The Missouri Pacific Railroad ( reporting mark MP ), commonly abbreviated as MoPac , was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River . MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad operated 9,041 miles of road and 13,318 miles of track, not including DK&S , NO&LC , T&P , and its subsidiaries C&EI and Missouri-Illinois .
37-631: (Redirected from MoPac ) Mopac has the following meanings: Missouri Pacific Railroad Mopac Expressway , State Highway Loop 1 in Austin, Texas, U.S. MOPAC , a computational chemistry program Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime , a group which oversees the Metropolitan Police in London, U.K. Mountain Pacific Curling Association ,
74-560: A branch from Downs (on the Atchison and Denver) to Alton , and the Atchison, Republican Valley and Pacific Railway (incorporated May 1878, leased January 1879) began construction of a branch into Nebraska, leaving the main line at Yuma and initially ending at Scandia . All five companies were merged in December 1879 as the Atchison, Colorado and Pacific Railroad , a non-operating subsidiary of
111-448: A brand new EMD SD70ACe locomotive, Union Pacific 1982 , with Missouri Pacific paint and logos, as part of a new heritage program. [REDACTED] Media related to Missouri Pacific Railroad at Wikimedia Commons Central Branch Railway The Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad was a railroad in the U.S. state of Kansas . Originally planned as a line from Atchison west into Colorado , and given federal land grants by
148-968: A north-south line through Atchison. The final extension of the Central Branch in Kansas was the Rooks County Railroad from Alton to Stockton , incorporated March 1885 under MoPac ownership (as opposed to the UP control of the earlier companies) and leased November 1885. In order to extend the Warwick branch into Nebraska, the MoPac incorporated the Pacific Railway in Kansas and Pacific Railway in Nebraska in March 1887, and in September
185-450: A planned connection from Kansas City to the main transcontinental line. The company would only receive land for the first 100 miles (160 km) from Atchison. The Hannibal and St. Joseph transferred its rights under the act to the Atchison and Pike's Peak in January 1864. Construction began in 1865, and the line was completed from Atchison west for 40 miles (64 km) in January 1867, and
222-561: A regional curling association in the Western United States Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Mopac . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mopac&oldid=890487507 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
259-512: A reputation for aggressively discontinuing passenger trains after the mid-1960s. When the National Railroad Passenger Corporation ( Amtrak ) assumed passenger train operations on May 1, 1971, the only Missouri Pacific route included as part of Amtrak's basic system was its main line from St. Louis to Kansas City. This route is now served by Amtrak's Missouri River Runner (named for the fact that it runs mostly parallel to
296-730: A trial to the Southern Pacific , the merger took effect on December 22, 1982. However, due to outstanding bonds of the Missouri Pacific, its full merger into the Union Pacific Railroad did not become official until January 1, 1997. On July 4, 1851, ground was broken at St. Louis on the Pacific Railroad , the predecessor of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The first section of track was completed in 1852; in 1865, it
333-527: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Missouri Pacific Railroad Union Pacific Corporation , the parent company of the Union Pacific Railroad , agreed to buy the Missouri Pacific Railroad on January 8, 1980. Lawsuits filed by competing railroads delayed approval of the merger until September 13, 1982. After the Supreme Court denied
370-642: The Central Branch Railway , now owned by the newly independent MoPac. Finally, on May 29, 1909, the Central Branch Railway and Rooks County Railroad were merged, along with a number of other subsidiaries, into the MoPac. On August 12, 1909, board of directors authorized and on January 18, 1910, the stockholders ratified the purchase of the property of the Pacific Railway in Nebraska (which began at Warwick, Kansas). For many years, MoPac operated
407-647: The Kickapoo Indians and U.S. government, part of that tribe's land was sold to the railroad company. It acquired more land from the land grant provisions of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 , which included a line to be built by the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad of Missouri, extending west from Atchison. The west end of this branch would be at an intersection with the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad ,
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#1732851253488444-652: The Missouri River ). 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 Laredo with the Inter-American . This train was renamed the Texas Eagle in 1981, resurrecting the name of the famous MoPac train. The Amtrak version runs over former MoPac and T&P trackage for much of its route. On July 30, 2005, UP unveiled
