Missouri Pacific Railroad "The MOPAC" MP GP #1606, at Monroe, LA. Mo-Pac has the only single system route linking Chicago and Laredo, Texas, the foremost rail gateways to our neighboring countries. Construction was started in 1856, and WI en it was finished it was the first railroad touching the Texas Gulf Coast. Mr. Jenks came to the Mo-Pac from the Rock Island Lines where his election as president in 1956 at age 40 made him the youngest president in modern railroad industry. Please use the main menu to navigate to the item category of your choice. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Missouri-Pacific-Railroad-Company, Texas State Historical Association - The Handbook of Texas Online - Missouri Pacific System. Other notable MoPac trains operated included: Missouri Pacific gained a reputation for aggressively discontinuing passenger trains after the mid-1960s. In 1896, Gould's portfolio was handed over to his son, George, who continued his father's transcontinental ambitions. American-Rails.com collection. Now grain and ore, as well as coal, move in Mo-Pac unit trains. Alas, in 2013 the site closed. Progress, though, was interrupted again by the Civil War's outbreak. While a court order forced him to divest control of the latter in 1888 he used the quartet to greatly increase his presence throughout Texas. The company was reorganized and the trusteeship ended in 1956.[1]. Activity in new railroad building and extension of existing trackage was practically stopped by the 1892 depression, but between then and 1910 major projects completed included the Illinois Division, the lines from Helena, Ark., south to Ferriday, La., the White River line from Carthage, Mo., to Batesville, Ark., and the River Route between Jefferson City and Boonville, Mo. and cost the company $7,650.00. Gould developed a system extending through Colorado, Nebraska, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. From Salt Lake City to San Francisco, the Scenic Limited operated over the Western Pacific Railroad. However, due to outstanding bonds of the Missouri Pacific, its full merger into the Union Pacific Railroad did not become official until January 1, 1997. More recently, all-new intermodal distribution centers have been built at St. Louis, Memphis, Ft. Worth, Monroe, La.,and Wichita. In his book, "The Rebirth Of The Missouri Pacific, 1956-1983," author Craig Miner articulately details how the MoPac became one of the Midwest's most prominent carriers during an era when several others were struggling. It had its origins when the Pacific Railroad (of Missouri) was chartered on March 12, 1849, to build from St. Louis to the western boundary . Union Pacific then allowed the Missouri Pacific & Western Pacific railroads to create a new scheme. It operated from 1948 to 1971. This includes the Texas & Pacific, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Kansas Oklahoma & Gulf, Alton & Southern and many other roads that were part of the MP family. As-mentioned, the T&P held a principal connection with the International & Great Northern at Longview. Despite paltry and insignificant patronage, the public and state/government officials fought discontinuance, largely out of nostalgia. The railroad's multi-million dollar automated classification yard at North Little Rock, which went into operation in 1961, was first expanded in 1962, again in 1964 when eight classification tracks were added to make a total of 64, and again in 1966 when a special adjoining city freight yard was built. During March of 1917 a new company was born by merging the original Missouri Pacific Railway; St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern; and a number of smaller carriers into the new Missouri Pacific Railroad. Mo-Pac's computer applications have since expanded into the areas of traffic and market analyses, equipment control, car accounting and car tracing. In 1974, with this rebuilding job largely accomplished, Mo-Pac introduced its North American Rail Link, which provides single-carrier service across the United States between Canada and Mexico. Mississippi began buying Mo-Pac stock in 1959 and gained voting control in 1962. Yard capacity was doubled at San Antonio in 1964 and late in 1967 Mo-Pac announced a massive project for Lancaster Yard at Ft. Worth. Cause: Gunfire This changed in May, 1915, with the inauguration of the Scenic Limited between St. Louis, Kansas City, and San Francisco. The railroad's corporate history was one financial mess after another. However, the merger was delayed by parties seeking reconsideration of the Commission's order. The first locomotive was the "Pacific,' which also bore the number "3" It was made at Taunton, Massachusetts, and was unloaded on the river wharf on August 20, 1852. With the heart of its business destroyed by fire and almost a tenth of its inhabitants dead of cholera, the city exhibited an ominous picture of early death and financial ruin. This included construction of new shops, expansion of yards, replacement of lightweight track with continuous welded rail, installation of Centralized Traffic Control, rebuilding of bridges and purchases of new freight cars and locomotives. Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 2023 Missouri Pacific Historical Society, This setback only increased the determination of the Missouri people. Find the locations in Minnesota here which harken back to the bygone era of rail travel when dinner was served aboard the train. However, in spite of the cholera and the fire, optimism prevailed, and on January 31, 1850, a preliminary organization was formed and stock subscription lists were opened. After two years in the building, the Miller Street Freight Station in St. Louis opened January 2, 1952. The Pacific Railroad was chartered in 1851, opened the next year, and renamed Missouri Pacific in 1870. into a version of its famous blue and gray passenger livery The Texas Eagle was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations in 1971, although . Efficient movement of freight depends in part on Mo-Pac's locomotive and freight car repair and service facilities, among the most complete and modern in the industry. -. Troy, N.Y. Missouri Pacific Railroad Operated Routes in the Following States: Arkansas, Colorado . UP continued to use the MoPac headquarters building at 210 N. 13th St. in downtown St. Louis for its customer service center until February 15, 2005. Meanwhile, financial difficulties in 1872 forced the reorganization of the Pacific Railroad, and when it emerged from receivership it had a new name: the Missouri Pacific Railway Co. About 1873 a New York financier, Jay Gould, became interested in western railroads when he acquired a large block of stock in the Union Pacific Railroad. This carrier, led by William Barstow Strong, had quickly established itself as a powerful western railroad. Mo-Pac immediately applied to the Commission for authorization to control the C&EI, which was granted in 1967. In this regard he did have success. Rails were purchased in England and were shipped to New Orleans for transfer to St. Louis by river steamboats. The Missouri Pacific Railroad Company is a major carrier serving the Midwest and Southwest with routes from Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, and Memphis to the Mexican border and the Gulf of Mexico. Leaders of St. Louis secured a Missouri charter in 1849 for the Pacific Railroad to extend "from St. Louis to the western boundary of Missouri and thence to the Pacific Ocean." On December 9, 1852, a passenger train, with the company's officers and leading citizens of St. Louis aboard, inaugurated the new Pacific Railroad with a trip to the end of the line. In 1868 the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River was started at St. Louis, thus beginning what Kirkwood had thought impossible, a railroad bridge over the Mississippi River. Making airfreight and the other elements of total transportation work together has required prompt adoption of new technology, particularly in the areas of traffic control, communications and computer applications. Under his direction the T&P continued its march, reaching Sierra Blanca in West Texas onDecember 16, 1881 with a goal of connecting to the Southern Pacific at El Paso. Between 1948 and 1979 I worked various places on the MoPac and would like to point out . An advertisement of that period stated that at Jefferson City passengers could step from the train to the waiting steamboat and that by this route, the time from St. Louis to Kansas City had been cut to only 50 hours! A former Rock Island GP38-2 is ahead of this Missouri Pacific freight at Vinson Siding near Austin, Texas during the early 1980s. Another transport mode water was added to Mo-Pac's total transportation arsenal in 1969 with the establishment of Missouri Pacific Intermodal Transport, Inc., a non-vessel operator that handles the details of ocean freight forwarding for international shippers. Certain branch lines in Arkansas and Louisiana were purchased. One of the company's most noteworthy leaders at this time was Downing Jenks, elected president in 1961 after spending a few years at the Rock Island. Other predecessors included the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (SLIMS), Texas and Pacific Railway (TP), Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI), St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway (SLBM), Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (KO&G), Midland Valley Railroad (MV), San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad (SAU&G), Gulf Coast Lines (GC), International-Great Northern Railroad (IGN), Kansas, Nebraska & Dakota Railroad, New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway (NOTM), Missouri-Illinois Railroad (MI), as well as the small Central Branch Railway (an early predecessor of MP in Kansas and south-central Nebraska), and joint ventures such as the Alton and Southern Railroad (AS). It was a major hauler of coal, grain, ore, autos, dry goods and shipping containers. Freight terminals, piggyback facilities and track-rail installations were either built new or greatly improved and expanded throughout the Sixties at San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, North Little Rock, St. Louis and Kansas City. One Mr. Jenks brought in 1961 was John H. Lloyd. The railroad was conceived by the leaders of St. Louis who had hoped to see the railroad stretched to the Pacific Ocean, hence