The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I

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 prep ...

network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

. The system was operated by various companies under the names Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Company and Southern Pacific Transportation Company. The original Southern Pacific began in 1865 as a land holding company. The last incarnation of the Southern Pacific, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, was founded in 1969 and assumed control of the Southern Pacific system. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company was acquired in 1996 by the

Union Pacific Corporation The Union Pacific Corporation (Union Pacific) is a publicly traded railroad holding company. It was incorporated in Utah in 1969 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the parent company of the current, Delaware-registered, form of ...

and merged with their

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

. The Southern Pacific legacy founded hospitals in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

. In the 1970s, it also founded a telecommunications network with a state-of-the-art microwave and fiber optic backbone. This telecommunications network became part of Sprint, a company whose name came from the acronym for Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony.

History

The original Southern Pacific, Southern Pacific Railroad, was founded as a land holding company in 1865, later acquiring the

Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the " First transcontinental railroad" in North America. Incor ...

in 1885 through leasing. By 1900, the Southern Pacific system was a major railroad system incorporating many smaller companies, such as the

Texas and New Orleans Railroad The Texas and New Orleans Railroad was a railroad in Texas and Louisiana. It operated of railroad in 1934; by 1961, remained when it merged with parent company Southern Pacific. Location The Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad was a part ...

and

Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad Henry Morgan & Company (colloquially Morgan's) was a Canadian department store chain founded by Henry Morgan in 1845. The first store was located in Montreal, and expanded to include 11 stores in Ontario and Quebec before being bought by Huds ...

. It extended from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

through

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

to El Paso, across

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

and through

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, through most of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, including

and

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. Central Pacific lines extended east across

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

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 reached north through

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

to Portland. Other subsidiaries eventually included the

St. Louis Southwestern Railway The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company , known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", is a former Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Ten ...

(Cotton Belt), El Paso and Southwestern Railroad, the

Northwestern Pacific Railroad The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional shortline railroad utilizing a stretch of the 271 mile mainline between Schellville and Windsor with freight and Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter trains. Formerly, it was a r ...

at , the

Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico The Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico was a railroad subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Mexico, operating from Nogales, Sonora, to Mazatlán, Sinaloa. The Sonora Railway was constructed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway b ...

, and a variety of

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

routes. The SP was the defendant in the landmark 1886

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case ''

Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad ''Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company'', 118 U.S. 394 (1886), is a corporate law case of the United States Supreme Court concerning taxation of railroad properties. The case is most notable for a headnote stating that the Equa ...

'', which is often interpreted as having established certain corporate rights under the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nati ...

. The Southern Pacific Railroad was replaced by the Southern Pacific Company and assumed the railroad operations of the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1929, Southern Pacific/Texas and New Orleans operated 13,848 route-miles not including Cotton Belt, whose purchase of the Golden State Route circa 1980 nearly doubled its size to , bringing total SP/SSW mileage to around . SP 6453 EB Floriston PRS spc Feb 1971

In 1969, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company was established and took over the Southern Pacific Company; this Southern Pacific railroad is the last incarnation and was at times called "Southern Pacific Industries", though "Southern Pacific Industries" is not the official name of the company. By the 1980s, route mileage had dropped to , mainly due to the pruning of branch lines. On October 13, 1988, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company (including its subsidiary, St. Louis Southwestern Railway) was taken over by Rio Grande Industries, the parent company that controlled the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver & 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 from De ...

. Rio Grande Industries did not merge the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad together, but transferred direct ownership of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad to the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, allowing the combined Rio Grande Industries railroad system to use the Southern Pacific name due to its brand recognition in the railroad industry and with customers of both the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. A long time Southern Pacific subsidiary, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway was also marketed under the Southern Pacific name. Along with the addition of the SPCSL Corporation route from Chicago to St. Louis, the total length of the D&RGW/SP/SSW system was . Rio Grande Industries was later renamed

Southern Pacific Rail Corporation Rio Grande Industries (RGI or Rio Grande Industries, Inc.) was a name of two holding companies that were involved in the railroading industry. The original and second company took part in the operations of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Ra ...