481-596: The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 as one of the branches of the Union Pacific Railroad , it was left with a hanging end at Waterville, Kansas , when the Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division , with which it was to connect, changed its route. The line was acquired by the Union Pacific through a stock purchase by Jay Gould and leased to the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1880. In 1909 the Central Branch
518-757: The Scenic Limited operated through the Royal Gorge 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 Special began operating on December 5, 1915, between St. Louis and San Antonio via Little Rock and Austin . Another named train, the Rainbow Special ,
555-581: The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (SLIMS), Texas and Pacific Railway (TP), Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI), St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway (SLBM), Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (KO&G), Midland Valley Railroad (MV), San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad (SAU&G), Gulf Coast Lines (GC), International-Great Northern Railroad (IGN), Kansas, Nebraska & Dakota Railroad, New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway (NOTM), Missouri-Illinois Railroad (MI), as well as
592-498: The U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas , and southeast along the Gulf seaports of Louisiana and Texas . MoPac operated a fleet of more than 1,500 diesel locomotives , almost all purchased within the previous 10 years. Under the leadership of Downing B. Jenks, who became president and chief executive in 1961, the company became a pioneer in the early days of computer-guided rail technology. It
629-513: The Central Branch that subsequently completed the line to Lenora and extended the branch from Scandia to Warwick . Completing the system of branches in Kansas was one more company: the Atchison, Jewell County and Western Railroad from Jamestown to Burr Oak (incorporated July 1879, leased March 1880). Jay Gould , who controlled the Kansas Pacific Railway (the new name for the old Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western), desired control of
666-523: The Central Branch to avoid competition between eastern Kansas and Denver. He acquired a majority of stock in the Central Branch and its leased lines, turning it over in January 1880 to the Kansas Pacific, which was immediately merged into the Union Pacific Railway . In December 1880, Gould leased the system to the Missouri Pacific Railway (MoPac), another company that he controlled, which had
703-986: The Eastern Division's original route into Nebraska, the Central Branch turned its sights to local traffic. Several extensions and branches were built and leased in the late 1870s, beginning with the Waterville and Washington Railroad , incorporated in April 1876 and completed to Washington and leased to the Central Branch in December. Afterwards came the Republican Valley Rail Way from Greenleaf to Concordia (incorporated November 1876, leased 1877), Atchison, Solomon Valley and Denver Railway from Concordia to Cawker City (incorporated May 1878, leased August 1878), and Atchison and Denver Railway from Cawker City to Kirwin , with grading to Lenora (incorporated December 1878). The Atchison, Solomon Valley and Denver also built
740-510: The L&;N portion. By that same definition, MP operated 10,431 route-miles at the end of 1929, after A&G, SAS and Sugar Land had come under NOT&M; NO&LC operated 60 and DK&S (not subsidiary until 1931) operated 6. At the end of 1960, MP operated 9,362 route-miles, NO&LC and DK&S were the same, and M-I operated 172 miles. "T&P" includes its subsidiary roads (A&S, D&PS, T-NM etc.); operated route-miles totaled 2,259 at
777-752: The company after it declared bankruptcy in 1915. The line was merged with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (SLIMS) and reorganized as the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1917. Missouri Pacific later acquired or gained a controlling interest in other lines in Texas, including the Gulf Coast Lines , International-Great Northern Railroad , and the Texas and Pacific Railway . The railroad's first heavy repair shops were built in Sedalia, Missouri in 1872. In 1905 several smaller shop sites were consolidated at Sedalia when
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#1732851253488814-573: The end of 1929 (after Cā , PVS and TSL had become subsidiaries) and 2,033 at the end of 1960. 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 San Francisco . Between Pueblo, Colorado and Salt Lake City ,
851-657: The first such train inaugurated in 1940. These routes included the Missouri River Eagle (St. Louis-Kansas City-Omaha), the Delta Eagle ( Memphis, Tennessee - Tallulah, Louisiana ), the Colorado Eagle (St. Louis-Pueblo- Denver ), the Texas Eagle (St. Louis to Texas ), and the Valley Eagle ( Houston - Corpus Christi - Brownsville, Texas ). Other notable MoPac trains operated included: Missouri Pacific gained
888-503: The former was sold to the latter. The MoPac began operating the line from Warwick to Superior, Nebraska , in October 1887, and it was completed to Prosser in April 1888. A separate Pacific Railway was incorporated in Nebraska in December 1887 to continue the line northwest to the western boundary of the state in Sioux County , but this was never built, and Prosser would remain the end of
