Kansas Pacific Railway
KP
Reporting marks
Locale	Colorado and Kansas
Years of operation	1863 – 1880
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Headquarters	Wyandotte, Kansas (part of present-day Kansas City, Kansas)

The Kansas Pacific main line shown on an 1869 map. The thickened portion along the line indicates the extent of the land grants available to settlers. At the time of the map, the line extended only as western Kansas (section in green). The extension to the Colorado Territory (section in red) was completed the following year

The Kansas Pacific Railway (KP) was a historic railroad company that operated in the western United States in the late 19th century. It was a federally chartered railroad, backed with government land grants. It operated many of the first long-distance lines in the state of Kansas in the 1870s, extending the national railway network westward across that state and into Colorado. Its main line furnished a principal transportation route that opened up settlement of the central Great Plains, and its link from Kansas City to Denver actually provided the last link in the coast-to-coast railway network in 1870. The railroad was consolidated with the Union Pacific in 1880, but its mainline continues to be an integral part of the Union Pacific network today. The following are reporting marks assigned by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to rail carriers operating in North America and the companies (railroads and rail equipment owners/operators) to which they were assigned. ... This is the article on the state. ... State nickname: The Sunflower State Other U.S. States Capital Topeka Largest city Wichita Governor Kathleen Sebelius Official languages None Area 82,277 mi²; 213,096 km² (15th)  - Land 81,815 mi²; 211,900 km²  - Water 462 mi²; 1,196 km² (0. ... 1863 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Rail gauge is the distance between two rails of a railroad. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a metre. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial unit of length. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Kansas City is a city and county seat of Wyandotte County, Kansas; it is part of the Unified Government which also includes Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... State nickname: The Sunflower State Other U.S. States Capital Topeka Largest city Wichita Governor Kathleen Sebelius Official languages None Area 82,277 mi²; 213,096 km² (15th)  - Land 81,815 mi²; 211,900 km²  - Water 462 mi²; 1,196 km² (0. ... Events and Trends Technology Invention of the telephone (1876) and phonograph (1877) WTF Science Ludwig Boltzmanns statistical definition of thermodynamic entropy War, peace and politics Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) results in the collapse of the Second French Empire and in the formation of both the French Third Republic... This is the article on the state. ... The Great Plains states. ... Kansas City is a city and county seat of Wyandotte County, Kansas; it is part of the Unified Government which also includes Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. ... Denver is the largest city and capital of the state of Colorado, United States of America. ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Union Pacific Railroad (NYSE: UNP) is the largest railroad in the United States. ... 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

History

The Kansas Pacific began in 1863 as the Union Pacific Eastern Division, authorized by the United States Congress as part of the Pacific Railway Act, in order to create a second southerly branch of the transcontentinetal railroad, alongside the Union Pacific. The name "Kansas Pacific" was not adopted until 1869. The original intent of the railroad was to build a line west from Kansas City, Kansas across Kansas to Fort Riley, then north to join the Union Pacific main line at Fort Kearny in Nebraska. The construction of the line was motivated in part was a desire of the U.S. government to extend transportation routes into Kansas, which had been the scene of ongoing conflict between Union and Confederate sympathizers even prior to the start of the American Civil War. See Bleeding Kansas. 1863 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... The Pacific Railway Acts were passed by the United States Congress in 1862 and 1864. ... Poster announcing railroads opening The First Transcontinental Railroad was a transcontinental railroad in North America that was finished in 1869. ... The Union Pacific Railroad (NYSE: UNP) is the largest railroad in the United States. ... 1869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Kansas City is a city and county seat of Wyandotte County, Kansas; it is part of the Unified Government which also includes Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. ... Fort Riley is a United States Army installation in northeastern Kansas, near Manhattan and Junction City. ... In Jules Vernes Around the World in 80 Days, a train in the process of being hijacked by Sioux Indians stops at Fort Kearny to request aid from the troops there. ... State nickname: Cornhusker State Other U.S. States Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Governor Dave Heineman Official languages English Area 200,520 km² (16th)  - Land 199,099 km²  - Water 1,247 km² (0. ... The Union was a name used by many to refer to the northern states during the American Civil War, while the deraugatory name for people in the north was Yankees. Besides the obvious fact that they were the remaining states left in the United States, the name seems also implied... National Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Official language English de facto nationwide Various European and Native American languages regionally Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Danville, Virginia April 3–April 10, 1865 Largest city New Orleans... The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the United States – forces coming mostly from the 23 northern states of the Union – and the newly-formed Confederate States of America, which consisted of 11 southern states that had declared their secession. ... Bleeding Kansas, sometimes referred to as Bloody Kansas and/or the Border War, was a sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro- Slavery elements that took place in Kansas Territory between roughly 1854 and 1856. ...

The company began construction on its main line westward from Kansas City in September 1863. In 1864 the first 40 mi (64 km) of the line to Lawrence was in operation. In the fall of 1866, the line had reached Junction City, which became the end of the first division of the railroad and where a roundhouse was constructed. In 1867 the line reached to Salina. In March 1869 the name was changed by Act of the United States Congress to the Kansas Pacific. As in the case with the Union Pacific, the Pacific Railway Act authorized large land grants to the railroad along its mainline. Such grants were to be distributed to homesteaders who would populate the lands near the railroad, forming new towns and providing the economic activity needed to support the railroad itself. 1864 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Lawrence is a city located in Douglas County, Kansas. ... 1866 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Junction City is a city located in Geary County, Kansas, United States. ... 1867 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Salina is a city and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas6. ... 1869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... Broadly, homesteading is a lifestyle of agrarian self-sufficiency. ...

