Southern Pacific Railroad

## General Info

Country of Origin: United States.

Locale: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois.

Headquarters: San Francisco California, United States.

Established: 1865.

Defunct: September 11, 1996.

Cause of Demise: Sold to the Union Pacific.

Successor: Union Pacific.

## History

The original Southern Pacific, Southern Pacific Railroad, was founded as a land holding company in 1865, later acquiring the Central Pacific Railroad 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 and Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad. It extended from New Orleans through Texas to El Paso, Texas, across New Mexico and through Tucson, to Los Angeles, through most of California, including San Francisco and Sacramento. Central Pacific lines extended east across Nevada to Ogden, Utah, and reached north through Oregon to Portland. Other subsidiaries eventually included the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt), the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at 328 miles (528 km), the 1,331-mile (2,142 km) Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico, and a variety of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge routes. The SP was the defendant in the landmark 1886 United States Supreme Court case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, which is often interpreted as having established certain corporate rights under the Constitution of the United States. 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 3,085 miles (4,965 km), bringing total SP/SSW mileage to around 13,508 miles (21,739 km).

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 10,423 miles (16,774 km), mainly due to the pruning of branch lines. In 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. 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 15,959 miles (25,684 km). Rio Grande Industries was later renamed Southern Pacific Rail Corporation.

By 1996, years of financial problems had dropped Southern Pacific's mileage to 13,715 miles (22,072 km). The financial problems caused the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to be taken over by the Union Pacific Corporation; 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 Union Pacific Railroad, 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 in 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. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company became the current incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad; the former Southern Pacific Transportation Company is still operating as the current incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Info sourced from Wikipedia.org.

## Steam Locomotives

* Lima Class GS-4 4-8-4 Northern
* Narrow Gauge T-44 4-6-0
* Baldwin, 2-6-0 mogul

## Diesel Locomotives

* ALCO, Century 630
* ALCO, S6
* EMD, GP38-2
* EMD, SD9
* EMD, SD35
* EMD, SD39
* EMD, SD40T-2
* EMD, GP9
* EMD, F7
* EMD, SW900
* EMD, GP60
* EMD, SD40
* EMD, SD45
* EMD, GP40
* EMD, SD70M
* Budd, RDC
* GE, AC4400CW
* GE, B30-7
* GE, U30C
* EMD, SD50
* EMD, E9
* EMD, E7

## Liveries

* Red and Orange (Daylight).
* Black, Silver, Orange and Red (Black Widow).
* Orange and Black (Halloween).
* Scarlett and Grey (Bloody Nose).

## Notable Engines

* SP #4449
* SP #1744
* SP #18
* SP #9
* SP #6907
* SP #6909
* SP #8272
* SP #8277
* SP #8278 SP #8496
* SP #8499
* SP #9715 SP #9716
* SP #9721
* SP #9723
* SP #9728
* SP #9767
* SP #7127 SP #8508
* SP #7942
* SP #8482
* SP #8480
* SP #9117
* SP #8986
* SP #8942
* SP #4825
* SP #4822
* SP #4828
* SP #8307
* SP #8299
* SP #8491
* SP #7661
* SP #8485
* SP #8497
* SP #8498
* SP #7662
* SP #6051
* SP #6001
* SP #6002
* SP #6402
* SP #5623
* SP #1195

## Video Games

Team fortress 2 - one engine rebranded into northern express 7331 in video game.

### TV Shows

* The Incredible Hulk (1978) Once appeared in "Never give a trucker an even break", - Stock footage from Duel (1971). The Rockford Files - Once appeared in "The dark and bloody ground".
* The Simpsons - SP style Headlights on EMD GP9s.
* I Love Toy Trains
* Perry Mason - Once seen in "Case of the 12th Wildcat".
* Shining Time Station -  Once appeared in "Things that go ga hooga in the night".
The Twilight Zone - Once appeared in "The Hitch-Hicker".
* The X-Files Once seen in "Nisei" (No Brand Name).
* Knight Rider (1982) Featured in "Custom Kitt", "A Knight in shining armor" and "Custom made killer" (paintscheme only, no brand name). I love big trains - seen once in part 3
* Curious George - Once featured in “the great train birthday” (no brand name)

## Movies

* 3 Godfathers (1948) - One engine rebranded to "Rio Bravo Mogollon Railroad" for the film.
* North by Northwest (1959) - Two engines with the word "Pacific" removed from the sides in the film.
* Duel (1971)
* Smokey & The Bandit (1977) - SP beet gondolas featured.
* Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985)
* Tough Guys (1986)
* Red Rock West (1993)
* Homeward the incredible journey (1993)
* Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)
* Switchback (1997) - Two SP EMD SD39s, painted in Rio Grande Colors.
* The Italian Job (2003)
* Black Day Blue Night (1995)
* Going The Distance (2004)
* Come See the paradise (1990)

## Image Gallery

Southern Pacific. EMD, SD40T-2. Featured in "The X-Files - Nisei".Green EMD, GP9 with S.P. style headlight. Featured in "The Simpsons - Mr spritz goes to Washington".Yellow EMD, GP9 with S.P. style headlight. Featured in "The Simpsons - Them robot".Grey and Red EMD, GP9 with S.P. style headlight. Featured in "The Simpsons - Maximum Homerdrive".Red EMD, GP9 with S.P. style headlight. Featured in "The Simpsons - Kill the Aligator killer".Southern Pacific Railroad Map, Before the merger with the Union Pacific.Southern Pacific #7931. GE, U30C. Featured in "Duel" (1971).Southern Pacific #5321. EMD, SD39. Featured in "Duel" (1971).Southern Pacific #3954. EMD, SD9. Featured in "Duel" (1971).Southern Pacific #8485. EMD, SD40. Featured in "Duel" (1971).Southern Pacific #3928. EMD, SD9. Featured in "Duel" (1971).Southern Pacific #6907. EMD, SD35. Featured in "Duel" (1971).Southern Pacific #6909. EMD, SD35. Featured in "Duel" (1971).Southern Pacific, #8238. EMD, SD40T-2.Southern Pacific, #6001. EMD, E7. Featured in "The Twilight Zone - The Hitch-Hicker".Southern Pacific, EMD, GP40. Featured in "Knight Rider (1982) - Custom Kitt".Southern Pacific, #9117. EMD, SD45. Featured in "Knight Rider (1982) - A Knight in shining armor".Ventura County Railway (Ex-Southern Pacific) ALCO S6 #11 in, "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" (1985)Southern Pacific GS-4 #4449 In, "Tough Guys" (1986)Southern Pacific EMD GP60 #9723 In, "Red Rock West" (1993)Southern Pacific Passenger Special in "Beaumont Hill"Southern Pacific EMD SD9 In, "Homeward Bound:The Incredible Journey"Southern Pacific Oil Train in, "Under Siege 2 Dark Territory" (called the "Nevada Petrol Express" In Movie)Ex-Southern Pacific Power In, "The Italian Job" (2003)Ex-Southern Pacific Power In, "The Italian Job" (2003)Southern Pacific SD39 #5319 Painted As Rio Grande In, "SwitchBack" (1997)Southern Pacific SD39 #5325 Painted As Rio Grande In, "SwitchBack" (1997)SP B39-8 #8014 In, "Black Day Blue Night" (1995)Southern Pacific AC4400CW #333 in "Railroad Video Quarterly Issue #17"Southern Pacific EMD E9, Featured in "Shining Time Staion - Things that go ga hooga in the night".Southern Pacific SD40T-2 #8272 In, "Going the distance" (2004)