1867
Trans-Pacific trade was pioneered when the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. dispatched the 300-foot steamship Colorado from SF to Yokohama and Hong Kong. (SFEC, 11/22/98, p.B1)
http://timelines.ws/1867_1870.HTML

Apr 20, 1868
New York legislature gives full control of Erie (first Gould railroad) to Jay Gould and James Fisk; Commodore Vanderbilt defeated.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Feb 1, 1869
New York Stock Exchange requires shares of all listed companies to be officially registered.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

May 10, 1869
Union Pacific and Central Pacific drive “Golden Spike” at Promontory, Utah, completing the transcontinental railroad.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Sep 13, 1869
Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to control the US gold market. (MC, 9/13/01)
http://timelines.ws/1867_1870.HTML

Sep 24, 1869
Jay Gould and James Fisk precipitate “Black Friday” gold market crash after driving gold to 162.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

1869
In response to Gould’s and Fisk’s market manipulations, the New York Stock Exchange outlaws “stock-watering” (issuing shares in secret.)
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Nov 8, 1869
The transcontinental railway arrived in Oakland, Ca. The Mariposa pulled 6 coaches into Oakland at 7th and Broadway. (SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W27)(SFC, 9/3/99, p.A4)(SFC, 5/3/02, p.A20)
http://timelines.ws/1867_1870.HTML

Nov 17, 1869
The Suez Canal was opened in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas. The 100 mile canal eliminated a 4000-mile trip around Africa. Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, together with Ferdinand de Lesseps, chief architect of the canal, led the first file of ships from on board the French imperial yacht Aigle. It was financed by the Rothschild banking empire. In 2003 Zacharay Karabell authored “Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal.” (I&WWI, p.1041)(SFC, 7/12/96, p.A11)(AP, 11/17/97)(MC, 11/17/01)(WSJ, 7/10/03, p.D8)
http://timelines.ws/1867_1870.HTML

1869
Wells Fargo allowed Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Henry Huntington and mark Hopkins (the Big Four) to gain controlling interest in exchange for the exclusive rights to carry express over the Transcontinental Railroad. (SFC, 6/9/98, p.A10)
http://timelines.ws/1867_1870.HTML

1870
E.H. Harriman (22) bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. (WSJ, 3/21/00, p.A24)
http://timelines.ws/1867_1870.HTML

Jan 6, 1872
Edward Stokes murders James Fisk in Grand Central Hotel, New York.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Mar 15, 1872
Jay Gould resigns from board of Erie.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Sep 4, 1872
New York Sun begins exposing Credit Mobilier financing which culminates in huge railroad financing scandal.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

1872
Vanderbilt interests acquire sufficient Union Pacific stock to install Horace Clark as president.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

June 1873
Jay Gould acquires first Union Pacific shares upon death of Horace Clark.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Sep 18, 1873
Jay Cooke & Co brokerage fails because of problems financing the Northern Pacific. Failure of Cooke and 37 additional brokerages and banks precipitates the Panic of 1873. New York Stock Exchange closed for 10 days. Five-year depression follows.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Mar, 1874
Jay Gould elected to Union Pacific board of directors.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Jan, 1880
Jay Gould acquires Missouri Kansas & Texas stock and becomes president.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Jan 1882
C.P. Huntington and Jay Gould together purchased a half interest in the St Louis & San Francisco (Frisco), which itself owned a half interest in the Atlantic & Pacific.  Huntington envisioned a true transcontinental line connecting his Chesapeake & Ohio system with the Central and Southern Pacific system via the Frisco and the Atlantic & Pacific.  In 1884 Huntington sold his interest in the Atlantic & Pacific to the Santa Fe as part of a larger settlement, and turned his attention to extending his Chesapeake & Ohio system to a Southern Pacific connection at New Orleans. (Wyatt notes).

1883
Harriman joined the Illinois Central’s board of directors when Stuyvesant Fish became Vice President.
http://icrrhistorical.org/edward.harriman.html, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Edward_Henry_Harriman

1887
Harriman became Vice-President of the Illinois Central when Stuyvesant Fish became President.
http://www.scripophily.net/orandtrancom1.html, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Edward_Henry_Harriman

1890
CP Huntington replaces Leland Stanford as President of Southern Pacific Company.  Stanford becomes chairman of the Executive Committee.
http://www.answers.com/topic/southern-pacific-railroad

Dec 2, 1892
Jay Gould died, leaving George Gould as head of the family and the Union Pacific effectively without leadership. Sidney Dillon had died in June and Bishop John Sharp (very much a part of the Union Pacific leadership and representative of the interests of Brigham Young and the Mormon Church) had died the previous December. S. H. H. Clark had taken over as president when Dillon died, but Clark was a Gould man and when Gould died, Clark lost his influence against the bankers and the government in the fight over repaying the floating debt and the government bonds. (Klein, pp. 645-652)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php

June 21, 1893
Leland Stanford of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific dies.
http://www.answers.com/topic/leland-stanford

June 27, 1893
New York stock market collapses, resulting in 4-year depression.
http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm

Oct 13, 1893
The bondholders and the federal government forced Union Pacific into receivership. The government construction bonds issued between 1865 and 1869 were due and the railroad still owed $11.8 million of the original $18.8 million. Fred Ames died on September 12. He was the last of the directors that had been fighting receivership. (Klein, pp. 657, 658) The receivership also included the Echo & Park City Railway, which Union Pacific had controlled since July 1, 1881. (44 Val Rep 193)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php

spring 1895
A separate receiver is named for the OSL&UN. (Trottman p. 261)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php

Feb 23, 1897
The property of old Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway was sold to the new Oregon Short Line Railroad, incorporated for the purpose in Utah on February 1, 1897. On January 9, the receivers had sold the property to the reorganization committee, who then sold it to the OSL. (OSL corporate history)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php

March 5, 1897
The new OSL took possession of the OSL&UN on March 5, 1897. (OSL corporate history)
(Trottman, p. 261, gives date as “early 1897”.)
(The Salt Lake Daily Tribune of March 16, 1897 says that the transfer took place “last night, at midnight”, March 15, 1897.)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php

Nov 1, 1897
The property of the Union Pacific Railway was sold at foreclosure to a new corporation, incorporated in Utah, called the Union Pacific Railroad, incorporated for the purpose on July 1, 1897. (Utah corporation number 2083) The organization of the new Union Pacific had been approved by an act of the Utah Legislature on January 22, 1897. (Poor’s, 1929, p. 1051) The new Union Pacific took possession of the old Union Pacific on January 31, 1898. (Trottman, p. 269)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php

1897
Union Pacific is sold to a group of investors for $110 million. Their number includes E.H. Harriman, then-president of the Illinois Central.
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/uprr-chr.shtml

1898
E.H. Harriman took over the Union Pacific Railroad. He invested heavily into the company and raised the stock price from $16 to $219 in 1907. (WSJ, 3/21/00, p.A24)
http://timelines.ws/1898_1899.HTML

May 1898
By this date Harriman is chairman of the executive committee, and from that time until his death his word was law on the Union Pacific system.
http://www.bookrags.com/E._H._Harriman