925-674: The line. The Union Pacific went bankrupt after the Panic of 1893 , and the Central Branch immediately followed, entering receivership in October 1893. It was sold under foreclosure in June 1898 to a new Central Branch Union Pacific Railway (replacing the old Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad ), and the other two UP subsidiaries were similarly reorganized in December 1898 as the Atchison, Colorado and Pacific Railway and Atchison, Jewell County and Western Railway . The three were consolidated in July 1899 as
962-626: The main line between Council Bluffs, Iowa / Omaha, Nebraska , and Ogden, Utah , where it connected with the Central Pacific Railroad . The Kansas Territorial Legislature incorporated the Central Branch as the Atchison and Pike's Peak Railroad in February 1859, with the power to build from Atchison , on the Missouri River , west to the Kansas- Colorado line in the direction of Pike's Peak or Denver . Through an 1862 treaty between
999-588: The old shops were closed and moved to a new site along Marshall Avenue. The MoPac began using the Baring Cross Shops of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway in North Little Rock , Arkansas in 1882. A fire in 1900 caused them to be rebuilt on a larger scale that would ultimately become the primary MoPac shop site (now known as the Downing B. Jenks Shops). Minor locomotive repairs were carried out at
1036-535: The rest of the 100 miles to Waterville in January 1868. The company changed its name to Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad in January 1867, better reflecting its purpose. Unfortunately for the Central Branch, the Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division (formerly the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western) was authorized in 1866 to build west into Colorado, leaving the Central Branch with a hanging end at Waterville. After failing to get land grants for an extension along
1073-516: 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 Railroad (AS). Missouri Pacific was under the control of New York financier Jay Gould from 1879 until his death in 1892. Gould developed a system extending through Colorado , Nebraska , Arkansas , Texas , and Louisiana . His son George Gould inherited control upon his father's death, but lost control of
1110-511: 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 streamliners into the late 1950s. In the streamliner era, the Missouri Pacific's premier passenger trains were collectively known as the Eagles . A variety of Eagle trains were operated, with
1147-461: The terminals in St. Louis and Kansas City . MoPac declared bankruptcy again in 1933, during the Great Depression , and entered into trusteeship . The company was reorganized and the trusteeship ended in 1956. By the 1980s, the system owned 11,469 miles (18,458 km) of rail line over 11 states bounded by Chicago to the east, Pueblo, Colorado , in the west, north to Omaha , south to
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1184-582: Was a major hauler of coal, grain, ore, autos, dry goods and shipping containers . At the time of its mega-merger in 1982, the MoPac owned more and newer locomotives and operated more track than partner Union Pacific Railroad . On December 22, 1982, the Missouri Pacific was purchased by the Union Pacific Corporation and combined with the Western Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad to form one large railroad system. The new entity
1221-589: Was called Pacific Rail Systems; though part of the Union Pacific Corporation, all three railroads maintained their own corporate and commercial identity. On December 1, 1989, the Missouri Kansas Texas and the Galveston, Houston & Henderson were merged into the Missouri Pacific after having been acquired by the Union Pacific Corporation in 1988. By 1994, all motive power of the Missouri Pacific
1258-597: Was merged into the Missouri Pacific; the latter company came back into the Union Pacific system in 1982. In 1991 the remaining trackage west of Frankfort was leased to the Kyle Railroad . Despite its name, the Central Branch Union Pacific was not associated with the Union Pacific until 1880; it was to be one of several eastern branches of the First transcontinental railroad , of which the Union Pacific constituted
1295-471: 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
1332-640: Was repainted and on January 1, 1997, the Missouri Pacific was officially merged into the Union Pacific Railroad by the Union Pacific Corporation. 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 has undergone rehab as apartments and is now known as Park Pacific. In this table, "MP" includes New Orleans Texas & Mexico and all its subsidiary railroads (Beaumont Sour Lake & Western, I-GN, StLB&M, etc.) that officially merged into MP in 1956. Ton-miles for C&EI in 1970 presumably don't include
1369-722: Was the first railroad in Kansas City , after construction was interrupted by the American Civil War . 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". Other predecessors included
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