Yakima Valley Transportation

Company History: This line was launched in 1907 as a streetcar line in Yakima, Washington. They became a subsidiary of Union Pacific two years later. By 1920 they were primarily a freight carrier under trolley wire with the last streetcars running in 1947. The YVT hosted tourist trolley service run by volunteers beginning in 1974 but the YVT themselves remained freight-only until the end. In 1985, the last freight traffic dried up and Union Pacific gave the line to the City of Yakima so the tourist service could continue.

Successor/Parent History: The Union Pacific Railroad (reporting mark UP) is a freight hauling railroad that operates 8,500 locomotives over 32,100 route-miles in 23 states west of Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Union Pacific Railroad network is the largest in the United States and employs 42,600 people. It is also one of the world's largest transportation companies.

Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP); both are headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Over the years Union Pacific Corporation has grown by acquiring other railroads, notably the Missouri Pacific, Chicago & North Western, Western Pacific, Missouri-Kansas-Texas, and the Southern Pacific (including the Denver & Rio Grande Western).

Union Pacific Corporation's main competitor is the BNSF Railway, the nation's second largest freight railroad, which also primarily services the Continental U.S. west of the Mississippi River. Together, the two railroads have a duopoly on all transcontinental freight rail lines in the U.S.

Read more on Wikipedia and on Union Pacific official website.

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