. By 1996, years of financial problems had dropped Southern Pacific's mileage to . The financial problems caused the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to be taken over by the

; the parent Southern Pacific Rail Corporation (formerly Rio Grande Industries), the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the SPCSL Corporation was also taken over by the Union Pacific Corporation. The Union Pacific Corporation merged the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the SPCSL Corporation into their

but did not merge the Southern Pacific Transportation Company into the Union Pacific Railroad. Instead, the Union Pacific Corporation merged the Union Pacific Railroad into the Southern Pacific Transportation Company on February 1, 1998; the Southern Pacific Transportation Company became the surviving railroad and at the same time the Union Pacific Corporation renamed the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to Union Pacific Railroad. Thus, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company became, and is still operating as, the current incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Locomotives

Like most railroads, the SP painted most of its

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

s black during the 20th century, but after 1945 SP painted the front of the locomotive's

smokebox A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is e ...

silver (almost white in appearance), with graphite colored sides, for visibility. Some passenger steam locomotives bore the ''Daylight'' scheme, named after the trains they hauled, most of which had the word ''Daylight'' in the train name. The most famous "Daylight" locomotives were the

GS-4 The Southern Pacific GS-4 is a class of streamlined 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) from 1941 to 1958. A total of twenty-eight were built by the Lima Locomotive Works, numbered 4430 throu ...

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

. The most famous Daylight-hauled trains were the Coast Daylight and the Sunset Limited. Well known were the Southern Pacific's unique "

cab-forward The term cab forward refers to various rail and road vehicle designs that place the driver's compartment substantially farther towards the front than is common practice. Rail locomotives In steam locomotive design, a cab forward design wil ...

" steam locomotives.. These were

4-8-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-8-8-2 is a locomotive with four leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a two-wheel trailing truck. Other equivalent classifications are: UIC classificat ...

2-8-8-2 A 2-8-8-2, in the Whyte notation for describing steam locomotive wheel arrangements, is an articulated locomotive with a two-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a two-wheel trailing truck. The equivalent UIC classification ...

, and

4-6-6-2 In Whyte notation, a 4-6-6-2 is a steam locomotive with four leading wheels (two axles) in an unpowered bogie at the front of the locomotive followed by two sets of driving wheels with six wheels each (three axles each), followed by two unpowered ...

(rebuilt from

2-6-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a is a locomotive with one pair of unpowered leading wheels, followed by two sets of three pairs of powered driving wheels and one pair of trailing wheel ...

) locomotives set up to run in reverse, with the tender attached to the smokebox end of the locomotive. Southern Pacific had a number of

snow shed Avalanche control or avalanche defense activities reduce the hazard avalanches pose to human life, activity, and property. After a number of engineers began running their engines in reverse (pushing the tender), Southern Pacific asked

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades ...

to produce cab-forward designs. No other North American railroad ordered cab-forward locomotives.

Passenger train service

Until May 1, 1971 (when

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

took over long-distance passenger operations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

), the Southern Pacific at various times operated the following named

passenger 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 ...

. Trains with names in ''italicized bold text'' still operate under Amtrak: * '' 49er'' * ''

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the desc ...

'' * ''Apache'' * ''

Argonaut The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', n ...

'' * ''

Arizona Limited The ''Arizona Limited'' was an extra-fare streamliner train operated by the Southern Pacific and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad from 1940 until 1942 on the Golden State route from Chicago, Illinois, to Phoenix, Arizona, via Tucumcari ...

'' * ''Beaver'' * ''Californian'' * '' Cascade'' * ''

City of San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

'' * ''

Coast Daylight The ''Coast Daylight'', originally known as the ''Daylight Limited'', was a passenger train on the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) between Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, via SP's Coast Line. It was advertised as the "most beautiful ...

'' * ''Coast Mail'' * ''Coaster'' * '' Del Monte'' * ''Fast Mail'' * '' Golden Rocket'' * '' Golden State'' * ''Grand Canyon'' * ''Hustler'' * ''

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

'' * ''Klamath'' * ''

Lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark oc ...

'' * ''Oregonian'' * '' Overland'' * ''Owl'' * ''

Pacific Limited The ''Pacific Limited'' was an American named passenger train which from 1913 to 1947 was jointly operated by three railroads on the Overland Route between Portland, Oregon, Oakland, California, Los Angeles, California and Chicago. The Sout ...

'' * ''

Peninsula Commute The Peninsula Commute, also known as the Southern Pacific Peninsula or just Peninsula, was the common name for commuter rail service between San Jose, California and San Francisco, California on the San Francisco Peninsula. This service ran as a ...

'' ** ''Loop Service'' * ''Rogue River'' * '' Sacramento Daylight'' * ''

San Francisco Challenger The ''San Francisco Challenger'' was a train operated by Southern Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad and Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Starting in 1936, it ran from Oakland, California to Chicago, Illinois via the Overland Route. ...

'' * '' San Joaquin Daylight'' * ''Senator'' * '' Shasta Daylight'' * ''Shasta Express'' * ''Shasta Limited'' * ''Shasta Limited De Luxe'' * ''Starlight'' * '' Sunbeam'' * ''

Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betw ...

