run as well. The original 1,911 miles (3,075 km) of the route from Omaha to San Francisco traversed some of the most desolate (as well some of the most picturesque) lands of the western two-thirds of the North American continent. While the trip originally took low-fare emigrant trains a full week (or more) to complete, by 1906 the electric lighted all-Pullman Overland Limited covered

4697-436: The second half of 2005 to the summer of 2006, UP unveiled a new set of six EMD SD70ACe locomotives in "Heritage Colors", painted in schemes reminiscent of railroads acquired by the Union Pacific Corporation since the 1980s. The engine numbers match the year that the predecessor railroad became part of the Union Pacific system. The locomotives commemorate the Missouri Pacific with UP 1982 , the Western Pacific with UP 1983 ,

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4774-434: The site of that seminal event as they made their way around the northern end of the Great Salt Lake. In November 1903, the SP opened the Lucin Cutoff , a 102.9-mile (165.6 km) stretch of track featuring a 12-mile (19 km) trestle built on pilings across the Great Salt Lake. Ten miles past Lucin, the “Overland” crossed into Nevada at Tecoma, the nearest railroad town to the silver, copper, and lead deposits discovered in

4851-452: The site of the first train robbery on the Pacific coast—the Overland Route crossed into California and followed the Truckee River up a picturesque canyon to the town of Truckee on Donner Lake where the ill-fated George Donner party had been snowbound in the winter of 1846–7. A serpentine climb around the east end of the lake and up Mt. Judah brought the Overland to the 1,659-foot-long (506 m) Summit Tunnel at 7,018 feet at Donner Pass and

4928-410: The stability of the Union throughout the American Civil War , but construction did not complete until after the conflict's conclusion. Under the original bill that formed the basis of the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act , the Union Pacific Railroad was to be built from the Nevada–Utah border in the west to the Colorado–Kansas border in the east. However, due to intense lobbying by Dr. Thomas Clark Durant ,

5005-444: The start of a 105-mile (169 km) descent to Sacramento located just 35 feet (11 m) above sea level. Travel over this section could be quite treacherous in the winter as the Southern Pacific had to clear as much as 50 to 60 feet (15 to 18 m) of snowfall as well as ice from water dripping in the tunnels. The miles of showsheds needed to keep the line passable left the impression among passengers that they were “railroading in

5082-424: The summit between Norden and Eder which includes the original 1,659-foot-long (506 m) Summit Tunnel (No. 6). Traffic was sent instead over the easier-to-maintain Track No. 2 and through the 10,322-foot-long (3,146 m) tunnel called “The Big Hole” (No. 41) which had been driven under Mt. Judah a mile south of the Pass when that portion of the line was double tracked in 1925. Aside from those modifications,

5159-495: The terminal in San Antonio that opened in 2009 or the one in Santa Teresa, New Mexico , that opened in 2014. In 2006, Union Pacific had 11 major active hump yards : In the late 2010s, Union Pacific began deactivating hump yards in favor of flat switching. In this, Union Pacific followed the industry-wide trend towards Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR); railway executive Hunter Harrison explained that under PSR, few yards receive enough variegated traffic to necessitate

5236-420: The trucks (painted Aluminum from 1955 to 1982), underframe, fuel tanks and everything else beneath that line are also Harbor Mist Gray. Lettering and numbering are in Signal Red, with black outlines. Most locomotives have white-outlined blue "wings" on the nose, on either side of the renowned shield featuring white lettering on a blue background and, below it, red and white vertical stripes. Beginning in early 2002,

5313-418: The wagon trails from the Missouri River communities between Omaha and Kansas City had once converged. There the famous Fort Kearney had been built by the U.S. Army in 1858 to protect the Oregon–California Trail heading west, and from which, under the direction of Union Generals U.S. Grant and W.T. Sherman , soldiers had been dispatched to protect UP surveyors and construction crews from Indian attack as

5390-430: The west. To compete, UP merged with Southern Pacific , thereby incorporating D&RGW and Cotton Belt , and forming a duopoly in the West. The merged railroad took the Union Pacific name. As of 1999, the UP had 33,705 miles (54,243 km) of track, about 33,000 employees, nearly 7,000 locomotives and over 155,000 rail cars. In March 2024 Union Pacific layoffs caused concern at the Federal Railroad Administration to

5467-453: The words "to span the continent and wed the oceans." Subsequently, the UP purchased three Mormon -built roads: the Utah Central Railroad extending south from Ogden to Salt Lake City , the Utah Southern Railroad extending south from Salt Lake City into the Utah Valley , and the Utah Northern Railroad extending north from Ogden into Idaho . The original UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal , exposed in 1872. As detailed by

5544-524: The world's largest operating steam locomotive, will visit 14 states in middle America in 2024. Twenty-five locomotives of Big Boy's size were fabricated during World War II, but only Big Boy survives. Its "Heartland of America" tour begins in August 2024 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and visits Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas through October. Another locomotive, UP No. 4141,

5621-533: Was Reno with the Sierra Nevada mountains dominating the view ahead. The next hundred miles of grade from Reno to Colfax, California , were by far the most challenging to build and provided the most impressive views of the whole route, although for much of that stretch passengers could see nothing as trains traveled through miles of tunnels and snowsheds. After passing Verdi, Nevada —which in November 1870 had become

5698-542: Was a train route operated jointly by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad / Southern Pacific Railroad , between the eastern termini of Council Bluffs, Iowa , and Omaha, Nebraska , and the San Francisco Bay Area , over the grade of the first transcontinental railroad (aka the "Pacific Railroad" ) which opened on May 10, 1869. Passenger trains that operated over the line included

5775-537: Was donated to the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on November 8, 2019. On March 31, 2010, UP dedicated a specially painted GE ES44AC locomotive commemorating the centennial of the Boy Scouts of America . On September 28, 2010, UP dedicated a specially painted GE ES44AC locomotive, as a tribute to Susan G. Komen for the Cure . On October 19, 2017, Union Pacific unveiled SD70AH 1943, "The Spirit of

5852-485: Was ranked 134th on the 2019 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue and had 41,967 employees. The Chief Executive Officer of Union Pacific since August 14, 2023, is Jim Vena , the President is Beth Whited, and the chairman of the board is Mike McCarthy. In 2019, Union Pacific has been rated the worst company to work for by 247wallst.com, citing Past CEO Lance Fritz's 12% approval rating and

5929-707: Was sold in 1964. Despite the fact that the M-10000 and its successors were among the first diesel locomotives, Union Pacific completed dieselization relatively late. In 1944, UP finally received delivery of its last steam locomotive: Union Pacific 844 . As the 20th century waned, Union Pacific recognized—like most railroads—that remaining a regional railroad would only lead to bankruptcy. On December 31, 1925, UP and its subsidiaries operated 9,834 miles (15,826 km) routes and 15,265 miles (24,567 km) tracks; in 1980, these numbers had remained roughly constant (9,266 route-miles and 15,647 track-miles). But in 1982, UP acquired

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