1898
Sunset Magazine began as a publication by the Southern Pacific Co. to promote rail travel and to sell real estate. (SFEC, 4/5/98, Z1 p.1)
Sunset Magazine was founded by the Southern Pacific Railroad to lure travelers west. It was sold to a private publisher in 1914. (SFC, 7/8/96, p.D1)
http://timelines.ws/1898_1899.HTML

Aug 13, 1900
Collis P. Huntington died at his camp, Pine Knot, in the Adirondacks.
http://www.huntington.tierranet.com/bios/collis.htm

Oct 1900
Charles Hayes elected President of Southern Pacific.  Henry Huntington had expected to succeed his uncle.
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:Ngh0yMz0T8EJ:www.ohiostatepress.org/Books/Complete%2520PDFs/Friedricks%2520Henry/04.pdf+Southern+Pacific+president+Charles+Hayes+1900&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6

1900
By 1900 E. H. Harriman had “absolute control” of Union Pacific. He had been involved in the reorganization, was a director of the new corporation and had gradually increased his holdings until he took control. (Trottman p. 274)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Feb 1901
Arabella and Henry Huntington sell their interests in Southern Pacific, inherited from CP Huntington, to EH Harriman.
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:Ngh0yMz0T8EJ:www.ohiostatepress.org/Books/Complete%2520PDFs/Friedricks%2520Henry/04.pdf+Southern+Pacific+president+Charles+Hayes+1900&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6
Harriman also acquired interests from Stanfords, Crockers, and Hopkins/Searles (dates? cites?)

1901
Union Pacific purchases 38% of Southern Pacific stock and assumes control of the railroad.
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/uprr-chr.shtml

1901
Union Pacific purchased the holdings of the Huntington estate in the Southern Pacific Company.
http://cprr.org/Museum/Railroad_Builders/Railroad_Builders_11.html

April 3, 1901
By this SP Board meeting Harriman has replaced Henry Huntington on the Board.
(Lynn Farrar)

1901 to 1909
Harriman was the President of the Southern Pacific railroad.
http://www.bookrags.com/E._H._Harriman

May 9, 1901
James Hill and J.P. Morgan fight with Edward Harriman and Kuhn Loeb over control of Great Northern and Northern Pacific. Stock hits $1000/share, causing panic and collapse in other stocks.
http://www.coxrail.com/database/timeline.asp

Nov 13, 1901
Northern Securities Co formed to control Great Northern and Northern Pacific. Near-monopoly in northern shipping follows, eventually resulting in major trust company.
http://www.coxrail.com/database/timeline.asp

End 1901
By the end of 1901 Union Pacific had purchased 45 percent of Southern Pacific stock, giving it control of the SP. (Trottman p. 281)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Mar 10, 1902
Attorney General begins prosecution against Northern Securities Company for violating the Sherman Anti-Trust law.
http://www.coxrail.com/database/timeline.asp

July 9, 1902
Harriman and Clark reach agreement that ends the rivalry for the route between Nevada and Caliente and south through Meadow Valley Wash in Nevada. (SP,LA&SL corporate history)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

1903
Harriman assumed the office of president of the Union Pacific.
http://www.bookrags.com/E._H._Harriman

July 7, 1903
SP,LA&SL purchased all OSL lines south and west of Salt Lake City. (Poor’s, 1929, p. 1066)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Mar 14, 1904
Supreme Court rules against Northern Securities Co. for violating the Sherman Anti-Trust law.
http://www.coxrail.com/database/timeline.asp

May 26, 1905
SP,LA&SL formally completed the route between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles and began regular operations. (SP,LA&SL corporate history) (COMMENT: Poor’s 1929 manual, p. 1066, gives the date as May 1, 1905.) On January 30, 1905 the railroad had completed a temporary connection in the line of new construction between Nevada and Daggett, California, which formed a complete rail line between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. The connection was actually a temporary one, around several cuts that had not been completed. (SP,LA&SL corporate history)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Feb 18, 1908
Federal government sued Union Pacific to break up the “combination” with Southern Pacific, because it was in restraint of competitive trade and commerce. (Trottman, p. 358)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Sept 1909
E. H. Harriman died. (Trottman, p. 362)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Sept 9, 1909
Harriman died.
http://www.bookrags.com/E._H._Harriman

April 1910
Hearings for the break-up of Union Pacific and SP ended. (Trottman, p. 362)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Feb 24, 1911
U.S. Circuit Court dismisses bill to force segregation of Southern Pacific Company and Union Pacific Railroad.
http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1911%20Mar%2005.pdf#search=%22PRR%20Chronology%201911%20Union%20Pacific%22

1911
In 1911 the Circuit Court decided in favor of UP/SP, the government appealed the case to the U. S. Supreme Court, which found in favor of the government on December 2, 1912. The Supreme Court agreed to have Union Pacific submit a plan of dissolution to the Circuit Court, by July 1, 1913, that the railroad would dissolve its interest in SP within twenty days of that date. (Trottman, pp. 368, 369)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php

Mar 14, 1912
Department of Justice sues to end Union Pacific’s control of Southern Pacific and dismember the Harriman system of railroads under the antitrust laws.
http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1912%20Mar%2005.pdf#search=%22PRR%20Chronology%201912%22

Dec 2, 1912
U.S. Supreme Court overturns lower court ruling and orders segregation of Southern Pacific from Union Pacific, dismembering Harriman system of railroads. (RyAgeGaz)
http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1912%20Mar%2005.pdf#search=%22PRR%20Chronology%201912%22

1913
UP is ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to sell its 46% share of SP stock and relinquish control.
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/uprr-chr.shtml

Jan 6, 1913
US Supreme court refuses to consider segregation by simple distribution of Southern Pacific shares to Union Pacific stockholders.
http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1913%20Feb%2005.pdf#search=%22UP%20SP%201913%20divestiture%22

Feb 1, 1913
Union Pacific control of Southern Pacific ended.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

Mar 1, 1913
Federal Valuation Act authorizes the ICC to conduct a valuation of all US railroad property; replacement value to serve as the basis for yielding a “fair rate of return” on costs. (EAH)
http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1913%20Feb%2005.pdf#search=%22UP%20SP%201913%20divestiture%22

June 7, 1913
President Rea (of Pennsylvania RR) agrees to swap PRR’s holdings of B&O for Union Pacific’s holdings of Southern Pacific. (Wheeler)
http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1913%20Feb%2005.pdf#search=%22UP%20SP%201913%20divestiture%22

June 25, 1913
Union Pacific Chairman Robert S. Lovett and Attorney General McReynolds meet at law offices of Paul D. Cravath in New York; UP proposes to effect court ordered divorce from Southern Pacific by swapping its SP shares for the B&O shares held by PRR. (NYT)
http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1913%20Feb%2005.pdf#search=%22UP%20SP%201913%20divestiture%22

July 12, 1913
Pres. Rea advises Southern Pacific Pres. Julius Kruttschnitt that PRR will not seek representation on SP Board. (Wheeler)
http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1913%20Feb%2005.pdf#search=%22UP%20SP%201913%20divestiture%22

July 16, 1913
Following divestiture order of U.S. Supreme Court, Union Pacific trades 382,924 shares [46%] of Southern Pacific Company stock valued at $38.3 million to PRR for its remaining interest in B&O, 212,736 shares common and 212,736 preferred; deal is brokered by Paul Warburg of Kuhn. Loeb & Co, bankers to both PRR and UP, who receive 3/4% of par value as commission; Samuel Rea and John P. Green, last PRR directors, resign from B&O board; deal is very profitable to PRR and keeps control of SP in friendly hands. (Wheeler)
http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1913%20Feb%2005.pdf#search=%22UP%20SP%201913%20divestiture%22

