Which railroad was acquired by the Union Pacific Corporation and became part of one of the world's largest transportation companies?
Western Pacific Railroad The Western Pacific Railroad (reporting mark WP) was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route directly competed with SP's portion of the Overland Route for rail traffic between Salt Lake City/Ogden, Utah and Oakland, California for nearly 80 years. In 1983, the Western Pacific was acquired by the Union Pacific Corporation and it was soon merged into their Union Pacific Railroad. The Western Pacific was one of the original operators of the "California Zephyr".
Southern Pacific (narrow gauge) The Southern Pacific narrow gauge is the informal name given to a network of narrow gauge railroad lines operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in western Nevada and eastern California. The SP narrow gauge system operated on the tracks of the former Carson and Colorado Railway which was purchased by SP in 1900. The line was originally built by the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. It was later purchased by the Southern Pacific, the line made enough profit to repay the purchase price within only one month. However, in later years the line was not as profitable, although it was enough to justify dieselizing the line, one of the few such cases in the United States.