'' * ''

Suntan Special The ''Suntan Special'' (sometimes styled as ''Sun Tan Special'') was a summer excursion train service operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California, from 1927 to 1959. History When ''Suntan Special'' ...

'' * ''Tehachapi'' * '' West Coast'' * ''El Costeño'' * ''El Yaqui''

Locomotives used for passenger service

Steam locomotives

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wh ...

Consolidation *

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing w ...

Mikado * 4-4-2 Atlantic *

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomo ...

Pacific – see SP 2472 *

4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly know ...

Mountain – see SP Mt-5 *

4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type w ...

Golden State/General Service – see SP 4449 * 2-8-8-4 *

Cab Forward Articulated *

4-10-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, represents the arrangement of four leading wheels, ten powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. In South Africa, where the wheel arran ...

Southern Pacific - see SP 5021

Diesel locomotives

* ALCO PA *

EMC E2 The EMC E2 was an American passenger-train diesel locomotive which as a single unit developed , from two (2) prime movers. These locomotives were typically operated as a unit set ( A - B - B) or ( A - B - A); where the three unit lashup deve ...

* EMD E7 *

EMD E8 The E8 is a , A1A-A1A passenger-train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois. A total of 450 cab versions, or E8As, were built from August 1949 to January 1954, 447 for the U.S. and 3 for Cana ...

EMD E9 The E9 is a , A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois, between April 1954 and January 1964. 100 cab-equipped A units were produced and 44 cabless booster B units ...

EMD FP7 The EMD FP7 is a , B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, ...

GE 70-ton switcher The GE 70-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between about 1942 and 1955. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. The first series of "70 tonners" were a group of seven center-cab locomotives built for ...

EMD NW2 The EMD NW2 is a , B-B switcher locomotive manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. From February 1939 to December 1949, EMD produced 1,145 NW2s: 1,121 for U.S. and 24 for Canadian railroads. Starting in ...

EMD NW5 The EMD NW5 was a road switcher diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between December 1946 and February 1947. A total of 13 were produced, of which the majority (ten locomotives) ...

EMD SW1 The EMD SW1 is a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Corporation (later Division) between December 1938 and November 1953. Final assembly was at EMD's plant at LaGrange ( McCook) Illinois. The SW1 wa ...

EMD SW8 The EMD SW8 is a diesel switcher locomotive manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between September 1950 and February 1954. Power is supplied by an EMD 567B 8-cylinder engine, for a total of . A tota ...

EMD SW900 The EMD SW900 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel (GMD) between December 1953 and March 1969. Power was provided by an EMD 567C 8- cylinder engine that generated 900 horsepo ...

EMD SW1200 An EMD SW1200 is a 4 axle diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and May 1966. Power is provided by an EMD 567C 12-cylinder engine which generates . Additional SW1200 production was compl ...

EMD SW1500 The EMD SW1500 is a Diesel-electric locomotive intended for switching service and built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division from 1966 to 1974. The SW1500 replaced the SW1200 in the EMD product line. Many railroads regularly used SW1500s f ...

* GE U25B *

GE U28B The GE U28B diesel-electric locomotive model replaced the U25B in early 1966, featuring a slightly uprated prime mover (only more power than the U25B). Early units had the same car body styling as the U25B, while later units had design features ...

GE U30C The GE U30C is a six-axle locomotive built by General Electric from 1966 to 1976. With 600 units sold, the U30C proved to be a viable alternative for customers who were unable to purchase SD40s from Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) due to production ba ...

GE U33C The GE U33C is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems between January 1968 and January 1975. 375 examples of this locomotive were built for 11 North American railroads and one construction contractor. Original ow ...

FM H-12-44 The FM H-12-44 was a switcher locomotive produced by Fairbanks-Morse from May 1950 until March 1961. The units had a , six-cylinder opposed piston engine prime mover, and were configured in a B-B wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of two-a ...

* FM H-24-66 "Train Master" *

EMD GP7 The EMD GP7 is a four-axle ( B-B) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October 1949 and May 1954.Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973) pp. 53 Power was provided by an EMD 567B 16 ...

EMD GP9 The EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1954 and 1959. The GP9 succeeded the GP7 as the second model of EMD's General Purpose (GP) line, incorporating a new sixteen- cylin ...

EMD SD7 An SD7 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between May 1951 and November 1953. It had an EMD 567B 16- cylinder engine producing for its six traction motors. 188 were built for United States railroads. ...

EMD SD9 An SD9 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and June 1959. An EMD 567C 16-cylinder engine generated . Externally similar to its predecessor, the SD7, the SD9 was built with the improv ...

