There are many people interested in former transportation companies, whether they were trucking companies, railroads, airlines or ocean lines. They are called “fallen flags,” and the term describes those companies whose corporate names have been dissolved through merger, bankruptcy or liquidation.
This FreightWaves Classics article provides an overview of the Southern Pacific (reporting mark SP) Railroad, which was one of America’s most successful and widely recognized railroads. The Southern Pacific’s heritage is intertwined with one of the most important events in American history – the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.
A historical overview
The Southern Pacific was an American Class I railroad network that was founded in 1865 and operated until it was acquired in 1996. Its system was primarily in the western and southwestern United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Company and S
AutoMatters & More: Ride the Rails at the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in Campo, California delmartimes.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from delmartimes.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MARIAM HANSEN
ST. HELENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
This is the story of how one of the last remnants of the electric San Francisco, Vallejo & Napa Valley Railway ended up in a backyard on Pope Street.
It all started when the Vallejo, Benicia & Napa Valley Railroad Company incorporated on April 24, 1902. The service was expanded to San Francisco and in 1906 the service was reincorporated as the San Francisco Vallejo & Napa Valley Railroad Company (S.F.V.&N.V. R.R. Co.). It was one of the few electric railroads in the west that ran on alternating current (AC). By December 1907 crews were laying track on St. Helenaâs Main Street and taking many loads of gravel out of Sulphur Creek for the rail bed.