Feb 11, 1914
U. S. government brought suit under Sherman Antitrust Act to separate Central Pacific from Southern Pacific.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

March 1915
SP/CP antitrust suit trial held in San Francisco.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

Aug 25, 1916
San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad name changed to Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. Name changed approved by stock holders on August 16, 1916. (Signor, LA&SL, p.86)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Mar 10, 1917
District court in San Francisco denied government’s antitrust suit; government appealed district court decision to U. S. Supreme Court.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

Jan 1, 1918
USRA assumed control of the railroads. (source not recorded)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Jan 1, 1918 to March 1, 1920
USRA control of SP.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

Feb 29, 1920
USRA ended government control of the railroads. (source not recorded)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

Early 1921
Government case taken by Supreme Court after being deferred due to USRA control of SP.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

April 27, 1921
Union Pacific agreed to acquire the Clark half interest in LA&SL; the purchase was mostly completed by the end of the year. On January 1, 1922 Union Pacific began including the business of the LA&SL in its System statements and reports. (Poor’s, 1929, p. 1066)
(The other half interest in LA&SL was owned by OSL, which itself is owned by Union Pacific.)
http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-2.php#up-after-1900

May 29, 1922
Supreme Court found in favor of government.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

Oct 9, 1922
Supreme Court refused SP’s petition for rehearing.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

Oct 17, 1922
SP applied to control CP by stock ownership and lease agreement, under authority of Transportation Act of 1920. Union Pacific filed an opposing petition.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

Nov 21, 1922
Hearings held at Washington D.C.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

Feb 6, 1923
ICC authorized SP control of CP, including provisions of previous agreement for preferential treatment with UP through Ogden. This was the start of the Ogden gateway case because it allowed (forced) SP to solicit traffic for interchange with UP at Ogden that originated on SP north of Santa Margarita and Caliente, California, and south of Kirk, Oregon. This was essentially the same lines of separation line as an earlier internal agreement between UP and SP under Harriman control that decided which gateway would be used, Ogden for UP traffic or El Paso for SP traffic.
(from “E. H. Harriman’s Dream” by Don Hofsommer, in The Streamliner, Volume 10, Number 2, pages 27-31)

1887
Harriman became Vice-President of the Illinois Central when Stuyvesant Fish became President.[2]

1890
CP Huntington maneuvered, with the help of Hopkins interests and acquiescence of Crocker interests, to have himself elected President of SPCo in place of Leland Stanford, who had been President of SPCo since its founding in 1884.  At the meeting Charles F (Fred) Crocker elected 1^st VP; AN Towne, the General Manager, elected 2^nd VP; and JC Stubbs, the Traffic Manager, elected 3^rd VP, with all being made directors of SPCo as well.  CP Huntington corresponded with all three regularly, but viewed Charles F Crocker as weak, while Crocker had his own complaints about CP Huntington.  Another important SPCo official that CP Huntington relied on in San Francisco was WH Mills, head of the SP land company and a nephew of Mark Hopkins.[3]

April 6, 1892
SPCo board appointed HE Huntington as First Assistant to the President, and representing the President in San Francisco in his absence.  At that time the family representatives in the SPCo management were as follows:  CP Huntington (of course) representing the Huntington interests; Leland Stanford representing the Stanford interests; Charles F Crocker (eldest son of Charles Crocker who had died in 1888) representing the Crocker interests; and Edward T. Searles, second husband of Mark Hopkins’ widow representing the Hopkins/Searles interests, Mark Hopkins having died in 1878 and his widow died in 1891 – the Hopkins/Searles interests actually controlled by New York lawyers (General) Thomas H. Hubbard and Thomas E. Stillman who were friendly to CP Huntington.[4]

May 2, 1892
CP Huntington purchased (in his wife, Arabella’s name) the San Francisco Nob Hill mansion formerly the property of David Colton.[5]

Dec 2, 1892
Jay Gould died, leaving George Gould as head of the family and the Union Pacific effectively without leadership. Sidney Dillon had died in June and Bishop John Sharp (very much a part of the Union Pacific leadership and representative of the interests of Brigham Young and the Mormon Church) had died the previous December. S. H. H. Clark had taken over as president when Dillon died, but Clark was a Gould man and when Gould died, Clark lost his influence against the bankers and the government in the fight over repaying the floating debt and the government bonds. (Klein, pp. 645-652)[6]

April 5, 1893
SPCo Board of Directors and Officers elected this date:
Directors –
CP Huntington, New York
EH Pardee, New York
Thomas H Hubbard, New York
Leland Stanford, San Francisco
Charles F Crocker, San Francisco
AN Towne, San Francisco
JC Stubbs, San Francisco
NT Smith, San Francisco
ST Gage, San Francisco
HE Huntington, San Francisco
George Crocker, San Francisco
Executive Committee
Leland Stanford, Chairman; CP Huntington; CF Crocker; TH Hubbard
Officers –
CP Huntington, President, New York
Charles F Crocker, 1^st VP, San Francisco
AN Towne, 2^nd VP, San Francisco
JC Stubbs, 3^rd VP, San Francisco
EH Pardee, 4^th VP, New York
IE Gates, acting VP and Asst Secretary, New York
HE Huntington, 1^st Assistant to the President, San Francisco
William Mahl, 2^nd Assistant to the President, New York
GL Lansing, Secretary and Comptroller, San Francisco
NT Smith, Treasurer, San Francisco
Richard Gray, General Traffic Manager, San Francisco
E Hawley, Assistant General Traffic Manager, New York
AN Towne, General Manager, Pacific System, San Francisco
JA Fillmore, General Superintendent, Pacific Lines, San Francisco
AC Hutchinson, President, Atlantic Lines, New Orleans
J Krutschnitt (sic), General Manager, Atlantic System, Houston.[7]

June 21, 1893
Death of Leland Stanford.[8]

June 27, 1893
New York stock market collapses, resulting in 4-year depression.[9]

June-Aug 1893
Jane Stanford wanted cash to settle Leland Stanford’s estate and bequests.  She refused to sign any notes for SPCo or to use her portion of SPCo’s securities as collateral for essential loans, as did CF Crocker.[10]

June-Dec 1893
CP Huntington negotiating a line of credit with Speyer & Co for $5-10 million – with good collateral, 6% interest, and commission – to see SPCo through the depression.  In 1893-94 many banks closed and many railroads went into receivership, including the Union Pacific, Northern Pacific, and Santa Fe.  SPCo came close to failing in 1893, but managed to avoid it.  HE Huntington’s brother, Willard Huntington, who had been an official with SPCo in San Francisco for some time, also lost his salary at this time.[11]

July 13, 1893
CF Crocker resigned as President of Pacific Improvement Co, and HE Huntington elected President in his place.  Pacific Improvement Co held the securities that represented the major wealth of the four associate families and their ownership of SPCo.[12]

Aug 1893
HE Huntington elected a director of Wells Fargo & Co.[13]

