The Western Pacific Railroad was a

Class I railroad Railroad classes are the system by which Rail freight transport, freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportatio ...

in the

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. 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) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

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 Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, 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 United States Census ...

, and

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, for nearly 80 years. The Western Pacific was one of the original operators of the ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...

'' passenger line. In 1982, the Western Pacific was acquired by the

Union Pacific Corporation Union Pacific Corporation is a publicly traded railroad holding company. It is incorporated in Utah and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Its only operating subsidiary is Union Pacific Railroad. Along with BNSF Railway, owned by Berkshire Hatha ...

and it was soon merged into the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

History

The original Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870) was established in 1862 to build the westernmost portion of the

first transcontinental railroad America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the exis ...

, between

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and San Jose,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

(later to Oakland). After completing the last link from Sacramento to Oakland, this company was absorbed into the Central Pacific Railroad in 1870. The second company to use the "western pacific" appellation was the ''Western Pacific Railway Company'', founded in 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 in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

track connection to the

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for his aspiring Gould transcontinental system. Construction was financed by the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...

, a company in the Gould system, which had lost access to California due to the attempted acquisition of the Southern Pacific Railroad 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 to 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/yd 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 A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

forming a triangle of intersecting track. In 1935, the railroad went bankrupt because of decreased freight and passenger traffic caused by the

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and had to be reorganized. Western Pacific (WP) operated the ''California Zephyr''

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

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 Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

. The WP handled the "Silver Lady" from Oakland, California, to Salt Lake City, Utah from 1949 to 1970. The Western Pacific owned several connecting

short-line railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...

s. The largest was the Sacramento Northern Railway, 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. 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 in 1982, the WP became part of a combined Union Pacific rail system: the Union Pacific Railroad, 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 o ...

, and the WP. The Union Pacific maintains one locomotive in its fleet, Union Pacific 1983, in a Western Pacific influenced

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

Passenger operations

California Zephyr Western Pacific locomotive Feather River

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 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'' (between Oakland and Salt Lake City)

Executives

There were twelve presidents of the 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 (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

References

External links

Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola CaliforniaA guide to the Dudley Thickens photographs, 1916-1977
at

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility. Formerly referred to ...