Re: NNG: A CP and UP comparison

The initial construction on the Central Pacific was much better. The CP was built by California business men who understood the need, and expected to own and operate the railroad once completed. (but were happy to make a profit on construction via their Construction Finance Co.)

The Union Pacific was organized by the government, and was owned by business men looking to make a profit on the construction via the Credit Mobilier organization. The long term heath of the resulting railroad was of less concern, and in fact the railroad was nearly bankrupt. The Credit Mobilier scandal with congressional hearings in 1872 and 73 is well documented (many documents on line), and would be a good source of information for the paper) The Union Pacific continued to operate, but was a weak corporation, and would be acquired by Jay Gould in 1879. The Gould empire would go bankrupt in 1893 resulting in the line being acquired by Harriman. For the first time the UP was on firm financial footing.

The best direct early comparison is found on the two parallel grades to the east of Promontory. The CP built a huge fill over one canyon while the UP built a large spindly trestle. Early traveler accounts comment how much smoother the CP track was.

The Central Pacific was not perfect. The large bonded debt was of great concern to the Associates (the term “Big Four” is modern) and as a result they built their railroad empire around the Southern Pacific, structured in a way that the bankruptcy of the CP would not threaten the railroads they owned. In fact, the CP held on and never went bankrupt. Transcripts of Huntington’s testimony before congress in the aftermath of the Credit Mobilier hearings can be found on line.

With Huntington’s death in 1902 (last of the Associates) control of the SP/CP passed to Harriman. Harriman started a process of merging CP and UP operations. That ended with a Federal Anti-trust action in 1913.

Randy Hees
www.spcrr.org

Randy Hees

Director, Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City, retired
PacificNG.org - a curated Wiki on Pacific Slope Narrow Gauge www.pacificng.com
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