Sept 1893
HE Huntington engineered a major consolidation of San Francisco street railways, combining control and management of the City’s largest system, SPCo owned Market Street Railway, with the next largest one, the Powell Street system, with HE Huntington in control.[14]

Oct 13, 1893
The bondholders and the federal government forced Union Pacific into receivership. The government construction bonds issued between 1865 and 1869 were due and the railroad still owed $11.8 million of the original $18.8 million. Fred Ames died on September 12. He was the last of the directors that had been fighting receivership. (Klein, pp. 657, 658) The receivership also included the Echo & Park City Railway, which Union Pacific had controlled since July 1, 1881. (44 Val Rep 193)[15]

Dec 7, 1893
Election of new President of Central Pacific to replace the late Leland Stanford.  CF Crocker, 1^st VP, declined and suggested HE Huntington, who was elected President.[16]

Jan 9, 1894
CF Crocker announced to CP Huntington by letter that the principal owners of the CP (and SPCo?) needed to discontinue their active business association and make a financial settlement among themselves.[17]

March 3, 1894
The foreign stockholders of CPRR strenuously objected to SPCo dictating policy to CPRR, through the London office of Speyer & Co.  Speyer & Co also expressed serious doubt about the financial strength of both CPRR and SPCo, and CP Huntington’s personal financial situation, and declined to handle any more securities under the current situation.[18]

March 1894
HE Huntington resigned as President of CPRR, and both he and CF Crocker resigned as directors of CPRR.  Isaac Requa, head of the Oakland Bank of Savings, elected to succeed HE Huntington as director and President.[19]

April 1894
Representatives of the four principal owning families met in San Francisco and agreed to work together and sign notes for financial support of the SPCo, greatly improving the view in New York financial and securities circles.[20]

June 23, 1894
Strike of the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company began in Chicago.  Part of the strike was for ARU members on various railroads not to handle any Pullman cars.[21]

June 27, 1894
Strike reached San Francisco on June 27.  HE Huntington sent CP Huntington a telegram urging “a fight to the finish.”  CP Huntington sent AN Towne a hard-line telegram directing that all employees who refused to take out trains should be fired, and told they would never be hired again.[22]

June 28, 1894
ARU ordered a general strike against SPCo.[23]

June 29, 1894
HE Huntington wrote a 3,000 work essay putting the SPCo case before the public, published in many newspapers.  It took a very narrow view of SPCos’ public responsibility and was not well received.[24]

July 1-2, 1894
Troops (State Militia?) called out.  Riots July 2-3.[25]

July 2, 1894
Second HE Huntington letter, 1800 words, published in many papers.  Again poorly received.  The Oakland Times, for instance, observed that “The railroads are taking exactly the same pernicious and destructive principle which they denounce as so unjust.”[26]

July 2, 1894
HE Huntington sent a telegram to CP Huntington urging him not to send any more conciliatory messages to AN Towne.  He reported he was working hard to keep General Manager Towne and General Superintendent JA Fillmore backing down and giving any concessions at all to striking employees.[27]  Of course, Towne and Fillmore only were doing the same thing they had done in the past that had successfully kept major strikes from happing on the SPCo.

July 3, 1894
HE Huntington reported to CP Huntington that a mob of 1500-2000 people had broken into the SP yards in Sacramento, captured a train, and switched cars around.  The National Guard (State Militia?)was ordered out.[28]

July 6, 1894
SPCo employeed told to return to work by 4:00 pm or consider themselves terminated.[29]

July 11, 1894
A train on the Yolo Causway west of Sacramento was intentionally derailed, with 5 people killed (including US Railway Post Office employees in the mail car).[30]

July 13, 1894
HE Huntington reported to CP Huntington that a switch engine in Sacramento yards with “regular troops” was stoned and fired on by strikers, with soldiers returning fire, killing 2-3 and capturing 13.[31]  (Regular Army troops from the San Francisco Presidio had replaced the State Militia in Sacramento which had sympathized with the striker too much.)

July 21, 1894
HE Huntington reported to CP Huntington that the ARU strike against SPCo was over.  He reported that only about 5% of engineers and conductors went on strike against the SPCo.[32]

Spring 1895
A separate receiver is named for the OSL&UN. (Trottman p. 261)[33]

July 16, 1895
Death of AN Towne, long time General Manager and 2^nd Vice President of SPCo.  (HE Huntington interested in 2^nd VP position.)[34]

Aug 1895
JA Fillmore, General Superintendent of SP, appointed 2^nd VP of SPCo.  Julius Kruttschnitt appointed General Manager of SPCo.[35]

June 30, 1896
SPCo Board of Directors and Officers in office as of this date:
Directors –
CP Huntington, New York
Thos H Hubbard, New York
Thos E Stillman, New York
Chas F Crocker, San Francisco
John C Stubbs, San Francisco
NT Smith, San Francisco
HE Huntington, San Francisco
Russell J Wilson, San Francisco
WH Crocker, San Francisco
CG Lathrop, San Francisco
AL Tubbs. , San Francisco
Officers –
CP Huntington, President, New York
Charles F Crocker, 1^st VP, San Francisco
Thomas H Hubbard, 2^nd VP, New York
JC Stubbs, 3^rd VP, San Francisco
HE Huntington, 1^st Assistant to the President, San Francisco
IE Gates, acting VP and Asst Secretary, New York
William Mahl, 2^nd Asst to the President and Controller, New York
J Kruttschnitt, General Manager, San Francisco
EC Wright, Secretary and Assistant Controller, San Francisco
CF Krebs, Assistant Secretary, Louisville
NT Smith, Treasurer, San Francisco
Charles H Tweed, General Counsel, New York
Richard Gray, General Traffic Mgr, Pacific System San Francisco
E Hawley, Asst General Traffic Mgr, Pacific System, New York
JA Fillmore, Manager, Pacific System, San Francisco
R Koehler, Manager Line in Oregon, Portland
JG Schriever, Gen Traffic Mgr, Atlantic Properties, New Orleans
WG VanVleck, Manager, Atlantic Properties, New Orleans.[36]

June 30, 1896
CPRR Officers in office as of this date:
Isaac Requa, President, San Francisco
CP Huntington, 1^st VP, New York
William H. Mills, 2^nd VP, San Francisco
IE Gates, 3^rd VP, New York
WM Thompson, Secretary and Auditor, San Francisco
William H. Mills, Treasurer, San Francisco
WF Herrin, General Solicitor and Chief Counsel, San Francisco
William H. Mills, Land Agent, San Francisco[37]

Feb 23, 1897
The property of old Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway was sold to the new Oregon Short Line Railroad, incorporated for the purpose in Utah on February 1, 1897. On January 9, the receivers had sold the property to the reorganization committee, who then sold it to the OSL. (OSL corporate history)[38]

March 5, 1897
The new OSL took possession of the OSL&UN on March 5, 1897. (OSL corporate history)
(Trottman, p. 261, gives date as “early 1897”.)[39]
(The Salt Lake Daily Tribune of March 16, 1897 says that the transfer took place “last night, at midnight”, March 15, 1897.)

