Timeline – MP and Predecessors
03-03-1851
St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad approved by Missouri
06-04-1851
Groundbreaking for Pacific Railroad of Missouri (direct predecessor to the Missouri Pacific)
12-09-1852
First passenger train on Pacific Railroad
01-20-1868
Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad completed to Waterville, KS
07-18-1869
Pacific Railroad gauge changed from 5’6″ to 4’9″
03-03-1871
Congressional act authorizes Texas & Pacific Railway to build from Marshall, TX through El Paso to San Diego, CA
08-30-1873
International & Great Northern (I&GN) Railroad formed
1873
Financial panic of 1873 – railroad debt crises
10-21-1876
Missouri Pacific Railway is incorporated by investors who purchased the Pacific Railroad at foreclosure
1879
Jay Gould acquires controlling interest in Missouri Pacific
09-16-1879
Sedalia, Warsaw & Southern Railway formed (3′ gauge)
1881
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern (StLIM&S) acquired by Missouri Pacific Railway
10-22-1886
Houston & Great Northern Railroad formed
12-02-1892
Jay Gould dies. Control of Missouri Pacific passes to his son, Edwin Gould.
05-00-1905
Colorado Southern, New Orleans & Pacific (CSNO&P) Railroad incorporated in Louisiana
04-02-1907
New Iberia and Norther Railroad incorporated
04-19-1909
Crystal City & Uvalde Railroad incorporated
Apr 1910
CSNO&P Railroad name changed to New Orleans, Texas & Mexico Railroad (NOT&M)
04-17-1912
San Antonio, Uvalde & Gulf chartered
Aug 1915
MP and StLIM&S declare bankruptcy and enter receivership. Edwin Gould loses control of the railroad.
12-15-1915
First run of the “Sunshine Special” between St. Louis and Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Galveston and San Antonio, Texas
02-28-1916
New Orleans, Texas & Mexico Railway incorporated as successor to NOT&M Railroad; begins operation as Gulf Coast Lines
03-01-1917
St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern and Missouri Pacific Railway reorganize and merge, forming the Missouri Pacific Railroad
08-10-1922
International-Great Northern organized after reorganization of I&GN
02-01-1924
New Orleans, Texas & Mexico gains control of Houston & Brazos Valley
06-21-1924
New Orleans, Texas & Mexico purchases Internation-Great Northern on behalf of MP
12-08-1924
MP gains control of New Orleans, Texas & Mexico and its subsidiaries
12-01-1925
NOT&M gains control of San Antonio, Uvalde & Gulf and Asphalt Belt
02-02-1926
MP gains control of Sugarland, Asherton & Gulf and Rio Grande City
Nov 1926
MP gains control of New Orleans & Lower Coast
12-31-1926
NOT&M gains control of San Antonio Southern
01-01-1927
Texas & Pacific (T&P) gains control of Abilene & Southern
01-22-1927
Double tracking of St. Louis to Jefferson City opened
08-01-1927
Chicago Heights Terminal Transfer sold to C&EI
01-01-1928
MP gains control of T&P
04-20-1929
Mississippi River & Bonne Terre leased by Missouri-Illinois, MP gains control of Missouri-Illinois
Dec 1931
MP gains control of Doniphan, Kensett & Searcy
06-20-1922
T&P gains control of Fort Worth Belt
1933
MP declares bankruptcy and is placed in trusteeship
1939
Diesel-electric locomotives are introduced on the Missouri Pacific
Mar 1940
First run of “The Eagle” streamliner
03-11-1941
First run of “Delta Eagle”; “The Eagle” renamed “Missouri River Eagle”
06-21-1942
First run of “Colorado Eagle”
11-07-1942
77 trains in one day on single track between Dupo and Thebes, Illinois
May 1946
P.J. Neff becomes president of Missouri Pacific following death of L.W. Baldwin
08-15-1948
First run of the “Texas Eagle”
09-25-1948
Last run of electric interurban on Houston North Shore (HNS)
10-31-1948
First run of the “Valley Eagle”
1955
Missouri Pacific retires its last steam locomotive
1956
A 23-year trusteeship, the longest in U.S. rail history, ends as MP is reorganized
Mar 1956
Gulf Coast Lines (NOT&M, BSL&W, O&NW, NI&N, ISM&E, SLB&M, IGN, SAS, SAUG, AB, SB&RGV, SL, H&BV, HNS) are absobed into MP
01-16-1961
Downing B. Jenks becomes president of MP
09-25-1964
T&P gains control of Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf (KO&G) and Midland Valley (MV) Railways. The KO&G-MV partner, Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway (OC-A-A) is sold to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
05-12-1967
MP gains control of Chicago & Eastern Illinois (C&EI) Railroad
08-01-1968
MP and Chicago & North Western (C&NW) gain joint control of Alton & Southern
06-06-1969
MP sells the Evansville line (eastern side) of C&EI to Lousville & Nashville (L&N), and the Chicago to Woodland junction passes into joint MP-L&N ownership.
04-01-1970
Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf (KO&G) absorbed into T&P [MP]
09-21-1970
Last run of MP passenger trains in Texas; discontinuance of “Texas Eagle” between Texarkana and Laredo
04-30-1971
Last run of MP passenger trains; St Louis-Texarkana discontinued and St. Louis-Kansas City taken over by Amtrak
1976
The parent corporation, Mississippi River Corporation, is renamed Missouri Pacific Corporation
10-15-1976
The Chicago & Eastern Illinois (C&EI) and Texas & Pacific subsidiaries are absorbed into MP
01-01-1978
T&P-MP Terminal Railroad of New Orleans is absorbed into MP
11-01-1978
Abilene & Southern, Texas-New Mexico, New Orleans & Lower Coast, Ft.Worth Belt, Missouri-Illinois, St.Joseph Belt & Union Terminal absorbed into MP
1980
The Union Pacific (UP), Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific (WP) railroads file merger applications with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific ceases operations. In the following years, many of its lines are sold to other railroads, include MP, St. Louis Southwestern (SSW), and Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT)
12-22-1982
The UP-MP-WP merger is approved by ICC. UP gains control of MP and WP after being granted control of MP on December 22, 1982
03-27-1987
Southeast Kansas created by MP line sale
04-09-1987
Great Southwest absorbed into MP
05-18-1987
Jefferson Southwestern absorbed into MP
11-19-1987
Golden Cat created by MP
12-31-1987
Weatherford, Mineral Wells & Northwestern absorbed into MP
08-12-1988
UP gains control of MKT – ‘Katy’
12-01-1989
MKT leased/merged with MP. Galveston, Houston & Henderson merged into MP
01-01-1997
Corporate consolidation of Missouri Pacific Railroad into Union Pacific Railroad, with UPRR remaining as the surviving corporation
