Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)

This article is about a passenger train route in the United States. For other uses, see Overland Route.

The Overland Limited leaving 16th Street station (Oakland), in 1906

The Overland Route was a train route operated jointly by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad/Southern Pacific Railroad, between the eastern termini of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska,[1] and the San Francisco Bay Area, over the grade of the first transcontinental railroad (aka the "Pacific Railroad") which opened on May 10, 1869. Passenger trains that operated over the line included the Overland Flyer, later renamed the Overland Limited, with its eastern terminal in Chicago.

The Overland Route remains a common name for the line from northern California to Chicago, now owned entirely by the Union Pacific.[2] The route is now primarily used for freight, with a few portions used by Amtrak's California Zephyr passenger train.

  1. ^ "Executive Order of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, Fixing the Point of Commencement of the Pacific Railroad at Council Bluffs, Iowa. dated March 7, 1864". 38th Congress, 1st Session SENATE Ex. Doc. No. 27 – via CPRR.org.
  2. ^ Union Pacific Railroad. "UP common rail names" (PDF). Retrieved May 8, 2010.