July 17, 1897
Death of Charles F (Fred) Crocker, 1^st Vice President of SPCo and representative of the Crocker family interests.  Also President of the Market Street Ry, with HE Huntington as VP.  George Crocker became lead Crocker family representative.  (HE Huntington lobbied CP Huntington for the 1^st VP position of SPCo.)[40]

Nov 1, 1897
Foreclosure sale of Union Pacific Ry in Omaha frees UP from its debt obligations to Federal government.  Reorganization put together by Jacob Schiff, of Kuhn, Loeb & Co.  New Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) chartered in Utah, incorporated for the purpose on July 1, 1897. (Utah corporation number 2083) The organization of the new Union Pacific had been approved by an act of the Utah Legislature on January 22, 1897. (Poor’s, 1929, p. 1051) The new Union Pacific took possession of the old Union Pacific on January 31, 1898. (Trottman, p. 269).  Winslow S. Pierce, chief counsel of George Gould, was Chairman of the board; Horace G. Burt from the Chicago & Northwestern was President.  EH Harriman was on the board, and a member of the executive committee.[41]

Dec 2, 1897
At SPCo board meeting General Hubbard (representative of the Hopkins/Searles interests) became 1^st VP of SPCo, and George Crocker became 2^nd VP.  HE Huntington became President of Market Street Ry.  (ie – HE Huntington lost out on what he wanted, and got what he wasn’t interested in.  There was an internal power struggle with the other three owner families feeling they had too little voice in the management of SPCo under CP Huntington, and claiming that HE Huntington ran the company in San Francisco in an arbitrary manner.  CP Huntington trying to conciliate others, especially George Crocker.)[42]

May 23, 1898
EH Harriman named chairman of the UPRR executive committee.[43]

Sept 1898
Union Pacific control of the Oregon Short Line cemented.[44]

Nov 26, 1898
At suggestion of General Hubbard, CP Huntington asked HE Huntington to resign as President of Pacific Improvement Co so that George Crocker could be appointed to that position.[45]

Jan 17, 1899
HE Huntington resigned as a director of SPCo.[46]

Feb 1, 1899
Settlement between Central Pacific Railroad and US Government for CP to repay bonded indebtedness to Government through 20 promissory notes, to be paid successively every 6 months for ten years.[47]

April 6, 1899
HE Huntington resigned as assistant to the President “for reasons that are quite satisfactory to myself.”[48]

July 29, 1899
Central Pacific Railway incorporated as successor to Central Pacific Railroad as part of reorganization to issue new bonds to secure debt to government.[49]

Aug 1899
Harriman secures agreement with Northern Pacific giving Union Pacific control of Oregon Railroad & Navigation.[50]

Sept 1899
CP Huntington negotiated the buyout of the Crocker and Stanford interests, at a price they gladly accepted, by his investment banker, James Speyer & Company, buyout beginning this month.  Purchased was leveraged by debt by SPCo through sale of a bond issue handled by Speyer & Co.[51]

Oct 30, 1899
CP Huntington wrote HE Huntington advising him on the how to handle the transition period, that HE Huntington should give advice to SP departments that they might request, and saying that once the Crockers and Stanfords were out that he (CPH) and (General) Hubbard “would work in perfect harmony.”[52]

Nov 15, 1899
CP Huntington wrote HE Huntington saying that Speyer & Co wanted the SPCo board composed mostly of (their) people in the East, to have a new person as 1^st VP in San Francisco, and for HE Huntington to be assistant to the President (again).  HE Huntington wired CP Huntington in response that with his experience he could not accept the position offered, that with some other 1^st VP in San Francisco there would be no use in his remaining there, and suggesting that (under those conditions) he be left out of the question entirely.[53]

Dec 21, 1899
HE Huntington and Julius Kruttschnitt ordered to leave San Francisco for New York for consultations.

Feb 28, 1900
George Crocker officially resigned as 2^nd Vice President of SPCo, although he had been gone since around the previous October (thus some of the confusion and uncertainty in the San Francisco office prompting correspondence between CP Huntionton and HE Huntington mentioned above).[54]

March 1900
CP Huntington comes to San Francisco by private train.  HE Huntington also returns in his own car in the same train, and resumed work with SPCo.[55]

April 1900
At SPCo board meeting, HE Huntington elected a director, and appointed 2^nd VP (filling George Crocker’s place), with General Hubbard (based in New York) remaining as 1^st VP.  All other directors from California – Kruttschnitt, Stubbs, and three others – had to step down to make room for new directors form the East chosen by Speyer.[56]

June 1900
CP Huntington and Speyer & Co bought out the Hopkins/Searles interests and removed General Hubbard, electing HE Huntington as 1^st VP of SPCo.  Charles H. Tweed, CP Huntington’s New York lawyer and friend, elected 2^nd VP.[57]

Aug 13, 1900
Death of CP Huntington at his camp, Pine Knot, in the Adirondacks.[58]  HE Huntington went directly to New York.

Sept 1900
CP Huntington will, signed March 13, 1897, made public.  Arrabella Huntington, Edwin Gates, and Charles Tweed executors.  Nearly 2/3 of SPCo stock (and other assets) to wife Arabella Huntington, and 1/3 of SPCo stock (and other assets) to nephew HE Huntington.[59]

Oct 1900
SPCo Presidential selection committee consisted of Charles H Tweed, DO Mills, and James Speyer.  Charles H Tweed selected as Chairman of SPCo.  Charles M Hayes, then general manager of the Grand Trunk Ry of Canada, selected as President at the insistence of Sir James Rivers Wilson of London, a leading foreign investor in Speyer’s activities.[60]

Nov 1900
HE Huntington returned to San Francisco from New York, where he had largely been since August handling matters.  Resumed SPCo duties.  Briefly returned to New York in Dec 1900 for consultations with Tweed and Hayes.  Rumors circulating that the Huntington SPCo stock was for sale, with various buyers mentioned, including the Vanderbilts, JP Morgan, Speyer, and EH Harriman.[61]

Dec 1900
EH Harriman started negotiating with James Speyer and Edwin Hawley for the purchase of the Huntington stock.[62]

Jan 21, 1901
Arabella Huntington and HE Huntington enter into an agreement to sell their SPCo stock (432,700 shares) for $22 million through Kuhn Loeb & Co, with initial payment in cash for 1/3 of stock on Feb 11, 1901, and second payment (with 4% interest) for remaining 2/3 of stock on July 10, 1901.  Buyer is HE Harriman’s Union Pacific RR – Speyer had lost control.[63]

Feb 1901
Kuhn, Loeb & Co sold 750,000 shares of SPCo stock, representing 37.5%, to Union Pacific.[64]

April 1901
HE Huntington reelected to board of SPCo at EH Harriman’s request, although he did not play an active roll in the management.[65]

April 1902
Ending his last substantial investment in San Francisco, HE Huntington sold his stock in the Market Street Ry in the fall of 1901 to a Baltimore syndicate, the deal consummated in April 1902.[66]  The syndicate reorganized the company as the United Railways of San Francisco.

