Union Pacific
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The Union Pacific (UP) Railroad is the largest railroad network in North America, covering 23 states across two thirds of the United States and its corporate headquarters building is located at 1400 Douglas street in Omaha. The $260 million facility spans 1.3 million square feet, consists of 19 stories and houses over 4,000 employees. UP's route map covers most of the central and western United States west of Chicago and New Orleans. It has achieved this size thanks to purchasing a large number of other railroads, notably the Missouri Pacific, Chicago and North Western, Western Pacific, Missouri-Kansas-Texas, and the Rio Grande (including the Southern Pacific). UPRR is also the only railroad to serve all six major gateways to Mexico and interchanges traffic with the Canadian rail systems. Although UPRR primarily focuses on transporting freight, it also runs a commuter train operation in Chicago, IL. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman.
"Union Pacific is committed to be a railroad where our customers want to do business, our employees are proud to work, shareholder value is created and the safety of the public and our employees is our top priority" - The Company Vision Statement
[edit] History
The Union Pacific Railroad was incorporated on July 1, 1862 in the wake of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Thomas C. Durant the first rails were laid in Omaha, Nebraska. They were part of the railroads that came together at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869 as the first transcontinental railroad in North America. Subsequently, UP took over the Utah Central extending south from Ogden, Utah, through Salt Lake City, and the Utah & Northern, extending from Ogden through Idaho into Montana, and it built or absorbed local lines that gave it access to Denver and to Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest. It acquired the Kansas Pacific (originally called the Union Pacific, Eastern Division, though in essence a separate railroad). It also owned narrow gauge trackage into the heart of the Colorado Rockies and a standard gauge line south from Denver across New Mexico into Texas. Directors of the Union Pacific Railroad gather on the 100th meridian, which later became Cozad, Nebraska, approximately 250 miles (400km) west of Omaha, Nebraska Territory, in October 1866. The train in the background awaits the party of Eastern capitalists, newspapermen, and other prominent figures invited by the railroad executives. Directors of the Union Pacific Railroad gather on the 100th meridian, which later became Cozad, Nebraska, approximately 250 miles (400km) west of Omaha, Nebraska Territory, in October 1866. The train in the background awaits the party of Eastern capitalists, newspapermen, and other prominent figures invited by the railroad executives.
UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872. Its early troubles led to bankruptcy during the 1870s, the result of which was reorganization of the Union Pacific Railroad as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24, 1880, with its dominant stockholder being Jay Gould. The new company also declared bankruptcy, in 1893, but emerged on July 1, 1897, reverting to the original name, Union Pacific Railroad. Such minor changes in corporate titles were a common result of reorganization after bankruptcy among American railroads. The recovered railroad was strong enough to take control of Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1901 and then was ordered in 1913 by the U.S. Supreme Court to surrender control of the same. UP also founded the Sun Valley resort in Idaho. In 1996, UP finally acquired SP in a transaction envisioned nearly a century earlier.
From 1948 to the early 1970s UP operated a series of gas turbine-electric locomotives. No other railroad in the world operated turbines on such a scale. At one point, UP claimed that the turbines hauled 10% of its freight. They were retired due to rising fuel costs. Two of them can be seen in museums.
The headquarters of UP has been in Omaha, Nebraska, since its inception, currently in the Union Pacific Center, completed in 2003. The address for the corporate headquarters is: 1400 Douglas Street; Omaha, NE 68179
[edit] External links
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