Brief History of the Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railway Company was in operation from 1903
until it was reorganized and renamed the Western Pacific Railroad
Company on June 6, 1916. Until 1982 when Western Pacific Railroad
was taken over by Union Pacific Railroad Company, WP had track
stretching from San Francisco Bay through California and Nevada to
Salt Lake City, Utah, and North-South from the Feather River Canyon
to near the Oregon line. It gave freight shippers in California and
the Northwest an alternative to Southern Pacific Railroad Company,
and provided travelers with comfortable and picturesque passenger
trains, including The California Zephyr. At the its peak of its
operation, Western Pacific Railroad Company and its subsidiaries had
1,266 miles of mainline track, 237 miles of second mainline and 216
miles of branch line. It provided employment for thousands. Western
Pacific Railroad also actively encouraged industrial development in
cities along its route, and was indirectly responsible for the city
of Oakland regaining control of its waterfront from the Southern
Pacific Railroad Company in 1905.
In the 1860s, a young Scottish surveyor, Arthur W. Keddie, dreamed
of a transcontinental rail route across the California Sierras. With
the help of San Francisco lawyer Walter J. Bartnett, and
behind-the-scenes assistance from financier George Gould, Keddie was
able to realize that dream decades later. The Western Pacific
Railway Company was organized in San Francisco on March 3, 1903 and
was incorporated on March 6, 1903, with Walter Bartnett as its first
president. In 1905, George Gould named Edward T. Jeffery (President
of Denver & Rio Grande) Western Pacific Railway President.
Construction on a line between San Francisco and Salt Lake City
began in the fall of 1905. Despite efforts by Southern Pacific to
prevent construction on the San Francisco Bay at Oakland, Western
Pacific workers successfully erected a waterfront terminal there,
and this construction survived a court challenge by Southern
Pacific.
On November 1, 1909, after a series of delays and cost overruns, the
last spike was driven at Spanish Creek. This new line, known as the
Feather River Canyon Route, was 927 miles long and included 41 steel
bridges and 44 tunnels. It was significant because it was
competitive with the Southern Pacific Overland Route, the original
transcontinental route. The Western Pacific line had several
advantages over the Southern Pacific line. It crossed the Sierra at
5000 feet, a lower elevation than the Southern Pacific line’s 7200
ft. elevation, and this lower elevation was expected to ensure fewer
problems with the weather. The Western Pacific grade, at 1%, and a
10% curvature, made navigation on this line easier than Southern
Pacific’s. Through freight service on the Feather Canyon Route began
on December 1, 1909 and passenger service commenced in August, 1910.
Construction costs for the Feather River route were much higher than
anticipated, and acute financial problems led to the bankruptcy and
subsequent auction of the Western Pacific Railway Company on June
28, 1916. It was reorganized and renamed the Western Pacific
Railroad Company. Shortly thereafter, in March 1917, the company
acquired a 75% interest in the Tidewater Southern, which ran from
Stockton to Turlock, California. Western Pacific began to acquire
and build new branches and lines at this time.
The San Jose branch was completed in 1922. In 1923, Western Pacific
entered into a contract with Pacific Fruit Express, jointly owned by
Southern Pacific and Union Pacific to supply refrigerator cars to WP
customers.
During World War I, the federal government created the United States
Railroad Administration which took control of all U.S. railroads
operating in the United States, including the Western Pacific. After
being placed back into private hands in March 1920, the government
awarded Western Pacific nine million dollars for damage caused to
the railroad while under federal control. Western Pacific used this
money to buy the Sacramento Northern Railroad on July 8, 1925, which
ran between Sacramento and Chico. Western Pacific acquired the San
Francisco-Sacramento at the end of 1928, merging it with the
Sacramento Northern to form a continuous electric interurban railway
from San Francisco / Oakland to Chico.
In 1926, railroad financier Arthur Curtiss James acquired
controlling interest in Western Pacific. He began renovating Western
Pacific property and facilities. He authorized construction of a
north-south line, from Keddie to Bieber, allowing Western Pacific to
form a bridge between the Great Northern Railroad at Bieber and the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway at Stockton. This through route
from the Pacific Northwest to Southern California was to be
competitive with a similar Southern Pacific route. On November 10,
1931, Arthur Curtiss James drove in the final spike of what was came
to be called the “Inside Gateway.”