Sept 9, 1909
Death of EH Harriman.[67]

References:

[1] http://www.scripophily.net/orandtrancom1.html, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Edward_Henry_Harriman
[2] http://www.scripophily.net/orandtrancom1.html, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Edward_Henry_Harriman
[3] James Thorpe; Henry Edwards Huntington: A Biography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994 (hereafter Thorpe), pp 92-94.
[4] Thorpe, pp 90-92.
[5] Thorpe, p 98.
[6] http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php
[7] Henry V. Poor; Manual of Railroads for 1893. New York, HV & HW Poor, 1893, p 1022; in part 2 Directory of Officials, p 134.  The Official Railway Equipment Guide, Vol. VIII, No. 12, May 1893. New York, The Railway and Equipment Publishing Co, p 122.
[8] Thorpe, p 106.
[9] http://www.psta.com/articlerailroadtimeline.htm
[10] Thorpe, p 106.
[11] Thorpe, pp 104-106.
[12] Thorpe, p 106.  It may be that HE Huntington encouraged/engineered CF Crocker’s resignation.
[13] Thorpe, p 107.
[14] Thorpe, p 107.
[15] http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php
[16] Thorpe, p 107.  This was taken by the press as a sign of friendlier relations among the various representatives of the SPCo than had been the case in the recent past.
[17] Thorpe, p 108.
[18] Thorpe, p 108.
[19] Thorpe, p 108.
[20] Thorpe, p 108.
[21] Thorpe, p 109.
[22] Thorpe, p 109.
[23] Thorpe, p 109.
[24] Thorpe, pp 109-110.
[25] Thorpe, p 110.
[26] Thorpe, p 110.
[27] Thorpe, pp 110-111.
[28] Thorpe 111.
[29] Thorpe, p 111.
[30] Thorpe, p 111.
[31] Thorpe, p 112.
[32] Thorpe, p 112-113.
[33] http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php
[34] Thorpe, pp 138-139.
[35] Thorpe, p 139.
[36] Biennial Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of California for the Years 1895 and 1896. Sacramento, 1896, pp 89-90.
[37] Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of California, 1896, p 111.
[38] http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php
[39] http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php
[40] Thorpe, pp 139-140.
[41] Maury Klein: The Life and Legend of EH Harriman. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000 (hereafter Klein, Harriman), pp 107-115; http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1.php
[42] Thorpe, p 141.
[43] Klein, Harriman, p 116.
[44] Klein, Harriman, p 152.
[45] Thorpe, p 141.
[46] Thorpe, p 141.
[47] Annual Report of Commissioner of Railroads to Secretary of Interior for June 1900, p 9.
[48] Thorpe, p 141.
[49] Report of Commissioner of Railroads for 1900, p 9.
[50] Klein, Harriman, pp 157-158.
[51] Thorpe, p 142.  This might have been a strategic error by CP Huntington, as it gave Speyer & Co. major control over SPCo.
[52] Thorpe, p 143.
[53] Thorpe, p 143.
[54] Thorpe, pp 142-144.
[55] Thorpe, p 144.
[56] Thorpe, p 144.
[57] Thorpe, p 144; also p 155 on Tweed relationship with CP Huntington.
[58] Thorpe, p 145.
[59] Thorpe, pp 155-156.
[60] Thorpe, pp 161-162.
[61] Thorpe, pp 162-163.
[62] Klein, Harriman, p 217.
[63] Thorpe, p 163.
[64] Klein, Harriman, p 218.
[65] Thorpe, p 163.
[66] Thorpe, p 163.
[67] http://www.bookrags.com/E._H._Harrima

Jan 1849
Aspinwall hired Colonel George W. Hughes to lead a survey party and pick a proposed Panama Railroad roadbed to Panama City. – Wikipedia

April 7, 1849
Panama RR chartered in New York – American Railway Times, Feb 15, 1855.

May 1850
First construction on Panama Railroad started.

Sept 20, 1850
U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) arranges a checkerboard compromise to create the first federal land grant railroads, the Illinois Central and the Mobile & Ohio, as part of the Land Grant Act of 1850.  Despite several attempts in the intervening years, this was the first railroad land grant to actually pass Congress since 1833.

Jan 25, 1851
Arrival of locomotive Elephant, first steam locomotive in far West, also Cony (Otis) steam shovel Steam Paddy, and 30 dump cars – Daily Alta California, Volume 2, Number 46, 25 January 1851.  Locomotive Elephant not allowed to operate in San Francisco streets, remains crated.

Aug 4, 1852
Sacramento Valley Railroad organized.

1853
US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis dispatched six parties of US Army Topographical Engineers to survey potential routes for a Pacific Railroad.  Results were published in 1854 and 1855 in twelve massive volumes, plus additional volumes through 1858.

April 1854
Theodore D. Judah left New York for California to become Chief engineer of SVRR, traveling via steamer and overland via Nicaragua.

May 8, 1854
Judah arrived in Sacramento by steamer – Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 7, Number 974, 8 May 1854.

May 18, 1854
Judah began survey for Sac Valley RR – Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 7, Number 984, 19 May 1854.

Dec 15, 1854
Union Wharf and Plank Walk Company incorporated.  Built as a horse-powered railroad from the town of Union (later called Arcata) to the end of a wharf in Humboldt Bay.  Generally considered the first common carrier railroad (horse powered) in California.  Converted to steam in 1875.  Reorganized in 1881 as the Arcata & Mad River RR.

Jan 28, 1855
Panama Railroad completed.  1st railroad to connect the Atlantic (Caribbean) and the Pacific (Gulf of Panama).  First revenue train ran over the full length of the railroad on this date.  US built and owned.  From the Atlantic port it traveled southeast to reach the Pacific port, just as the Panama Canal does today.

Feb 12, 1855
Sac Valley official ground breaking; one contractor started Friday Feb 9 east of Sacramento – Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 8, Number 1213, 12 February 1855.  Grading of the Sacramento Valley RR started on the levee at Front and “L” streets in Sacramento.

Feb 16, 1855
Panama Railroad officially opened.

Aug 9, 1855
First rail laid on the Sacramento Valley RR.

Aug. 17, 1855
First Sacramento Valley RR locomotive fired up, first steam locomotive operated in the far West. – Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 9, Number 1372, 18 August 1855

Oct 3, 1855
Sac Valley 2nd loco arrival in Sacramento. – – Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 10, Number 1411, 3 October 1855.
Second loco unloaded on levee two days later. – Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 10, Number 1413, 5 October 1855.

Nov 10, 1855
Sac Valley third loco, CK Garrison, unloaded and placed on track in Sacramento. (Former Elephant, delivered to California in 1851 and never operated.) – Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 10, Number 1444, 10 November 1855.

Jan 22, 1856
Sacramento Valley RR track reached Negro Bar.

Feb 22, 1856
Sacramento Valley Railroad completed from Sacramento to Folsom and first train reached Folsom, distance 22.90 miles.

April 25, 1859
Ground broken for the Suez Canal.  At Port Said, Egypt, ground is broken for the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway intended to stretch 101 miles across the Isthmus of Suez and connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat who organized the colossal undertaking, delivered the pickax blow that inaugurated construction.

Aug 18, 1860
San Francisco & San Jose RR incorporated.

April 30, 1861
Central Pacific Articles of Association signed and Directors elected. (Sac Union 5-1-1861)

June 28, 1861
Central Pacific Rail Road Company of California Articles of Incorporation filed with Secretary of State in California.  To be the western link in the Transcontinental Railroad. (Farrar, SP Records; Sac Union 6-29-1861)

May 16, 1861
Ground broken and construction started on San Francisco & San Jose. (Farrar)

Aug 7, 1861
Judah survey to State line completed. (Sac Union Aug 7, 1861)

July 1, 1862
Pacific Railroad Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln and becomes law.  Officially recognized the Central Pacific as the Western part of the Transcontinental Railroad.  Union Pacific chartered by the act of Congress authorizing land grants and support for the Transcontinental Railroad. (National Archives; Library of Congress)

Sept 2, 1862
Union Pacific charter formally accepted by the Directors of the Union Pacific meeting in Chicago.  The acceptance was filed in the Department of the Interior June 26, 1863.

