On December 2, 1865, the Southern Pacific Railroad of California was incorporated in San Francisco. The company’s first formal project was the construction of a rail line from San Francisco to San Diego. Timothy Phelps served as the first president of the Southern Pacific until 1868 when the company was purchased the Big Four (Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford, and Mark Hopkins) of the Central Pacific. The Central Pacific-Southern Pacific Railroad played a key role in not only

Great trackside and pacing shot of various Southern Pacific Steam locomotives. From the GSVP show "Southern Pacific Steam in the 1950s" https://rfd.video/SPSteam50 | Steam Giants