GE P30CH The GE P30CH (nicknamed "Pooch" because of the similarity of the designation) was one of the first brand-new diesel-electric locomotives built for Amtrak by General Electric during Amtrak's early years. The design was based on the GE U30C, but ha ...

EMD SD40M-2 EMD may refer to: Finance and commerce * Emerging market debt * Earnest money deposit, in the United States, a security deposit, especially for real estate Medicine * Electromagnetic diaphragm * Electromechanical dissociation * Emergency me ...

EMD SD39-2 An SD39 is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between August 1968 and May 1970. 54 were built for American railroads. In 1966 EMD replaced all their old models with new ones having the new 645 ...

* EMD SD38-2 *

EMD SD35 An EMD SD35 is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between June 1964 and January 1966. Power was provided by an EMD 567D3A, 16-cylinder engine which generated . A fuel tank was used on this unit. ...

* EMD SDP45 * EMD GP60 * EMD GP40P-2 * EMD GP40M-2 *

EMD GP40-2 The EMD GP40-2 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as part of its Dash 2 line between April 1972 and December 1986. The locomotive's power is provided by an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine which generates ...

EMD GP38-2 The EMD GP38-2 is an American four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP38-2 was an upgraded version of the earlier GP38. Power is provided by an EMD 645E 16-cyl ...

EMD GP20 An EMD GP20 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between November 1959 and April 1962. Power was provided by an EMD 567D2 16- cylinder turbocharged engine which generated . EMD was initially hes ...

GE B30-7 The GE B30-7 is a diesel-electric locomotive model produced by GE from 1977 to 1983 as part of their Dash 7 Series, featuring a 16 cylinder engine producing 3,000 horsepower. A total of 399 units were produced, including 120 cabless B30-7 ...

GE B36-7 The GE B36-7 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems between January 1980 and September 1985. 222 examples of this locomotive were built for North American railroads and eight units were built for a Colombian coal ...

* GE B39-8 *

GE B40-8 The GE Dash 8-40B (or ''B40-8'') is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems between 1988 and 1989. It is part of the GE Dash 8 Series of freight locomotives. A total of 151 examples of this locomotive were built for ...

GE AC4400CW The GE AC4400CW, sometimes referred as "AC44CW" is a diesel-electric locomotive that was built by GE Transportation Systems between 1993 and 2004. It is like the Dash 9-44CW, but features AC traction motors instead of DC, with a separate invert ...

* GE C44-9W *

EMD SD50 The EMD SD50 is a diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. It was introduced in May 1981 as part of EMD's "50 Series"; production ceased in January 1986. The SD50 was a transitional model between EMD's Dash ...

* EMD SD45 *

EMD SD45T-2 The SD45T-2 is a model of diesel-electric locomotive built by EMD for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Like the later SD40T-2 it is colloquially nicknamed a tunnel motor. 247 total units (including the original EMD/SP joint venture working Prototy ...

EMD SD40T-2 The SD40T-2 is a model of diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in the United States. The SD40T-2 is equipped with a 16-cylinder EMD 645E3 diesel engine producing . 312 SD40T-2s were built for three railroads i ...

EMD SD40R EMD may refer to: Finance and commerce * Emerging market debt * Earnest money deposit, in the United States, a security deposit, especially for real estate Medicine * Electromagnetic diaphragm * Electromechanical dissociation * Emergency med ...

EMD SD70M The EMD SD70 is a series of diesel-electric locomotives produced by the US company Electro-Motive Diesel in response to the GE Dash 9-44CW. Production commenced in late 1992 and since then over 5,700 units have been produced; most of these are t ...

Notable accidents

John Sontag John Sontag (May 27, 1861 – July 3, 1893) was an outlaw of the American West known for train robberies. Background John Sontag was the oldest son of Maria (Bohn) and Jacob Contant of Mankato, Minnesota. After the death of his father in 1867, hi ...

, a young Southern Pacific employee, was injured c. 1888 while coupling cars in the railroad yard in

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

. He accused the company of not providing him with medical care while he was recuperating from his on-the-job injury and then not rehiring him when he had healed. He soon turned to a life of crime (mostly train robberies) and died of gunshot wounds and

tetanus Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'', and is characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually ...

in the Fresno jail in 1893 aged 32 years. : Sontag's partner in crime, Chris Evans also hated the Southern Pacific, which Evans accused of forcing farmers to sell their lands at reduced rates to the company. * On 28 March 1907, the Southern Pacific '' Sunset Express'', descending the grade out of the

San Timoteo Canyon San Timoteo Canyon is a river valley canyon southeast of Redlands, in the far northwestern foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Geography The canyon runs from its southern inflow mouth in ...