Jan 9, 1863
Central Pacific officially broke ground at Front Street near K Street in Sacramento with ceremony. (Farrar, SP records)

Oct 26, 1863
First rail of the Central Pacific laid at foot of I Street, without ceremony.

Oct 30, 1863
Union Pacific first Board of Directors meeting, organizes the company and elects officers.

Dec 2, 1863
Union Pacific broke ground in Omaha.

Jan 16, 1864
San Francisco & San Jose opened to freight and passenger traffic from Valencia Street, San Francisco, to San Jose. Extended to Bannon Street in February. (Farrar)

March 1864
Union Pacific grading started.

Aug 1864
First Union Pacific locomotive delivered in Omaha.

Oct 8, 1864
Amended Articles of Incorporation, changing name to Central Pacific Railroad Company of California. (Farrar, SP records)

July 10, 1865
First Union Pacific rail laid in Omaha.

Sept 10, 1865
California Pacific incorporated.  Initially conceived as a western link for the transcontinental railroad, connecting Sacramento with San Francisco via Vallejo, it later developed transcontinental aspirations of its own.

Dec 2, 1865
Southern Pacific RR filed articles of incorporation. (Marin Journal, Dec 16, 1865)

1867
Western Pacific acquired by CP Associates from its owners.  The WP was organized by the interests controlling the San Francisco & San Jose.  (Not to be confused with the 20th century Western Pacific, a completely different company.)

March 1868
Control of San Francisco & San Jose acquired by the Southern Pacific, organized by the same owners as the SF&SJ.  Control of SP acquired by the CP Associates later that same year.

March 8, 1869
Union Pacific rails reach Ogden.

April 8, 1869
CP Huntington for Central Pacific and GM Dodge for Union Pacific meet in Washington DC and agree that the two lines should meet at “the summit of Promontory Point,” and that the permanent junction would be “within eight miles of Ogden.”

May 10, 1869
Central Pacific and Union Pacific joined at Promontory, Utah, in Golden Spike ceremony.  1st transcontinental railroad in US.

May 13, 1869
Regular service inaugurated between Sacramento and Omaha.  Connecting railroads provided service from the Atlantic.

Sept 8, 1869
Western Pacific completed and opened for service between Sacramento and Alameda.  A branch line from Niles connected in San Jose with the Southern Pacific (SF&SJ). Last Spike driven at the San Joaquin River crossing south of Stockton, and the first through train crossed the bridge on this date.

Nov 8, 1869
Central Pacific overland passenger terminus transferred from Alameda to Oakland, Cal.

Nov 17, 1869
Opening of the Suez Canal diverted most of the Oriental traffic that had been expected to pass over the Central and Union Pacific line.  High value, high speed tea and silk traffic continued to use the American transcontinental route to Europe into the 20th century.

Dec 6, 1869
First scheduled train to use Ogden as junction between CP and UP, instead of Promontory.

Feb 15, 1870
Ground broken for Northern Pacific Railway at Carlton near Duluth, Minn

May 31, 1870
Boston Board of Trade train arrived in San Francisco (running up the Southern Pacific – formerly the San Francisco & San Jose –  into the City).  1st true transcontinental train to run from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast of the US.

Apr 13, 1871
Peter Donahue sold the San Francisco & North Pacific to the California Pacific, who planned to move their terminal from Vallejo to Marin County, closer to San Francisco.

Aug 1, 1871
Control of the California Pacific acquired by Big Four, eliminating potential transcontinental competitor.  Transcontinental passenger traffic was diverted from the Western Pacific to this faster line to San Francisco via Vallejo and a long ferry ride.

Mar 1872
Union Pacific Eastern Division (Kansas Pacific opened the bridge across the Missouri River.  Kansas Pacific later absorbed by Union Pacific.

Jan 1873
After considering and rejecting moving the terminal of the transcontinental railroad from Oakland to Marin County, the Big Four sold the San Francisco & North Pacific (acquired with the California Pacific purchase) back to Peter Donahue.

March 25, 1873
Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge opened, directly connecting Council Bluffs, Iowa, with Omaha, Nebraska by rail, replacing the car ferry – and rails temporarily laid directly on ice in winter..

Sept 5, 1876
First through train from San Francisco reaches Los Angeles.

Nov 1879
Tripartite agreement in which the St Louis & San Francisco and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe agree to jointly build the Atlantic & Pacific.

Dec 28, 1879
Train ferry Solano, largest in world, placed in service on the revised transcontinental route west of Sacramento, connecting the California Pacific line with Oakland ferry terminal.  Finally replaced by a bridge on Oct 14, 1930.

Oct 23, 1880
California Southern Railroad incorporated for the purpose of serving as the Pacific coast terminus for the Atlantic & Pacific and locating that terminus at San Diego.  Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe President Thomas Nickerson named treasurer of California Southern, representing the official tie between the companies.  Actual terminus established at National City, where the terminal depot and general office building was constructed in 1882.

Mar 8, 1881
Connection between Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe at Deming, N.M., forming second transcontinental route.  SP does not route traffic via Santa Fe.  Southern Pacific Southern Division trackage, in Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico, was leased to the Central Pacific for operation during this time period.

Dec 1, 1881
Central Pacific assumed operating control of Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio (GH&SA, known as the Sunset Route ).  Control returned to GH&SA’s own organization (CP owned) Feb 1, 1883, under new Texas state railroad laws.

Jan 1, 1882
Texas and Pacific met Southern Pacific at Sierra Blanca, Texas, forming another transcontinental connection.

Jan 1882
C.P. Huntington and Jay Gould together purchased a half interest in the St Louis & San Francisco (Frisco), which itself owned a half interest in the Atlantic & Pacific.  Huntington envisioned a true transcontinental line connecting his Chesapeake & Ohio system with the Central and Southern Pacific system via the Frisco and the Atlantic & Pacific.  In 1884 Huntington sold his interest in the Atlantic & Pacific to the Santa Fe as part of a larger settlement, and turned his attention to extending his Chesapeake & Ohio system to a Southern Pacific connection at New Orleans.

Oct 25, 1882
The Sonora Railway, built from the Arizona border to the port of Guaymas, Mexico, by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe to provide a Pacific Coast outlet, was officially opened on this day.  It was less successful than hoped, leading the Santa Fe to place more emphasis on its Atlantic & Pacific line to California.  In 1898 the Sonora Railway was leased to the Southern Pacific as part of a larger exchange of trackage between that company and the Santa Fe.

About 1883
Central Pacific interests gained control of the Morgan Lines (Morgan’s Louisiana & Texas and Louisiana Western), providing access across Texas to New Orleans.

Jan 12, 1883
Last spike driven on Pecos River bridge, completing the Sunset Route, a through line from California to New Orleans, with associated steamer connections to New York.  Through service between San Francisco and New Orleans inaugurated Feb 7, 1883.  1st US route from the Atlantic (Gulf of Mexico) to the Pacific controlled by a single company (Central Pacific), arguably the first US transcontinental railroad company.

