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Hello Wabash, The history of the Santa Fe, the UP, and SP would take a long time to tell. I just gave the juicy parts re: the Harriman era of UP and SP. While there are several good books out about all three railroads, I recommend checking the Web sites of their respective historical societies, which you can access from the nav bar on the left-hand side of this page. I can say that Santa Fe was a very desired merger partner. However, the Interstate Commerce Commission shocked the industry when it nixed the SPSF merger in the mid-1980s. It seemed such a sure deal that both railroads had repainted rolling stock and locomotives in a new "Kodachrome" paint scheme of yellow and red. The BNSF merger really forced UP's hand into merging the SP. It would have happened eventually, I believe, but the operational straits UP experienced for two to three years reflect in some measure a reactive posture borne of urgency to catch up with BNSF, rather than the relatively smooth transitions it experienced after merging Western Pacific and Missouri Pacific in the early 1980s and Missouri-Kansas-Texas in the late 1980s. Regards, Paul Schmidt
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