, entered the Colton rail yard traveling about , hit an open switch and careened off the track, resulting in 24 fatalities. Accounts said 9 of the train's 14 cars disintegrated as they piled on top of one another, leaving the dead and injured in "a heap of kindling and crumpled metal". Of the dead, 18 were Italian immigrants traveling to jobs in

from

Genoa, Italy Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. * The ''

Coast Line Limited The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

'' was heading for

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, on 22 May 1907, when it was derailed just west of

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from 191,719 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth-larges ...

. Passenger cars reportedly tumbled down the embankment. At least 2 people were killed and others injured. "The horrible deed was planned with devilish accurateness" the ''

Pasadena Star News The ''Pasadena Star-News'' is a paid local daily newspaper for the greater Pasadena, California area. The Pasadena ''Star-News'' is a member of Southern California News Group (formerly the Los Angeles Newspaper Group), since 1996. It is also part ...

'' reported at the time. It said spikes were removed from the track and a hook placed under the end of the rail. The ''Stars coverage was extensive and its editorial blasted the criminal elements behind the wreck:

The man or men who committed this horrible deed near Glendale may not be anarchists, technically speaking. But if they are sane men, moved by motive, they are such stuff as anarchists are made of. If the typical anarchist conceived that a railroad corporation should be terrorized, he would not scruple to wreck a passenger train and send scores and hundreds to instant death.

* In the early hours of 1 June 1907, an attempt to derail a Southern Pacific train near

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

, was foiled when a pile of railway ties was discovered on the tracks. A work train crew found that someone had driven a steel plate into a switch near

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...

, intending to derail the Santa Barbara local. * On 12 August 1939, the westbound ''

'' derailed from a bridge in

Palisade Canyon Palisade Canyon is a canyon along the Humboldt River in northern Eureka County, Nevada, United States. Description The canyon runs along the Humboldt River roughly between State Route 278 upstream (about south–southwest of Carlin), and a ...

, between Battle Mountain and Carlin in the Nevada desert. Among the passengers and crew members 24 people were killed and many more injured, and 5 cars were destroyed. An act of sabotage was determined to be the most likely cause; however, no suspect(s) was(were) ever identified. * On New Year's Eve 1944 a rear-end collision west of Ogden in thick fog killed 48 people. * On 17 January 1947, the Southern Pacific Nightflier wrecked outside of Bakersfield; 7 people were killed and over 50 injured. Four coaches and a tourist sleeper were overturned, landing far off the tracks; the other seven cars remained upright. The locomotive stayed on the tracks and its crew was uninjured. A 29-year-old passenger, Robert Crowley from Miami, Florida, had been conversing with a man across the aisle who was killed instantly. Crowley, who was a combat war veteran, said “I never saw such a mess” even on a battlefield. * On 8 May 1948, in

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...

, a Southern Pacific passenger train, the ''Del Monte Express'' struck a car driven by influential marine biologist

Ed Ricketts Edward Flanders Robb Ricketts (May 14, 1897 – May 11, 1948) was an American marine biologist, ecologist, and philosopher. He is best known for '' Between Pacific Tides'' (1939), a pioneering study of intertidal ecology. He is also known as a m ...

at the now defunct railroad crossing at Drake Avenue. Ricketts subsequently succumbed to his injuries three days later in the hospital. * On 17 September 1963, a Southern Pacific freight train

crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock Single (music), single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry (band), Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stat ...

into an illegally converted bus at a grade crossing in Chualar, California, killing 32 bracero workers. It would later be a factor in the decision by Congress in 1964 to terminate the bracero program, despite its strong support among farmers. It also helped spur the Chicano civil rights movement. As of 2014, it was the deadliest automobile accident in United States history, according to the

National Safety Council The National Safety Council (NSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public service organization promoting health and safety in the United States. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congressi ...

* On 28 April 1973, a Southern Pacific freight train carrying munitions exploded in Roseville Yard injuring 52 people, the cause of this was due to a hot box on a railcar setting the floor ablaze and causing the disaster to occur. * On 12 May 1989, a Southern Pacific train carrying fertilizer derailed in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 ce ...

