Hi Doug,
Actually you have a grasp of the Machinations of old. Here is s quick thumbnail sketch on the UP:
First, let's start with Jay Gould. He was the first of the Robber Barons. He managed to control the Erie, UP, MP, MKT, DSP&P, CC, D&RG (for a very short time) and others. He tried to forge a system out of them, only to have his empire collapse upon his death. The UP was sold by him shortly before he died and went into receivership in 1893.
Next came Jay's son, George. George Gould created a route to compete with the UP/SP combo in the western US. George started with the MP. The MP purchased control of the D&RG and RGW. The MP used D&RGW funds to construct the link from Salt Lake City to Oakland that was known as the Western Pacific. The construction of the WP bankrupted the D&RGW and the D&RGW was thrown into receivership, just as the MP was later. The Gould System was the MP-D&RGW-WP to the Pacific Coast. The various bankrputcies ended the interlocking control of these lines and made them independent companies again.
On to the UP. The UP was sold to E.H.Harriman in a sheriff's auction in Omaha. The company was reorganized from the bankrupt Union Pacific Railway to the Union Pacific Railroad. The UPRR consisted of the Old UP Ry main line from Omaha to Ogden, the old Denver Pacific from Cheyenne to Denver and the old Kansas Pacific Railway from Denver to Kansas City. The remainder of the railroads that made up the old UP Railway system were conveyed separately to UPRR control in 9 additional segments (we'll get to the C&S and South Park later). The Oregon-Washington Railway and Navigation Company, Oregon Short Line and Los Angeles & Salt Lake remained as separate UP subsidiaries until the 1950's and 60's.
Harriman was no dummy. He started out as a clerk on the Illinois Central. He later controlled the Chicago & Alton and the IC. After gaining control of the UP he used the OSL as his financial vehicle as the UP had too many government imposed strictures on its finances due to government oversight by congress. The UP gained control of the SP and its subsidiaries, including CP back in the early 1900's and both systems (UP and SP) were operated as one. The "Trustbusters" of Teddy Roosevelt's administration broke up this arrangement through the Supreme Court. The docket is a fascinating read. Harriman didn't stop there. Even after his death in 1909, the largest single stockholder in the New York Central System was not the Vanderbilt family, it was the Oregon Short Line. Old E.H. was building a continuous transcontinental railroad, with an outlet to the Gulf of Mexico.
Now to the South Park and the Narrow Gauge. The Colorado 3' gauge lines were, during the UP Railway era (Jay Gould), slowly being consolidated from their original companies into larger companies, also under UP control. The biggest of these consolidated Colorado companies was the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf. The major components of this company were the Colorado Central; Cheyenne & Northern; Denver, Texas & Gulf; Denver & New Orleans; Greeley, Salt Lake & Pacific. They did NOT include the DSP&P, which was reorganized as the UP Ry controlled Denver, Leadville & Gunnison. After the UP Ry was thrown into receivership, the citizens of Colorado petitioned the US District Court in Denver to have a separate receiver appointed for the UP lines in Colorado. This request was granted and the UP Ry lost control of the UPD&G and DL&G and the UPD&G subsidaries in Texas, the largest of which was the Fort Worth & Denver City RR. The UPD&G and DL&G emerged from receivership under the control of the court appointed receiver, Frank Trumbull and were reorganized as the Colorado & Southern Railway.
Your general thesis is correct, much to the chagrin of John Evans, first Territorial Governor and President of the DSP&P. The DSP&P was a solid, well built railroad for its time. It took no short cuts and used the finest of material and rolling stock available. The D&RG, on the other hand, was under the control of General Palmer who was an old Railroad hand, having come west with the KP. Palmer knew that those who were there first got the Lion's share of the business and the second one there became the also-ran. Since the D&RG was infamous for throwing down lines any way that they could (and would later go back and fix it up), they beat the South Park to almost every major terminal that they both served, including Leadville, Buena Vista and Gunnison. The South Park had the superior and better constructed route to Denver, but the D&RG was there first and got the majority of the traffic. The only route that I can think of that the D&RG abandoned in favor of the C&S was the Blue River Branch from Leadville to Dillon. The DSP&P planned, as outlined in this forum by Jerry Day, to go to Floresta and to the coal mines in Somerset and Paonia on their way to Salt Lake City. I have copy of a Commercial map (Nell's) showing the projected DSP&P line to Delta.
When the Merger Mania of the late 20th Century hit, the individual companies fell like dominoes.
UP merged with the two former Gould Lines, MP and WP. During that merger I was told that the MP was cheaper when we bought it the first time, referring to the Jay Gould era. The D&RGW merged with the SP. Then he UP merged with the C&NW when their takeover was imminent. UP then took over the MKT. Finally, the UP and SP merged, ostensibly in defense of the BN - ATSF merger.
Yes, the old Overland Route, CNW-UP-SP (CP) is under one corporate banner. Also under the same banner is the old (George) Gould Lines, the MP-D&RGW-WP.
The C&S became a subsidiary of the CB&Q in 1908 and even after the abandonment of the 3' gauge lines in 1942 remained an independent subsidiary of the CB&Q. The C&S was always ready to proclaim that they were the only "Colorado" Railroad after the modern D&RGW was created as a Delaware Corporation. The C&S operated their 4'8 1/2" gauge main line from Orin Junction, Wyoming to Texline, NM as a CB&Q subsidiary. It was the smallest of the Class I railroads. When the BN merger occurred, the CB&Q disappeared into the BN and the C&S remained independent. The C&S was merged into the BN around 1979 (I am not sure of the exact year) and disappeared from the roster of American Railroads.
I know that it is convoluted, but what history isn't?
Rick Steele
