The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S.
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
that owned or operated two disjointed segments, one connecting
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
with
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
, and the other connecting
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
with
Needles in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
. It was
incorporated by the
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
in 1866 as a
transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
connecting
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
and
Van Buren, Arkansas
Van Buren ( ) is the second-largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is located directly northeast of Fort Smith at the Interst ...
with California. The central portion was never constructed, and the two halves later became parts of the
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway and
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...
systems, now both merged into the
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
.
History
The A&P's earliest predecessor was the
Pacific Railroad
The Pacific Railroad (not to be confused with Union Pacific Railroad) was a railroad based in Missouri. It was a predecessor of both the Missouri Pacific Railroad and St. Louis-San Francisco Railway.
The Pacific was chartered by Missouri in 1849 ...
, incorporated by the
Missouri General Assembly
The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...
in 1849 to connect
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
and a point south of
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
across the center of the state. In response to an 1852 federal law
granting public lands
In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...
to Missouri to aid in constructing two cross-state railroads, the state approved an amendment to the 1849 Pacific Railroad law in December 1852, adding a Southwest Branch that would receive the grants. The new branch, defined by state law to lie south of the
Osage River
The Osage River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. The eighth-largest river ...
, began at Franklin, Missouri,(now
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
) on the main line and headed west-southwesterly across the state. Construction on from Franklin to
Dillon
Dillon may refer to:
People
*Dillon (surname)
* Dillon (given name)
* Dillon (singer) (born 1988), Brazilian singer
*Viscount Dillon, a title in the Peerage of Ireland
Places Canada
*Dillon, Saskatchewan
United States
*Dillon Beach, Californi ...
was completed in 1860, and a further to
Rolla were opened in 1861. The company
graded more to
Arlington. After it
defaulted on bonds that had been issued for the branch, the state seized the road from Franklin to Rolla and incomplete roadbed to Arlington in March 1866. The property was sold in June for $1.3 million to explorer and politician
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...
, who reorganized it as the Southwest Pacific Railroad in September. (The main line of the Pacific Railroad was not sold, and would later become the
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , 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 ...
.)
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...
, 41 Val. Rep. 139 (1933): St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company[John Bell Sanborn]
Congressional Grants of Land in Aid of Railways
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
, 1899, pp. 115-126
In July 1866, Congress passed a law incorporating the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad under control of Frémont and associates. The company was given the power to build near the
35th parallel from
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
west to the Pacific, with a branch from
Van Buren, Arkansas
Van Buren ( ) is the second-largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is located directly northeast of Fort Smith at the Interst ...
. In exchange for its completion by 1878, the railroad would receive land grants along its route. The same conditions were applied to the
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
of California, which could build a branch to connect to the A&P near the eastern border of that state. The A&P purchased the Southwest Pacific in January 1867, and that year rails were laid on the grade to Arlington. That company defaulted on its payments, and the state of Missouri seized the property in June 1867, selling it to a new South Pacific Railroad in July 1868. Ownership of the A&P was also transferred to the new owners, which included
Clinton B. Fisk of St. Louis. Another to
Pierce City
Pierce City, formerly Peirce City, is a city in southwest Lawrence County, Missouri, Lawrence and northwest Barry County, Missouri, Barry counties, in southwest Missouri, United States. The population was 1,292 at the 2010 United States Census, 201 ...
and of grading to
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
on the state line were completed in 1870, when, in October, the South Pacific sold its property to the A&P. That company laid rails to
Neosho that year and to Seneca, and beyond to
Vinita, Oklahoma
Vinita is a city and county seat of Craig County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,743, a decline of 11.22 percent from the figure of 6,469 recorded in 2000.
History
Vinita was founded in 1870 by Elias C ...
, in 1871, and in June 1872 it leased the Pacific (later Missouri Pacific) Railroad, which operated a line to Kansas City and branches, including several into
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. The A&P's only branch, to a mine near
Granby, Missouri
Granby is a city in Newton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,134 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
A post office called Granby has been in operation since 1856. The c ...
, was built in 1875.
[
But this incarnation had similar financial problems; its Missouri division (Franklin to Seneca) was placed under ]receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...
in November 1875, and the Pacific Railroad lease was canceled. The owners of the A&P incorporated the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway in September 1876, and immediately acquired the property of the Missouri division, and a lease on the Central division (Seneca to Vinita). Extensions beyond Vinita for to Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
(1882), to Red Fork (1885), and to Sapulpa
Sapulpa is a city in Creek and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 20,544 at the 2010 United States census, compared to 19,166 at the 2000 census. The population as of 2022 is 22,205. As of 2019, the estimated popul ...
(1886) were included in the lease. The SL&SF also constructed a direct line into St. Louis in 1883, ending its dependence on the Missouri Pacific for access to that city.[
In January 1880, the SL&SF came to an agreement with the ]Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...