. The train failed to slow while descending a nearby slope, and sped up to about before derailing, causing the San Bernardino train disaster. The crash destroyed 7 homes along Duffy Street and killed 2 train workers and 2 residents. Thirteen days later on 25 May 1989, an underground pipeline running along the right-of-way ruptured and caught fire due to damage done to the pipeline during clean-up from the derailment or from the derailment itself, destroying 11 more homes and killing 2 more people. Cantara Loop 1

* On the night of 14 July 1991, a Southern Pacific train derailed into the upper

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento� ...

at a sharp bend of track called “the Cantara Loop”, upstream from

Dunsmuir, California Dunsmuir is a city in Siskiyou County, northern California. It is on the upper Sacramento River in the Trinity Mountains. Its population is 1,707 as of the 2020 census, up from 1,650 from the 2010 census. Dunsmuir is currently a hub for tourism ...

, in

Siskiyou County Siskiyou County (, ) is a county in the northernmost part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,076. Its county seat is Yreka and its highest point is Mount Shasta. It falls within the Cascadia bioregion ...

. Several cars made contact with the water, including a tank car. Early in the morning of 15 July, it became apparent that the tank car had ruptured and spilled its entire contents into the river – approximately of

metam sodium Metam sodium is an organosulfur compound with the formula . The compound is a sodium salt of a dithiocarbamate. The compound exists as a colorless dihydrate, but most commonly it is encountered as an aqueous solution. It is used as a soil fumig ...

, a soil fumigant. Ultimately, over a million fish, and tens of thousands of amphibians and crayfish were killed. Millions of aquatic invertebrates, including insects and mollusks, which form the basis of the river's ecosystem, were destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of willows, alders, and cottonwoods eventually died; many more were severely injured. :The chemical plume left a wake of destruction from the spill site to the entry point of the river into

Shasta Lake Shasta Lake, also popularly known as Lake Shasta, is a reservoir in Shasta County, California, United States. It began to store water in 1944 due to the impounding of the Sacramento River by Shasta Dam, the ninth tallest dam in the United State ...

. The accident still ranks as the largest hazardous chemical spill in

history. At the time of the incident,

was not classified as a hazardous material.

Preserved locomotives

There are many Southern Pacific locomotives still in revenue service with railroads such as the

, and many older and special locomotives have been donated to parks and museums, or continue operating on scenic or tourist railroads. Most of the engines now in use with Union Pacific have been "patched", where the SP logo on the front is replaced by a Union Pacific shield, and new numbers are applied over the old numbers with a Union Pacific sticker, however some engines remain in Southern Pacific "bloody nose" paint. Over the past couple years, most of the patched units were repainted into the full Union Pacific scheme and as of January 2019, less than ten units remain in their old paint. Among the more notable equipment is: SP 1518 20050716 Illinois Railway Museum

SP 1518 20050716 Illinois Railway Museum

745 __NOTOC__ Year 745 ( DCCXLV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 745 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

(Mk-5,

), owned by the Louisiana Rail Heritage Trust, operated by the Louisiana Steam Train Association, and based in Jefferon (near

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

* 786 (Mk-5,

), owned by the City of Austin, leased to the

Austin Steam Train Association Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Currently under full mechanical restoration in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. * 794 (Mk-5,

), the last Mikado built for the

in 1916 out of spare parts in their

shops. It currently resides with cosmetic restoration at San Antonio Station,

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

, but plans are to restore it to operating condition. *

982 Year 982 ( CMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Emperor Otto II (the Red) assembles an imperial expeditionary force at Tar ...

(F-1, 2-10-2), tender located at the

Heber Valley Railroad The Heber Valley Railroad (HVRX) is a heritage railroad based in Heber City, Utah. It operates passenger excursion trains along a line between Heber City and Vivian Park, which is located in Provo Canyon. The HVRX carries over 110,000 pass ...

Heber City Heber City is a city and county seat of Wasatch County, Utah, United States. The population was 11,362 at the time of the 2010 census. It is located 43 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. History Heber City was first settled in 1859 by Rober ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, main locomotive located in

. *

1518 __NOTOC__ Year 1518 ( MDXVIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Exceptions France In France, the year 1518 lasted from 4 April 1518 to 23 April 1519. Since Constantine (ar ...

(

), former EMD demonstrator 990 and first SD7 built, located at the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview His ...

Union, Illinois Union is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 580 at the 2010 census, up from 576 in 2000. History A post office called Union has been in operation since 1852. The village was named for the federal union of th ...

* 1744 (M-6,

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

), components slowly being gathered at Brightside,

for a restoration to operating condition on the

Niles Canyon Railway The Niles Canyon Railway (NCRy) is a heritage railway running on the first transcontinental railroad alignment (1866, 1869) through Niles Canyon, between Sunol and the Niles district of Fremont in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

. * 2248 ''Puffy'' (T-1,

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the ...

