ok guys i am haing a special project done and need to know the founding date of these companies i ask because so many sites have different dates listed and i don't know which to use so please help if you can SP i believe this is 1865 (the date i use anyway) Rock Island MP WP DRGW MKT SSW CNW UP
the Rio Grande is going to be an issue, it was orrigionally the D&RGbefore it's bankruptcy, and there was a DIFFERENT railroad named the D&RGW in the 1880's, plus there was another D&RG in Utah...
UP was founded in 1862. Next year will be its big sesquicentennial anniversary (150 years). It's one of the few companies in the USA to not only last for so long, but to maintain the same corporate identity throughout its history. I anticipate a lot of events (read: steam!) planned for next year all around the West.
Technically shouldn't you use 1862 or 63 for SP.....aka the Central Pacific. Afterall the SP was founded as a land holding company and leased the Central Pacific. the 1865 date isn't really as important to anyone or anything as the 1862 date. I mean really, who really cares about it? 1862 is the most important date in SP history.
What do you mean by "all the websites"? Do you mean fan sites? Do you mean historical societies? Have you looked at the year by year list of founding dates, legal actions, regulatory filings and mergers on the Union Pacific corporate website? UPRR.com then click history Have you looked at the original federal legislation authorizing the transcontinental railroad at the Library of Congress website? Library of Congress Home
Also, look at the WP, the "new" Western Pacific was founded in 1903, there was another WP that merged into the SP in 1870 (founded in 1865). The MP started in 1851, the C&NW started in 1865, the Katy was 1870, and as for the Sp, the OLDEST line of the SP was founded in 1851, and was the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway
The Union Pacific site says 1865, because that' the Year the Actual Souther Pacific Railway as an entity came into existence. I'm saying the Big Four and Theodore Judah founded the CENTRAL PACIFIC in 1862 and the Central Pacific is the company that is the foundation of the Southern Pacific. The only reason the company was called the Southern Pacific instead of the Central Pacific is due to corporate Chicanery. I'm saying that nobody cares when the SP was founded, because it's only important, because the Big 4 made it so and the Big 4 started with the Central Pacific. The Central Pacific is the Transcon, the Central Pacific is one of the greatest engineering feats in American History. Celebrating the 1865 date instead of the 1862 date is missing the forest for the trees.
