Western Pacific Railroad - History

History

The original Western Pacific Railroad was established in 1865 to build the western-most portion of the Transcontinental Railroad between San Jose, California (later Oakland, California), and Sacramento, California. This company was absorbed into the Central Pacific Railroad in 1870.

Founded in 1903, the second company to use the name Western Pacific Railroad was part of the Gould family's efforts to create a transcontinental railroad in the late 19th and early 20th century.

One of the American West's most popular railroads, the WP attracted rail enthusiasts from around the world. From 1910 to 1982 its route provided scenic views of the San Francisco Bay Area, the mountain communities of the Feather River Route, and the deserts of Nevada and Utah. The Western Pacific originated in 1900 as the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad. The railroad that would become the Western Pacific was financed and built by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, under the direction of George Jay Gould I, to provide a standard gauge track connection to the Pacific Coast. In 1909, it became the last major railroad completed into California.

In 1931 Western Pacific opened a main line north from the Feather River Canyon to the Great Northern Railway in northern California. This route, the "Highline", joined the Oakland – Salt Lake City main line at the Keddie Wye, a unique combination of two steel trestles and a tunnel forming a triangle of intersecting track.

Western Pacific operated the California Zephyr passenger train with the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The WP handled the "Silver Lady" from Oakland, California, to Salt Lake City, Utah from 1949–1970. The Western Pacific owned several connecting short-line railroads. The largest was the Sacramento Northern Railway, 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. At the end of 1970 WP operated 1,187 miles (1,910 km) of road and 1,980 miles (3,190 km) of track, not including its Sacramento Northern and Tidewater Southern subsidiaries.

The Western Pacific was acquired in 1983 by Union Pacific Corporation, which in 1996 would purchase its long-time rival, the Southern Pacific Railroad. In July 2005 Union Pacific unveiled a brand new EMD SD70ACe locomotive, Union Pacific 1983, painted as an homage to the Western Pacific as part of a new heritage program.

Revenue freight traffic, in millions of net ton-miles

Year	Traffic
1925	1294
1933	1133
1944	4844
1960	3636
1970	4802

Source:ICC annual reports