), operated by the

Grapevine Vintage Railroad The Grapevine Vintage Railroad (GVRR) is an excursion and special event railroad in Grapevine, Texas, USA, that runs from the Main Street station in Grapevine to the Fort Worth Stockyards. GVRR is owned and operated by the City of Grapevine. His ...

, but is currently pending for a 1,472-day overhaul required by the

FRA A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...

Grapevine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, ...

. * 2467 ( P-8,

), on loan by the

Pacific Locomotive Association The Pacific Locomotive Association, Inc. (PLA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the physical aspects and atmosphere of Pacific Coast railroading during the period from 1910 to 1960. The Pacific Locomotive Association ...

Fremont, California Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San Fra ...

to the

California State Railroad Museum The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the state park system of California, United States, interpreting the role of the "iron horse" in connecting California to the rest of the nation. It is located in Old Sacramento State Histor ...

* 2472 ( P-8,

), owned and operated by the Golden Gate Railroad Museum,

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...

* 2479 ( P-10,

), owned and being restored by the

California Trolley and Railroad Corporation Established in 1982, the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation (CTRC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to preserve rail transportation in the Santa Clara Valley. History Streetcars California Trolley and Railroad Corporation (CTRC) ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

* 3100 (former SP6800 Bicentennial), U25B owned and operated by the Orange Empire Railway Museum, Perris, CA * 3420 ( C-19,

), owned by El Paso Historic Board, stored at Phelps Dodge copper refinery,

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

*3769 (

), On display and used as a switch engine for the

Utah State Railroad Museum Union Station, also known as Ogden Union Station, is a train station in Ogden, Utah, at the west end of Historic 25th Street, just south of the Ogden Intermodal Transit Center. Formerly the junction of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific R ...

. * 4294 ( AC-12,

), located at the

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

* 4449 (

), formerly located at the Brooklyn Roundhouse before being relocated to the

Oregon Rail Heritage Center The Oregon Rail Heritage Center (ORHC) is a railway museum in Portland, Oregon. Along with other rolling stock, the museum houses three steam locomotives owned by the City of Portland: Southern Pacific 4449, Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700, an ...

in June 2012,

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

* 4460 ( GS-6,

), located at the

National Museum of Transportation The National Museum of Transportation (NMOT) is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944, it restores, preserves, and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of Amer ...

Kirkwood, Missouri Kirkwood is an inner-ring western suburb of St. Louis located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 27,540. Founded in 1853, the city is named after James P. Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad ...

*7457 ( EMD SD45) the first GM Electro-Motive Division

SD45 The SD45 is a six-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1965 and 1971. It has an EMD 645E3 twenty- cylinder engine generating on the same frame as the SD38, SD39, SD40, and SDP40. As of 2022, ...

diesel-electric road switcher locomotive to be built for that railroad in 1966. It last saw service on

Donner Pass Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual appr ...

. It was donated to the

in 2002. ''For a complete list, see:

List of preserved Southern Pacific Railroad rolling stock A large quantity of rolling stock formerly owned and operated by Southern Pacific Railroad has been preserved in museums and on tourist railroads across North America. Preserved steam locomotives Preserved diesel locomotives Prese ...

.''

Company officers

Presidents

Timothy Guy Phelps Timothy Guy Phelps (December 20, 1824 – June 11, 1899) was an American politician, businessman and government official. He was the first president of the Southern Pacific Railroad from 1865 until 1868 and saw the railroad build its first track ...

(1865–1868) *

Charles Crocker Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – August 14, 1888) was an American railroad executive who was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took ...

(1868–1885) *

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 8th governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented California in the United States Sen ...

(1885–1890) *

Collis P. Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested i ...

(1890–1900) * Charles Melville Hays (1900–1901) *

E. H. Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergyman ...

(1901–1909) *

Robert S. Lovett Robert Scott Lovett (June 22, 1860 – June 19, 1932) was an American lawyer and railroad executive. He was president and chairman of the board of the Union Pacific Railroad and a Director of both The National City Bank of New York and Western U ...

(1909–1911) *

William Sproule William Sproule (1858 – January 1, 1935) was president of the Wells Fargo Express Company and later the Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that ...

(1911–1918) *

Julius Kruttschnitt Julius Kruttschnitt (July 30, 1854 – June 15, 1925) was a German American railroad executive. Biography He was born on July 30, 1854 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1873 and worked briefly as a sc ...

(1918–1920) *

(1920–1928) *

Paul Shoup Paul Shoup (January 8, 1874 – July 30, 1946) was an American businessman, president and later vice-chairman of the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1920s and 1930s, a founding board member of the Stanford University School of Business, and foun ...

