The Western Pacific Railroad was a
Class I railroad in the
United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly 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 ...
had on rail service into northern California. WP's
Feather River Route directly competed with SP's portion of the
Overland Route for rail traffic between
Salt Lake City/
Ogden, Utah
Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...
, and
Oakland, California, for nearly 80 years. The Western Pacific was one of the original operators of the ''
California Zephyr'' passenger line.
In 1982, the Western Pacific was acquired by the
Union Pacific Corporation and it was soon merged into their
Union Pacific Railroad.
History
The original
Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870) was established in 1862 to build the westernmost portion of the
first transcontinental railroad
North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
, between
Sacramento and
San Jose, California (later
Oakland, California). After completing the last link from Sacramento to Oakland, this company was absorbed into the
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by Pacific Railroad Acts, U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in N ...
in 1870.
The second company to use the "western pacific" appellation was the ''Western Pacific Railway Company'', founded 1903. Under the direction of
George Jay Gould I, the Western Pacific Railway proposed to build a
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
track connection to the
Pacific Coast
Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean.
Geography Americas
Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...
for his aspiring
Gould transcontinental system. Construction was financed by the
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, a company in the Gould system, which had lost access to California due to the attempted acquisition of 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 ...
by the Rio Grande's main rival, the
Union Pacific Railroad. The Western Pacific Railway acquired the
Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad and began construction on what became known as the
Feather River Route. Completed in 1909, it was the last major rail line connected into
California. After ''Western Pacific Railway Company'' defaulted on mortgage bonds, its assets were sold in 1916 to ''The Western Pacific Railroad Company''.
The original line used 85-lb rail on untreated ties, with no tie plates except on curves over one degree; in 1935 more than half of the main line still had its original rail, most of it having carried 150 million gross tons.
In 1931 Western Pacific opened a main line north from the
Feather River Canyon to the
Great Northern Railway in northern California. This route, today part of BNSF's
Gateway Subdivision, joined the Oakland – Salt Lake City main line at the
Keddie Wye, a unique combination of two steel
trestles and a
tunnel forming a
triangle of intersecting track. In 1935, the railroad went bankrupt because of decreased freight and passenger traffic caused by the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and had to be reorganized.
WP operated the ''California Zephyr''
passenger train
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...
with the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...
. The WP handled the "Silver Lady" from Oakland, California, to Salt Lake City, Utah from 1949–1970. The Western Pacific owned several connecting
short-line railroads. The largest was the
Sacramento Northern Railway
The Sacramento Northern Railway (reporting mark SN) was a electric interurban railway that connected Chico in northern California with Oakland via the California capital, Sacramento. In its operation it ran directly on the streets of Oakland ...
, which once reached from San Francisco to Chico, California. Others included the
Tidewater Southern Railway, the
Central California Traction, the
Indian Valley Railroad and the
Deep Creek Railroad
The Deep Creek Railroad is a defunct railroad company that constructed and operated a line between Wendover and Gold Hill, Utah, a distance of about 45 miles. It was constructed in 1917 to serve a mining district in the Gold Hill vicinity and exi ...
. In December 1953, the Railroad retired its last steam locomotive from revenue service. At the end of 1970 WP operated of road and of track, not including its Sacramento Northern and Tidewater Southern subsidiaries.
After the
Union Pacific Corporation purchased the Western Pacific (WP) in 1982, the WP became part of a combined Union Pacific rail system: the Union Pacific Railroad, the
Missouri Pacific Railroad, and the WP.
Passenger operations
The ''
California Zephyr'' was the famous Western Pacific passenger train but the railroad had a few others:
* ''
Exposition Flyer'' (Chicago to Oakland in conjunction with the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...
and
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, 1939 to 1949; named after the
Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939 and 1940)
* ''Royal Gorge'' (between Oakland and Denver via Pueblo)
* ''Scenic Limited'' (between Oakland and Denver via Pueblo)
* ''
Zephyrette
A Zephyrette was a hostess on the ''California Zephyr'' between 1949 and 1970, while the train was jointly operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and the Western Pacific Railroad. T ...
'' (between Oakland and Salt Lake City)
Many special charter passenger trains have used parts of the WP route:
* ''Feather River Express'' (between Oakland and
Portola, California), a special charter train for
Portola Railroad Days Portola may refer to:
* ''Portola'' (album), a 1998 album by Rose Melberg
* Portola, California
* Portola, San Francisco, California
People with the surname
* Gaspar de Portolá (ca. 1717-aft.1784), Spanish soldier, first governor of the Californi ...
* ''Northern California Explorer'' (Emeryville, Oroville, Keddie, Westwood, Klamath Falls, Black Butte, Chico, Sacramento, Emeryville)
Railroad presidents
There were twelve presidents of this railroad:
[March 1983 issue of ''Mileposts.'' Western Pacific Railway and Railroad]
* Walter J. Bartnett (March 3, 1903 to June 23, 1905)
*
Edward T. Jeffery (June 23, 1905 to November 6, 1913)
*
Benjamin F. Bush (November 6, 1913 to March 4, 1915)
* Charles M. Levey (July 14, 1916 to March 30, 1927)
* Harry M. Adams (March 30, 1927 to December 31, 1931)
* Charles Elsey (January 1, 1932 to December 31, 1948)
* Harry A. Mitchell (January 1, 1949 to July 1, 1949)
* Frederic B. Whitman (July 1, 1949 to June 30, 1965)
* Myron M. Christy (June 30, 1965 to November 30, 1970)
*
Alfred E. Perlman
Alfred Edward Perlman (November 22, 1902—April 30, 1983) was a railroad executive, having served as president of the Penn Central Transportation Company and its predecessor, the New York Central Railroad.
Early career
Perlman graduated from ...
(December 1, 1970 to December 31, 1972)
* Robert G. "Mike" Flannery (January 1, 1973 to June 9, 1982)
* Robert C. Marquis (June 9, 1982 to January 11, 1983)
Gallery
File:Western Pacific RR 1931 California.jpg, Western Pacific map of California in 1931
File:Western Pacific RR 1931 Nevada.jpg, Western Pacific map of Nevada in 1931
File:Western Pacific RR 1931 Utah.jpg, Western Pacific map of Utah in 1931
See also
* ''
Hercules'' – A steam powered tugboat previously owned by the Western Pacific
*
Western Pacific Railroad Museum
*
Western Refrigerator Line
Two distinct and separate railroad refrigerator car companies have operated under the name Western Refrigerator Line.
The first, the Western Refrigerator Line (WRL) was a refrigerator car leasing company founded by the Western Pacific Railroad ...
– Subsidiary of the Western Pacific
References
External links
Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola California
{{Authority control
1983 disestablishments in California
American companies disestablished in 1983
American companies established in 1903
Companies based in San Francisco
Defunct California railroads
Defunct Nevada railroads
Defunct Utah railroads
Former Class I railroads in the United States
Predecessors of the Union Pacific Railroad
Railway companies disestablished in 1983
Railway companies established in 1903