By MICHAEL BUSHNELL
Northeast News
June 13, 2012

Published for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, C.L. Stone, Passenger Traffic Manager, St. Louis. This promotional postcard shows a picturesque scene as described by the caption on the card: “On the Missouri Pacific between Kansas City and Omaha.”

The Missouri Pacific (MoPac) was born in 1852 in St. Louis, Mo., at a festive groundbreaking attended by local dignitaries and a handful of businessmen.

The railroad grew exponentially, capitalizing on the westward expansion that was taking the country by storm. By 1855, track had been laid as far west as Jefferson City, Mo., linking the MoPac with numerous smaller carriers in central Missouri. By 1858, the end of the line was extended to Tipton, Mo., then the eastern terminus for a new overland mail route to San Francisco, Calif. The onset of the Civil War in 1860, however, caused the newly christened company to slow its growth dramatically as a good percentage of its line was destroyed by battles throughout the state.

Shortly after the war on Sept. 19, 1865, the last spike was driven connecting Kansas City and St. Louis. The following day, a train departed from Kansas City at 3 a.m. and arrived in St. Louis at 5 p.m. The Route of the Eagles was born. Over the next 120 or so years, the railroad became the backbone of a network of lines throughout the Midwest and south. By 1928, MoPac’s lines spanned Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Smaller spur lines connected smaller towns along the line and connections could be made with other rail carriers for destinations outside Missouri Pacific’s network.

During the 1960s and ’70s, passenger train ridership dwindled and the MoPac placed a heavier reliance on freight in order to survive. In 1980, the Missouri Pacific, the Western Pacific and the Union Pacific filed formal merger documents with the interstate Commerce Commission. In 1997, The Missouri Pacific and Union Pacific filed formal merger documents making the “UP” the surviving entity of more than 140 years of rail history.

The description on the back of the card reads: “One of the most important divisions of the Missouri Pacific extends from Kansas City to Omaha for a distance of 199 miles. On the southern portion of this trip the train follows the banks of the grand old Missouri River. Three trains a day are operated between Kansas City and Omaha on the Missouri Pacific, passing through such centers as Kansas City, Kansas, Leavenworth, Atchison, Falls City, Auburn and Nebraska City.” The postcard was never mailed.