Little rock express edges tuscola turn to win union pacific
railroad’s great excursion adventure - you route the steam contest
Omaha, neb.--(business wire)--the little rock express edged the tuscola turn by 3,042 votes to win union pacific railroad’s great excursion adventure - you route the steam contest. union pacific will route one of its legendary steam locomotives from kansas city, through st. louis and on to little rock. the excursion date will be determined within the coming weeks. “we anticipated that communities would be interested in this contest and are overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and support they have demonstrated,” said bob turner, union pacific senior vice president - corporate relations. “voting in communities along the routes was vigorous, with the lead frequently changing hands by the minute. we want to express our sincere thanks to all those who participated in making this such an exciting contest. “congratulations to everyone who helped put the little rock express over the top, and to all the tuscola turn fans that helped take the race down to the wire.” the validated voting results are: voting in the final phase of the contest was conducted jan. 4-17. four finalist routes were determined by steam locomotive fan voting nov. 9 through dec. 6, 2010. the final four segments were: the tuscola turn: starting in boone, iowa, this segment travels east through marshalltown, cedar rapids, mt. vernon, de witt, and clinton. it continues toward chicago through the illinois communities of rochelle, dekalb, west chicago, glen ellyn and proviso, turning south to woodland and villa grove before concluding in tuscola. the little rock express: starting in kansas city, mo., this segment travels east to boonville, jefferson city, chamois and st. louis before heading south to cape girardeau, dexter and poplar bluff. it continues through bald knob, ark., before concluding in little rock. the baton rouge rambler: starting in dallas, this segment runs east through the texas communities of mesquite, wills point, grand saline, mineola and longview. it continues in louisiana through shreveport, natchitoches and alexandria before concluding in baton rouge. the boise limited: starting in salt lake city, this segment travels north in utah to ogden and brigham city. it continues to pocatello, idaho, where it heads west to american falls, shoshone and mountain home before concluding in boise. in addition to route voting, five individuals who score the most contest “points” will win two tickets each for a special leg of the winning segment, as well as lodging and air fare. the person with the most points will be awarded the title of “honorary engineer” and given the opportunity to ride in the locomotive cab. individual contest winners will be notified jan. 19. note: historical railroad information follows about selected cities along the little rock express route. the little rock express contest winner union pacific railroad’s great excursion adventure - you route the steam kansas city, mo., was linked to st. louis by the wide-gauge pacific railroad in 1865 after years of delays due to civil war when sections of the fledgling line were destroyed by raiders. work had started in st. louis july 4, 1851. after rails reached jefferson city in late 1855, the line swung south away from the missouri river for fear the railroad wouldn’t be able to compete with steamboats. by 1858 the line had reached 160 miles west to tipton, mo. tipton was the eastern terminus for a new overland stagecoach mail service to san francisco dubbed “the overland mail.” in 1864, material to build a railroad east from kansas city to meet the pacific railroad at tipton was shipped up the river and opened from kansas city to independence aug. 1, 1864, but even that short section didn’t escape raiders and was destroyed before finally being completed in 1865. kansas city is the second-largest railroad hub in the united states, behind chicago. st. louis saw construction of the eads bridge over the mississippi river start in 1868 beginning what james p. kirkwood, chief engineer of the pacific railroad, had envisioned. the pacific railroad changed its track to standard gauge so it could freely exchange cars with connecting standard gauge eastern railroads on the other side of the river. the bridge was completed in 1874. financial problems in 1872 forced the pacific railroad to reorganize as the missouri pacific railway co. (mp). new york financier jay gould gained control of mp in 1879 and expanded it by welding together a network of railroads. he gained control of the st. louis, iron mountain & southern (stlim&s) in 1881. poplar bluff, mo., is the junction with the former stlim&s line through eastern missouri from st. louis. north little rock, ark., is where stlim&s completed the baring cross bridge over the arkansas river december 21, 1873. the first through train to st. louis left little rock the next day. north little rock is the location of the downing p. jenks shop, the largest locomotive repair shop on union pacific and a major classification yard. arkansas gov. bill clinton dedicated the shop july 14, 1984 by ringing a locomotive bell. little rock, ark., has been a railroad town dating back to the memphis & little rock railroad in 1857. union pacific operates approximately 1,300 miles of track and employs nearly 2,500 people in arkansas.