, which had recently entered New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
from the north, whereby the two companies would jointly control the A&P. The SL&SF would continue to operate the Central division, and a new Western division would begin on the AT&SF at Isleta, New Mexico
Isleta Village Proper is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 491 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
Isleta Village Proper is ...
and head west to meet the Southern Pacific at Needles, California
Needles is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California. Situated on the western banks of the Colorado River, Needles is located near the Californian border with Arizona and Nevada. The city is a ...
. Construction began that year, and reached Kingman, Arizona
Kingman is a city in, and the county seat of, Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named after Lewis Kingman, an engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. It is located southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and northwest of Arizona's ...
in 1882. The SP began building a branch from Mojave, California
Mojave (formerly Mohave) is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield, and north of Los Angeles, at an elevation of . The town is ...
that same year, east to Needles, where the two met on August 9, 1883. The A&P, then essentially an operating subsidiary
An operating subsidiary is a subsidiary of a corporation through which the parent company (which may or may not be a holding company) indirectly conducts some portion of its business. Usually, an operating subsidiary can be distinguished in that ...
of the AT&SF, leased the line from the SP in August 1884, and in November 1885 the AT&SF-owned California Southern Railroad
The California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe) in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between wh ...
completed its line over Cajon Pass
Cajon Pass (; Spanish: ''Puerto del Cajón'' or ''Paso del Cajón'') is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains to the east and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west in Southern California. Created by the movements of the San Andreas ...
to the SP's Needles branch at Barstow, giving the AT&SF access to the coast. In addition to its lease of the SP to Mojave, the A&P operated via trackage rights
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...
over the AT&SF from Isleta to Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
.Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...
, 127 I. C. C. 1 (1927): Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company
The AT&SF gained control of the SL&SF in 1890, but both companies entered receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...
in December 1893 after the Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...
, and the A&P followed in January 1894. That road's Western division was sold to the newly created AT&SF subsidiary Santa Fe Pacific Railroad in June 1897, and the remaining Central division was sold under foreclosure
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.
Formally, a mortg ...
to the reorganized SL&SF, which was again independent of the AT&SF, in December 1897, ending the A&P's existence.[ Through the Santa Fe Pacific, the AT&SF acquired ]trackage rights
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...
in January 1899 over the SP's Tehachapi Pass
Tehachapi Pass (Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") is a mountain pass crossing the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, California. Traditionally, the pass marks the northeast end of the Tehachapis and the south end of the Sierra Nev ...
line, giving it access to the Central Valley of California
The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast of the state. It covers ...
and San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
. The Santa Fe Pacific left the SP at Kern Junction, where the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railway
The San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad was a California rail line between Stockton, California, Stockton and Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield constructed in the late 1890s and very shortly thereafter purchased by the Atchison, Tope ...
- another AT&SF subsidiary - began, and operated into Bakersfield
Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
via SF&SJV trackage. The AT&SF bought the railroad property of the Santa Fe Pacific in July 1902, and its non-operating subsidiary
In the United States, a paper railroad is a company in the railroad business that exists "on paper only": as a legal entity which does not own any track, locomotives, or rolling stock.
In the early days of railroad construction, paper railroads h ...
California, Arizona and Santa Fe Railway bought the leased Southern Pacific line between Mojave and Needles in December 1911, but the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad continued to own its land grants from the A&P,.[ the Santa Fe Pacific continued to exist as a subsidiary of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, successor to the AT&SF. The gap across Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico was eventually filled in 1904, when the ]Arkansas Valley and Western Railway
The Arkansas Valley and Western Railway (AV&W) was built as a short line railroad operating within the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It was founded in 1902 to link the city of Tulsa with the main transcontinental line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe ...
, an SL&SF subsidiary, completed its line from Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
to Avard, Oklahoma
Avard was a town in Woods County, Oklahoma, United States. The town is southwest of Alva, and northeast of Waynoka. The population was 26 at the 2000 census.
After initial growth Avard began declining in the 1930s. Avard had a post offic ...
, on the AT&SF's line through the Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...
.[ The line was joined under one company in 1995, when the AT&SF merged with SL&SF successor ]Burlington Northern Railroad
The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a Mergers and acquisitions, merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996.
Its historical lineage begins in the e ...
to form the BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
, and remains a main line.[Robert Wegner, Map of the Month: BNSF Predecessors, '']Trains
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...
'', September 2003, p. 52
References
Further reading
*
External links
Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlantic Pacific Railroad
Predecessors of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Predecessors of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway
Defunct California railroads
Defunct Arizona railroads
Defunct New Mexico railroads
Defunct Missouri railroads
Defunct Oklahoma railroads
Rail lines receiving land grants
Railway companies established in 1866
Railway companies disestablished in 1897
Defunct Kansas railroads
1866 establishments in Missouri
American companies established in 1866
American companies disestablished in 1897