its name. Mike Bledsoe photo. After months of negotiations to seek a new plan of reorganization, a formula was finally devised which proved satisfactory to all concerned. The Missouri Pacific Railroad was one of the major freight and passenger railroads in the midwest U.S. until 1982, and is now part of UP. Construction of this segment began on July 19, 1853 but required upwards of seven years before it was finally completed in 1860. A second premier train, the Sunshine Special began operating on December 5, 1915, between St. Louis and San Antonio via Little Rock and Austin. With the Missouri Pacific as a foundation, Gould then welded together a great network of rail lines known as the "Southwest System" In 1880, five other smaller western railroads were consolidated with the Missouri Pacific, and in 1881 control of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern was acquired. MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILROAD #1847 ORIGINAL KODACHROME SLIDE. On August 9, 1871 the first 25 miles were finished out of Houston but, alas, fate had different plans as Young was killed during an inspection trip that August day. ); operated route-miles totaled 2259 at the end of 1929 (after C, PVS and TSL had become subsidiaries) and 2033 at the end of 1960. An official, 1930 system map of the Missouri Pacific and subsidiaries. The George Washington became the C&O's flagship train between Cincinnati and Norfolk after it was inaugurated in 1932. The Iron Mountain charter of The Missouri Pacific Lines had its real beginning on July 4, 1851, when, amid colorful ceremonies, ground was broken at St. Louis for construction of the Pacific Railroad. Throughout the 1960's the railroad perfected the use of electronics, which led to the Transportation Control System (TCS). "T&P" includes its subsidiary roads (A&S, D&PS, T-NM etc. Georgia. By 1969 only two MoPac trains, one of which was the famed Texas Eagle. But Mo-Pac's most ambitious application of computer technology to date has been its Transportation Control System (TCS), a computer-based management information and control system that actually exceeds in scope and complexity the Apollo Moon Program used to launch, guide and land the astronauts. The temporary organization was succeeded by a permanent one, with Thomas Allen as president. MoPac declared bankruptcy again in 1933, during the Great Depression, and entered into trusteeship. Several other pre-Civil War railroads became parts of today's Missouri Pacific Railroad. Rio Grande FTA #5494 and Missouri Pacific GP7 #4149 layover in Pueblo, Colorado during the 1950s. Many were pulled up in the 1970's and 1980's although others were removed long before that. These early switch engines were followed by passenger locomotives which powered the company's first lightweight, streamlined train, the "Missouri River Eagle", placed in service in 1940. During that decade the already very-large Burlington Northern system (formed in 1970) added the St. Louis-San Francisco, Santa Fe and Southern Pacific attempted their own marriage, and Union Pacific was eyeing the Western Pacific. As part of these attempts to get the railroad actually underway, the, Meanwhile, work on the Iron Mountain had continued southward from St. Louis and by May, 1857, the 800-ft.-long tunnel at Vineland had been completed along with a bridge over the Meramec River. Subsequently, he purchased control of the Kansas Pacific, the Denver Pacific and the Central Pacific. These trains, and others, reached far and wide across its vast network. Even the prospect of laying a grade was extremely difficult due to the region's remoteness, sparse population, and lack of infrastructure. His son George Gould inherited control upon his father's death, but lost control of the company after it declared bankruptcy in 1915. Bridges, buildings, tracks and rolling stock were destroyed all the way from Franklin to Kansas City. Missouri Pacific GP35's, with #620 out front, lead a northbound past the yard at Dupo, Illinois (just south of East St. Louis) on May 18, 1968. In May of the same year, Mo-Pac and the Mississippi River Corp. filed a joint application with the Interstate Commerce Commission for authority to acquire control of the Santa Fe. The acquisition provided Mo-Pac a direct route between Kansas City and the Southwest by way of Oklahoma -a route 319 miles shorter than the previous one. Both setbacks left him only in command of the Iron Mountain and Missouri Pacific. The Burlington Northern mainline is in the background. For the time being, however, things did not quite go according to plan for mogul. Leaders of St. Louis secured a Missouri charter in 1849 for the Pacific Railroad to extend "from St. Louis to the western boundary of Missouri and thence to the Pacific Ocean." The FRA also noted that while some other railroads had spent as much as Mo-Pac in the area of movement control, only the Missouri Pacific had accomplished all of the steps essential as a working foundation for precise scheduling of individual freight cars, loaded and empty, dock-to-dock. The Railroad perfected the use of electronics, which was granted in 1967 January 2, 1952 which was in... 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