The Missouri Pacific Railroad (reporting mark MP), also known as the 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, including 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), Gulf Coast Lines (GC), International-Great Northern Railroad (IGN), 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).
At year-end 1967 operated mileage was 9041 miles of road and 13318 miles of track, not including DK&S, NO&LC, T&P and its subsidiaries, C&EI or Missouri-Illinois.
On January 8, 1980 the Missouri Pacific Railroad was purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad. Because of lawsuits filed by various competing railroads, the merger was not approved until September 13, 1982. After the Supreme Court denied a trial from the Southern Pacific, the merger took effect on December 22, 1982, at 2:55 p.m. However, due to outstanding bonds of the Missouri Pacific, the merger with Union Pacific did not become official until January 1, 1997.
Read more about Missouri Pacific Railroad: History, Passenger Train Service, Equipment Colors and Painting, Honorary Tribute
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