Western Pacific experienced more financial problems during the
Depression, defaulting on its bond interest in March 1935. After a
second reorganization, Western Pacific Railroad emerged from
receivership and was restored in January, 1945. During World War II,
freight traffic had increased substantially and passenger traffic
was also up. Passenger traffic on Western Pacific Railroad received
a boost when The California Zephyr was launched on March 20, 1949. A
joint effort with Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and Denver
& Rio Grande Western Railroad, the luxurious California Zephyr
provided passengers with exquisite service and the beautiful scenery
of the Feather River Canyon.
In July 1949, Western Pacific Railroad came under the management of
new President Frederic B. Whitman, who pursued several different
policies. His management team began to substitute diesel for steam
for locomotive power. They continued to construct new rolling stock
and upgrade existing cars. They began a major bridge and tunnel
repair program.
During the 1950s, Western Pacific began to acquire more land,
particularly in the Bay Area. A finance company, Delta Finance, was
created to fund Western Pacific Railroad land purchases. A holding
company, Standard Realty & Development Company, was established to
deal with transactions involving the sale of land and to encourage
industries to expand existing facilities or locate new ones on the
Western Pacific. To increase traffic, industries were located along
the route and additional lines were built to accommodate businesses.
The biggest success for Western Pacific was achieved when it
convinced Ford Motor Company to locate its assembly plant at the
yard in Milpitas in 1954.
Competition with the trucking industry, which brought about a
decline in revenue among all railroads, led to changes in the way
railroads did business. Western Pacific responded by implementing a
new marketing concept. Instead of allowing the operating department
to determine when to run trains, they began listening to the
shippers and tailoring freight schedules and equipment to customer
demands. In addition, Western Pacific was a leader in the
development of special purpose cars such as gondolas with cradles
for steel coils, compartmentizer cars, new Car-Pac cars, and a new
design of wood chip cars.
Piggyback service was another response to the challenge presented by
the trucking industry. Western Pacific began hauling trailers on
flat cars (referred to as TOFCs) in 1954. In 1967, Western Pacific
Railroad ended its contract with Pacific Fruit Express and became a
member-owner of the Fruit Growers Express Company, which provided
refrigerator cars and piggyback equipment to its WP freight
customers.
In the late 1960s, Western Pacific experienced financial difficulty
again due to inclement weather, which damaged the Feather River
Canyon route and disrupted service. Wages and prices increased
substantially. At the same time, Western Pacific Railroad’s revenues
from passenger service declined primarily due to the large inroads
made by automobile and air travel. At its peak, revenue from
passenger service represented only 4% of revenue. Once The
California Zephyr began to lose money, Western Pacific applied to
the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), asking for permission to
cease its passenger service. This permission was not immediately
granted. Finally, on March 22, 1970, with ICC approval, Western
Pacific passenger service ended.
New management arrived in December 1970. Western Pacific Railroad
President Alfred E. Perlman reversed the financial picture and
Western Pacific was again profitable by 1971. WP Industries, Inc.
was established as a holding company for Western Pacific Railroad
and other operations. President Perlman and his successor, Robert G.
Flannery, worked to improve marketing, operations, service and car
supply and diversified Western Pacific holdings. In 1973, Western
Pacific created its own transportation company, Western Pacific
Transport Company (which was renamed WPX Freight System in 1980) to
increase service to shippers by providing door-to-door delivery. In
1974, in an effort to further diversify its holdings, WP Industries
acquired Veeder-Root Industries, a group of companies which
manufactured such things as fasteners, components, plastics,
counting and recording devices. WPX and Veeder-Industries were
consistently profitable for WP Industries.
A new holding company, Newrail, was formed on February 13, 1978 and
Western Pacific Railroad’s assets were sold to it on January 26,
1979. Western Pacific Railroad continued to operate as before. On
January 21, 1980, Western Pacific and Union Pacific announced that
they would be pursuing a merger. In 1982, the Interstate Commerce
Commission approved the merger, (which also included Missouri
Pacific) and the Western Pacific Railroad Company ceased to exist as
a corporate entity.
The Western Pacific Railroad Company, operating from 1903 to 1982,
had track stretching from San Francisco Bay through California and
Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah, and North-South from the Feather
River Canyon to near the Oregon line. It gave freight shippers in
California and the Northwest an alternative to Southern Pacific
Railroad Company, and provided travelers with comfortable and
picturesque passenger trains, including The California Zephyr. At
the peak of its operation, Western Pacific Railroad Company and its
subsidiaries had 1,266 miles of mainline track, 237 miles of
secondary mainline and 216 miles of branch line. It provided
employment for thousands. The company also actively encouraged
industrial development in cities along its route, and was indirectly
responsible for the city of Oakland regaining control of its
waterfront from the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in 1905.