(1929–1932) *

Angus Daniel McDonald Angus Daniel McDonald (April 14, 1878 – November 15, 1941) was an American railroad executive. He was president of the Southern Pacific Company, the parent company of the Southern Pacific Railroad. McDonald attended the University of Notre Dam ...

(1932–1941) * Armand Mercier (1941–1951) *

Donald J. Russell Donald Joseph McKay Russell (January 3, 1900 – December 13, 1985) was an American railroad executive. He was president of Southern Pacific Railroad from 1952 to 1964 and then chairman from 1964 to 1972. Russell was featured on the cover of Time ...

(1952–1964) *

Benjamin F. Biaggini Benjamin Franklin Biaggini (April 15, 1916 – May 28, 2005) was president of the Southern Pacific Company, parent company of Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class ...

(1964–1976) * Denman McNear (1976–1979) * Alan Furth (1979–1982) * Robert Krebs (1982–1988) * D. M. "Mike" Mohan (1988–1993) *

Edward L. Moyers Edward L. Moyers, Jr. (October 3, 1928 – June 5, 2006) was an American railroad executive of the 20th century. He served as president and CEO of several railroads including MidSouth Rail, Illinois Central Railroad and Southern Pacific Railr ...

(1993–1995) * Jerry R. Davis (1995–1996)

Chairmen of Executive Committee

(1890–1893) * (vacant 1893–1909) *

(1909–1913) *

(1913–1925) * Henry deForest (1925–1928) *

Hale Holden Hale Holden (August 11, 1869 – September 23, 1940) was president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) from 1914 to 1918 and 1920 to 1929, and chairman of the board of directors for Southern Pacific Railroad from 1932 to 1939. He ...

(1928–1932)

Chairmen of Board of Directors

* Henry deForest (1929–1932) *

(1932–1939) * (position nonexistent 1939–1964) *

(1964–1972) *

(1976–1982) * Denman K. McNear (1982–1988) *

(1993–1995) Chairman/C.E.O.

Notable employees

Carl Ingold Jacobson Carl Ingold Jacobson (March 12, 1877 – January 13, 1960) was a City Council member from 1925 to 1933. He was tried on a morals charge, and then it was later shown that he was the victim of a frameup by local police authorities. Biography Jac ...

, Los Angeles, California, City Council member, 1925–33 *

W. Burch Lee W. may refer to: * SoHo (Australian TV channel) (previously W.), an Australian pay television channel * ''W.'' (film), a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of George W. Bush * "W.", the fifth track from Codeine's 1992 EP ''Bar ...

, employee in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

office, along with his father, John Martin Lee Jr., before serving in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 rep ...

* Blake R. Van Leer, President of Georgia Tech, United States Army Officer and Hydraulic process inventor * Charles Wright, Land Surveyor for the railway, before becoming a botanist *

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian an ...

, Novelist *

Jimmie Rodgers (country singer) James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

, Father of Country Music, Singer-Songwriter

Notes

References

;General * * * * * * * Daggett, Stuart. ''Chapters on the History of the Southern Pacific'' (1922
online
detailed history *

* * Hofsommer, Donovan; ''The Southern Pacific, 1901–1985''. Texas A&M University Press; (1986) . * Hofsommer, Don L. "Rivals for California: The Great Northern and the Southern Pacific, 1905-1931." ''Montana: The Magazine of Western History'' 38.2 (1988): 58–67. * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Sphts.org: Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society

* ttp://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/index.shtml Union Pacific Railroad.com: Union Pacific History
"Across the Great Salt Lake, The Lucin Cutoff"
— ''1937 article''.
Abandoned Rails.com: History of the Santa Ana and Newport Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern Pacific Transportation Company Predecessors of the Union Pacific Railroad Rail lines receiving land grants Railway companies established in 1865 Railway companies disestablished in 1996 Former Class I railroads in the United States Defunct Arizona railroads Defunct California railroads Defunct Louisiana railroads Defunct Nevada railroads Defunct New Mexico railroads Defunct Oregon railroads Defunct Texas railroads Defunct Utah railroads Defunct Kansas railroads Defunct Oklahoma railroads Defunct Colorado railroads Defunct Arkansas railroads Defunct Missouri railroads Defunct Tennessee railroads Defunct Illinois railroads Companies based in San Francisco History of San Francisco History of the Mojave Desert region 3 ft gauge railways in the United States 1865 establishments in California 1996 mergers and acquisitions

History

Locomotives

Passenger train service

Locomotives used for passenger service

Steam locomotives

Diesel locomotives

Notable accidents

Preserved locomotives

Company officers

Presidents

Chairmen of Executive Committee

Chairmen of Board of Directors

Notable employees

See also

Notes

References

External links