Feb 5, 1883
1st through passenger trains between Los Angeles and New Orleans leave their respective terminals.

May 21, 1883
Denver & Rio Grande and Denver & Rio Grande Western completed through narrow gauge line from Denver to a Central Pacific connection at Ogden, Utah.  Line subsequently standard gauged.

Aug 3, 1883
Atlantic & Pacific connection across the Colorado River completed at the Needles, meeting the Southern Pacific at the California border and forming another US transcontinental line.  Again, SP refused to develop traffic over this new connection.  Santa Fe subsequently purchased the Southern Pacific’s Mojave to Needles branch on Aug 20, 1884.

Sept 8, 1883
Northern Pacific completed with driving of gold spike at Gold Creek, Montana, forming, in conjunction with the Oregon Railway & Navigation Co., a transcontinental line from the Great Lakes to Portland, Oregon.

Oct 21, 1883
1st through passenger service via the Atlantic & Pacific and Southern Pacific.

Mar 17, 1884
Southern Pacific Company incorporated in Kentucky as a holding company for Associates (CP & SP) interests.  Southern Pacific Railroad leased on Mar 1, 1885 – also ML&T; Central Pacific Railroad leased on April 1, 1885.  Central Pacific name gradually disappeared over the next decades until finally extinguished in 1959.

Oct 1, 1884
Atlantic & Pacific assumes control of Southern Pacific line between Needles and Mojave and obtains trackage rights on SP from Mojave to San Francisco.

Nov 7, 1884
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe purchased full control of the California Southern, securing its outlet to the coast.

Nov 25, 1884
Oregon Railway & Navigation Co. (OR&N) and Oregon Short Line (Union Pacific controlled) joined at Huntington, Oregon, completing transcontinental link.  Union Pacific subsequently acquired control of OR&N, lost it, then under Harriman reacquired permanent control.

Nov 7, 1885
Canadian Pacific completed at Craigellachie, 1st Canadian transcontinental rail line.

Nov 14, 1885
First California Southern/Atlantic & Pacific/Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe through transcontinental train departed for the East from the California Southern depot at National City.  The last spike actually connecting the California Southern to the Atlantic & Pacific was driven Nov 15.  On Nov 16 the first through transcontinental train from the East arrived at the National City depot.  Celebrations marking the completion were held in San Diego on Nov 18.  These events mark the true end of Central Pacific/Southern Pacific monopoly of California transcontinental rail transportation, and the start of a rate war between the two rail networks.

July 4, 1886
First scheduled Canadian Pacific transcontinental train arrived at western terminus, Port Moody, British Columbia.

May 12, 1887
Southern Pacific Company acquired control of Oregon & California, officially leased to SPCo on July 1, 1887.

May 23, 1887
First official train arrived at new Canadian Pacific terminal over extension from Port Moody to Vancouver.

Dec 17, 1887
Oregon & California last spike driven at Ashland, completing line between California and Portland, Oregon.

April 29, 1888
AT&SF affiliated CSF&C Kansas City to Chicago line opened after completion of Missouri River Bridge.

May 27, 1888
Northern Pacific completed line through the Cascades to Tacoma, Washington, ending its reliance on the Oregon Railway & Navigation Co. for a Pacific Coast terminal.

1889
Union Pacific begins daily through service, Chicago-Portland and SF

Jan 5, 1893
Great Northern completed line to Puget Sound, the first transcontinental line built without federal land grant support.

July 29, 1899
Central Pacific Railroad reorganized as Central Pacific Railway as part of the restructuring to pay off the bond debt from construction days to the Federal Government.

1900
Collis P. Huntington, last of the Big Four, died.

1901
E. H. Harriman of the Union Pacific acquired control of the Southern Pacific.  The two railroads were operated together as the Associated Lines.  Union Pacific forced to divest its control of Southern Pacific in 1913 by government anti-trust action.

Jan 1, 1902
ML&T removed for SPCo lease and operated by its own company.

March 8, 1904
Lucin Cutoff opened across Great Salt Lake.

March 20, 1904
SP Coast Line completed.

Jan 20, 1905
San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake (Union Pacific affiliated) drove last spike in their line between Los Angeles and Utah.

May 14, 1909
Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul completed to Seattle, the last US Pacific Northwest transcontinental line.

Nov 1, 1909
Western Pacific line between Oakland and Salt Lake City completed, the last US transcontinental railroad to reach completion.  Built by the Gould interests to secure a Pacific Coast outlet for the Rio Grande Western and other Gould lines, in response to the Harriman control of the Union Pacific, the Southern Pacific and the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake.

April 9, 1914
Grand Trunk Pacific completed from Winnipeg to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, the 2nd Canadian transcontinental line.  Bankruptcy forced government takeover in May 1915 under the Canadian Government Railways, becoming the Canadian National in June 1919.

1915
Canadian Northern completed from Montreal to Vancouver, British Columbia, the 3rd Canadian transcontinental line.  Bankruptcy forced government takeover in 1917, leading to formation of the Canadian National in June 1919.

Jan 1, 1926
Oregon & California property deeded to Southern Pacific Company; O&C corporation dissolved Jan 25, 1929.

Mar 1, 1927
All major Southern Pacific controlled lines in Texas and Louisiana leased to the Texas & New Orleans, and subsequently merged under T&NO on June 30, 1934.

1932
Southern Pacific Company acquired control of the St Louis & Southwestern (Cotton Belt).

Sept 30, 1947
Southern Pacific Company reincorporated as a Delaware corporation after changes in the Kentucky corporation law.

Sept 30, 1955
Southern Pacific Railroad merged with Southern Pacific Company.

June 30, 1959
Central Pacific merged with Southern Pacific Company.

Nov 1, 1961
Texas & New Orleans merged with Southern Pacific Company.

Nov 26, 1969
Southern Pacific Company reorganized as Southern Pacific Transportation Company, itself a subsidiary of the newly formed Southern Pacific Company.

1981
Union Pacific acquired the Western Pacific, and also the Missouri Pacific.

Dec 31, 1983
Southern Pacific Company (parent of Southern Pacific Transportation Company) and Santa Fe Industries (parent of Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway) merged to form Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation.  Planned merger of the railroads denied by Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) on final appeal June 30, 1987.

Oct 13, 1988
Rio Grande Industries, owners of the Denver & Rio Grande Western, took control of Southern Pacific Transportation Company following a Dec 28, 1987 purchase and subsequent ICC approval.

May 1, 1989
Southern Pacific Transportation Co. and Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad combined their two operating departments under a single operation, known as Southern Pacific Lines

May 4, 1993
Rio Grande Industries changed its name to Southern Pacific Rail Corporation (SPRC).

Sept 11, 1996
Union Pacific purchases the Southern Pacific, unifying the original transcontinental partners, and reassembling Harriman’s Associated Lines on an even grander scale.  This functionally combines the turn-of-the-century Harriman Lines (UP and SP) and Gould Lines (MP, D&RGW, and WP), plus more.  In an interesting twist, the Southern Pacific corporate shell was found to be more advantageous, so Union Pacific was merged into Southern Pacific, and then the whole thing renamed Union Pacific.

Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, MO.