Although the railroad had intented originally to build only as far west as Fort Riley, citizens in Denver in the Colorado Territory, eager to be connected to national network, lobbied furiously to extend the Union Pacific lines to reach their city. In 1868, the U.S. Congress enacted a law that was signed by President Andrew Johnson to build a second-phase extension of the line to the Rocky Mountains, with the intention of continuing past Denver through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, to compete with the Union Pacific main line. No funds were granted for the construction, however, a situation made more dire by the general collapse in railroad investments following the end of the American Civil War. With the backing of German investors, the railroad began construction on the Colorado extension in October 1869. By March 1870, the line had reached Kit Carson, Colorado. At the same time, the company began building east from Denver. In August the two branches met at on the Colorado Eastern Plains at Commanche Crossing, which was renamed Strasburg in honor of an engineer of the Kansas Pacific. Denver is the largest city and capital of the state of Colorado, United States of America. ... The Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, and New Mexico territories in 1860 The Colorado Territory was a historic, organized territory of the United States that existed between 1861 and 1876. ... 1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875) was the sixteenth Vice President (1865) and the seventeenth President of the United States (1865–1869), succeeding to the presidency upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. ... Rocky Mountain National Park (photo courtesy of NPS) View of Colorado Rockies. ... Rocky Mountain National Park (photo courtesy of NPS) View of Colorado Rockies. ... The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the United States – forces coming mostly from the 23 northern states of the Union – and the newly-formed Confederate States of America, which consisted of 11 southern states that had declared their secession. ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Kit Carson is a town located in Cheyenne County, Colorado. ... The Eastern Plains of Colorado refers to region of the U.S state of Colorado on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, and east of the population centers of the Front Range. ... Strasburg is a census-designated place located in Adams County, Colorado. ...

The arrival of the first trains to Denver in August was two months after the completion in June of the Denver Pacific Railway mainlline linking Denver with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne in the Dakota Territory. The Kansas Pacific and Denver Pacific lines intersected at "Jersey Junction" approximately three miles north of downtown Denver. The Strasburg "joining of the rails" of the Kansas Pacific in August actually marked the true completion of a coast-to-coast railway network in the United States. The Golden spike event in Utah the previous year had marked the linking of the Union Pacific with the Central Pacific Railroad, but until 1872, passengers on the Union Pacific were required to disembark between Council Bluffs, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska to cross the Missouri River by boat. Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming, a United States of America. ... Dakota Territory was the name of the northernmost part of the Louisiana Purchase of the United States. ... The golden spike is the solid-gold railroad spike which was hammered in by Leland Stanford to commemorate the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the world, when the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Summit in Box Elder County in the... State nickname: Beehive State Other U.S. States Capital Salt Lake City Largest city Salt Lake City Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. ... External link Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum Categories: Corporation stubs | Historical stubs | Defunct railroad companies of the United States | California railroads | Nevada railroads | Utah railroads | Historic civil engineering landmarks ... 1872 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Council Bluffs is a city located in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. ... Omaha Skyline For other uses, see Omaha (disambiguation). ... The Missouri River and its tributaries N.P. Dodge Park, Omaha, Nebraska High silt content makes the Missouri (left) noticably lighter than the Mississipi here at their confluence above St. ...

In 1874, Union Pacific investor Jay Gould gained effective control of the Kansas Pacific. In 1880, at Gould's direction, the railroad was consolidated with Union Pacific and the Denver Pacific, with the new railroad taking the Union Pacific name. The new company's intention to extend the old Kansas Pacific mainline through the Rockies was strengthened by renewed competion by its archival, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. In the early 1880s, the The Union Pacific sent surveyors on several expeditions up the Platte Canyon and the Poudre Canyon. When the Burlington withdrew its plans for its own transcontinental line, however, the Union Pacific lost interest in extending a line west from Denver. It was not until the 1934, with the completion of the Denver and Rio Grande Western mainline, that the rail network west from Denver would cross the Rockies and reach Salt Lake City . 1874 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Jay Gould Jay Gould (May 27, 1836 - December 2, 1892), American financier, was born in Roxbury, New York. ... 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (AAR reporting mark CBQ) was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. ... Events and Trends Technology Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG or DRG) was founded in 1870 by general William J Palmer as a narrow gauge railway system with the intention of connecting Denver with Mexico City. ... Aerial view of Temple Square of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ...

Representation in fiction

The struggle to build the railway against the backdrop of the American Civil War was depcited in the 1953 western movie Kansas Pacific, starring Sterling Hayden and Eve Miller. 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Broncho Billy Anderson, from The Great Train Robbery The Western movie is one of the classic American film genres. ... Sterling Hayden (March 26, 1916 - May 23, 1986) was an American actor. ...

External links

• University of Kansas: Kansas Pacific Railroad (http://www.ku.edu/heritage/research/rr/kp.html)
• UP Limon Subdivision: building of the Kansas Pacific (http://kickitup.railfan.net/html/up/up-limon.html)
• Thomas Ewing Jr. and the origin of the Kansas Pacific (http://www.kancoll.org/khq/1976/76_2_taylor.htm)