Wow! Did I read this right?

[CNW 6000]

Maybe someone can clarify for me or confirm what I read.  I was looking around on the Utah Rails site for roster info from the UP and came across a section listing the heritage units.  Here is the link to the page:
http://utahrails.net/all-time/all-time-32.php#sd70ace-1982 
On  that page there's a sectoin listing the SD70 ACe's and the reasoning behind them.  I found this tidbit of information:

"For UP 1996, SP was controlled by UP on September 11, 1996; SP's subsidiaries D&RGW and SPCSL were     formally merged into UP on June 1, 1997; SP subsidiary SSW was formally merged into UP on September 1, 1997; SP itself was formally merged into UP on February 1, 1998 (actually, UP was merged into SP, and SP changed it name to UP on the same day)." Did I read and understand that last part correctly?  SP actually took control of UP???

[silicon212]

UP was and is the controlling railroad, but it was in fact called SP for about an hour - this was done for tax purposes.  There was another thread about this a while back.

[CNW 6000]

I didn't know that (about controlling UP and the thread).  So technically SP is the evil RR lol.

[Lord Atmo]

wow. why did SP do that....the grey and the red was SO MUCH of a nicer color scheme

[CNW 6000]

My uninformed guess is that it was a case of name recognition.  Wasn't the UP around longer?  Plus with the Armor Yellow/Grey that's been around forever, for better or worse-be that as it may, it's visually familiar to many people IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Dan--

Actually, this may be somewhat unrelated to your topic, but it always struck me that the UP has been a step slower and a bit less responsive after they "absorbed" SP.  And some of the members of SP's mgmt team did in fact come over and have significant posts in the UP afterward, so I do wonder sometimes "who" actually merged into "who".

Riprap

[Anonymous]

That's not right at all. I think the "SOUTHERN PACIFIC" should have retained their TRUE name over the UP. By the sound of all this....UP is realy,SP! Allan.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Lord Atmo--

I can't argue with you about the relative merits (from my view) of the SP color scheme (though, didn't you prefer the SP Daylight colors?!), but I did read somewhere that the SP CEO of the day, B.F. Biaggini, originally mistook the gray for a light blue color, and the red for a shade of orange (it must have been a foggy day in SF, eh?!), so that the whole selection of that scheme was a bit of a joke...

And BTW, if you're opposed to large, unresponsive RR cos. and the predatory behavior that goes along with that, I'm not sure you should be glorifying the SP.  They've had a rather long history of that kind of behavior in CA (known as "the Octopus") and there's even a SCOTUS (Supreme Court) case attributed, I think, to them which supposedly gives a lot of the store away to those who wish to concentrate power.  I fully concede that they (the SP) may be friendlier to railfanners and the public than UP, but they're no angels (and to paraphrase Casey Stengel, I don't think they could "play the game" very well)

Riprap

[nordique72]

The section that refers to SP taking over UP and then renaming itself UP later on only has to do with the corporate merger of the two railroads. When roads merge- there is an operational merger, which is visible one (patched units, etc.) and a corporate merger, which takes place seperately from the operational merger. The operational merger of the SP was 9-11-96, but court cases and lawsuits tied up the corporate merger until 1998.

Same thing was true for the MoPac- which existed as it's own corporation until 1998.

[fuzzybroken]

The following link should explain the relationship between Rio Grande, Southern Pacific, and Union Pacific as it relates to the corporation:
http://www.fuzzyworld3.com/stuff3/e028-grandepacific.html

[fuzzybroken]

Also, it was Missouri Pacific that M-K-T merged with...

[CNW 6000]

It makes sense that it was a business deal (duh! LOL) but I found it kinda odd.  I guess that's my lack of corporate know-how for you.

[trainboyH16-44]

So UP is, in a strange and roundabout way, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.....I like that!

[CNW 6000]

So UP is, in a strange and roundabout way, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.....I like that!

Kinda makes the UP more palatable.  Just a little bit lol.

[nordique72]

So UP is, in a strange and roundabout way, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.....I like that!

No not really- the UP Corporation and UP Railroad are two seperate entities. This is also why in the corporate records the MP Corporation bought out the MKT in 1988 (not UP Corp.)- but the UP railroad took over the MKT railroad. (The MP was around as a corporation until 1998- even in the ORER, MP frieght cars were listed seperately from UP cars.) UP Corporation is the renamed DRGW Corp.- but the railroad properties have always been Union Pacific Railroad.  

When referring to the railroad mergers UP took over SP, CNW, SSW, DRGW, MP, WP and MKT- but the corporate mergers were handled differently due to law and tax reasons. Like I said before- there is an operational merger (the railroads themselves) and the corporate merger- two different things there.  It can be confusing keeping corporate and operational aspects separate, which is why railroads often only refer to the operational merger dates, instead of both sets like this website does. (Note: this is why the Heritage units are the 1982, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1995 and 1996- the railroad merger dates, not the corporation dates.)

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

It gets even more interesting when leases are involved.  Consider the combination on October 15, 1964 of Norfolk & Western, Nickel Plate, Wabash and Pittsburgh & West Virginia.  After all was said and done, Nickel Plate was the only corporate entity that ceased to exist.  NKP was merged into N&W, while Wabash and P&WV were leased by N&W, and N&W took over the lease of the original Wheeling & Lake Erie.  N&W also took 100% control of Akron, Canton & Youngstown, which continued as a separate corporate and operating entity.

In commercial aviation, the original AirTran Airways was merged into ValuJet Airlines, which then renamed itself AirTran.