The Pacific Short Line

Chicago - August 26

The Pacific Short Line will be offered for sale at public auction next Tuesday under foreclosure proceedings by order of the United States Circuit Court.  It is expected that there will be a sharp contest for the possession of the property, as several companies are known to have had a covetous eye on it for some time and will make the most of this opportunity to secure it.  Among the bidders, it is understood, will be the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, Chicago & North Western, and the Illinois Central Company, besides syndicates of the original bond holders.

In railroad circles much interest has been manifested in the Pacific Short Line project from the first.  It was originally an Illinois Central scheme, but was abandoned by that company and afterward taken up by the Wyoming Improvement Company.  The intention was to build a line from Sioux City to Ogden, paralleling the Union Pacific and shortening the distance by several hundred miles from the Missouri River to the Pacific coast.  Sioux City men added $1,000,000 to the amount that was put into the enterprise be Eastern capitalists.  The whole line was surveyed and laid out, three different companies were incorporated, and 130 miles of the road, between Sioux City and O'Neill, Neb, were constructed and put into operation.

The enterprise looked promising enough, until the financial panic of last Fall, after which the outlook was changed.  Jay Gould had gobbled the Union Pacific and was understood to be hand in glove with Huntington, who controls the Central Pacific.  The latter road, which is the only outlet from Ogden to the Pacific coast, was in hostile hands and the Pacific Short Line people decided that it would be folly to complete their line under such circumstances.  The property was allowed to go into the hands of a receiver and is now to be sold by order of the court.  The Illinois Central is said to be anxious to get possession of the road and thereby gain access to the Black Hills territory.

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NY Times 8/27/1891

Southern Pacific wins direct line to Chicago

October 03, 1990|By Stanley Ziemba.  (Chicago Tribune)

After trying for more than a century, the Southern Pacific railroad finally has been able to establish a direct track line from the West Coast into Chicago.
Southern Pacific Lines said Tuesday it has obtained the necessary authorization from the Interstate Commerce Commission to extend its service east from Kansas City to Chicago, enabling the firm to offer direct service for the first time between Chicago and California.

 

The Kansas City-based railroad company said it will be operating over trackage rights obtained from the Burlington Northern Railroad between Kansas City and Chicago and will be using its own trains and crews.
``We`ve wanted to get Southern Pacific trains into Chicago from the West Cost for over a century. Now we`re finally there, with a highly efficient service route,`` said Southern Pacific President Mike Mohan.
``Obtaining trackage rights on the 466-mile Burlington Northern route across Missouri and Illinois gives us a fast, competitive route from points in California to Chicago via Kansas City,`` he said.
Nearly 1,000 shippers and many state and local government agencies supported the Southern Pacific`s efforts to get ICC approval for the Kansas City to Chicago route, Mohan said.
Limited operations over the Burlington Northern`s tracks between Kansas City and Chicago began Friday, Mohan noted. He said operations will be increased over the next several weeks as crews are qualified and tariffs for the new route take effect.
Until now, Southern Pacific had been the only major Western railroad without direct access to Chicago, the nation`s transportation hub. And it wasn`t until recently that the railroad had access to the city from the Gulf Coast and the Southwest.
That access was achieved last November, when Southern Pacific`s parent company, Rio Grande Industries Inc., bought a 282-mile line between St. Louis and Chicago from the Chicago, Missouri & Western Railroad.
Mohan said the operating unit for the Southern Pacific on the new Kansas City to Chicago route will be its subsidiary, the SPCSL Corp., which already has operating rights in the Chicago area needed to support Southern Pacific`s new route.
In addition, Mohan noted that Southern Pacific has reached agreements with the Norfolk Southern Railroad for the use of a portion of the Burlington Northern`s track in Missouri that Norfolk Southern controls jointly with Burlington Northern.
Earlier this year, the Southern Pacific won ICC approval to acquire some rail lines between Chicago and Kansas City owned by the Soo Line Railroad Co. in an effort to establish a link for itself between the West Coast and Chicago. That plan, however, was dropped in favor of the joint trackage agreement with Burlington Northern, Mohan said.

UP-SP merger - IC response

something a little more modern...............


Company news; Illinois Central seeks to acquire 3 rail lines

Bloomberg Business News

Published: November 16, 1995

 

The Illinois Central Corporation said yesterday that it wanted to acquire three lines of the Southern Pacific Rail Corporation near the Gulf of Mexico because of the Union Pacific Corporation's proposed $4 billion acquisition of Southern Pacific. Illinois Central said it had filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission to buy Southern Pacific lines between Memphis and Dallas; Houston and Brownsville, Texas; and New Orleans and Houston. Illinois Central said it would seek to buy the lines if the Interstate Commerce Commission determined that the merger agreement between Union Pacific and Southern Pacific was anti-competitive.
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By Bloomberg Business News

Published: February 3, 1996

BETHLEHEM, Pa., Feb. 2— The Union Pacific Corporation signed an agreement this week that would end the Illinois Central Corporation's opposition to its proposed $5.4 billion acquisition of the Southern Pacific Rail Corporation.

If the acquisition is approved by Federal regulators, Union Pacific will sell to Illinois Central a rail line currently owned by Southern Pacific that runs between Church and Valley Junction in Illinois. Union Pacific would retain the right to run its trains on the track.

In addition, the agreement includes a plan for the newly merged company and Chicago-based Illinois Central to operate where the two railroads' tracks come together. It also provides for cooperation in a possible plan to market forest products, coal and chemicals.

In return, Illinois Central agreed not to oppose the proposed merger, Union Pacific said.

The merger would create one of the nation's largest railroads, with 31,000 miles of track in 25 states.