Pattullo Bridge
The Pattullo Bridge is a through arch bridge that crosses the Fraser River and links the city of New Westminster to the city of Surrey in British Columbia. The bridge was named in honour of the 22nd Premier of British Columbia. A key link between Surrey and the rest of Greater Vancouver, the Pattullo Bridge handles an average of 75,700 cars and 3840 trucks daily, or 20 percent of vehicle traffic across the Fraser River as of 2013; the first regular crossing of the Fraser River started in 1882, was operated by a steam ferry named K de K, which transported residents and livestock from Brownsville to New Westminster. During the late 1890s, the need for a new bridge became apparent after the existing ferry was deemed insufficient to handle future traffic demands; the first bridge, a combined steel two deck road and rail span, started construction in 1902, with completion in 1904. The bridge was built with two decks, the upper deck handling vehicular traffic and the lower deck functioning as a railway bridge.
Again, growing traffic demands prompted the construction of a second bridge in 1936. The bridge was designed by supervising engineer Major W. G. Swan, construction was tendered to the Dominion Bridge Company and Northern Construction & J. W. Stewart Ltd; the Pattullo Bridge was opened to traffic on November 15, 1937 by Premier "Duff" Pattullo, with a total cost of $4 million. The bridge was tolled at 25¢ per crossing, but was removed in 1952; the old bridge, now known today as the New Westminster Rail Bridge was converted to rail use only, highway traffic was moved to the Pattullo Bridge. The Pattullo Bridge is 1,227 meters in total length, consists of four lanes, with two in each direction; the bridge has no barrier of any sort in the centre, making it prone to head-on collisions at excessive speed or in bad weather. In recent years, TransLink has closed the middle lanes to traffic from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. in an effort to lower the high number of head-on collisions, installed a series of plastic pillars to raise the visibility of the centre-lane divider.
On January 2, 2006, four people were killed in a T-bone collision between two cars on the southern approach lane. In response to the high number of crashes on the bridge, TransLink studied the idea of reducing the number of lanes on the bridge from four to three using a counterflow operation, similar to that used on the Lions' Gate Bridge, with the number of lanes varied depending on traffic flow and volume. However, traffic analysis showed that significant congestion would result in Surrey and New Westminster, the idea was abandoned. TransLink examined a number of options to install a centre-line barrier and, in concert, to ban truck traffic from the bridge because the barrier would further narrow the traffic lanes, but that too was proven impractical. A more controversial proposal is to install photo radar on the bridge to enforce the existing speed limit, thus far, the provincial government has ruled out the idea of bringing back photo radar, which it eliminated province-wide in 2001. Oversized commercial vehicles are prohibited from using the bridge, as mandated by the British Columbia Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement agency.
Around 3 a.m. on January 18, 2009, a fire started on the south end of the bridge in the structure under the bridge deck. The 60-foot -long wooden trestle on the south side of the bridge connecting the steel and concrete structure to the earthen berm sustained damage, had to be rebuilt, it was estimated that the bridge would be closed for 4–6 weeks. However, by reusing a temporary bridge structure used on the Canada Line project, the bridge was reopened on Monday, January 26. On July 31, 2008, TransLink opted to replace the bridge, rather than try to refurbish the aging structure. In June 2014, the Metro Vancouver Mayors' Council determined that a new, 4-lane, tolled replacement bridge was to be built, to demolish the existing structure. Construction is expected to take place between 2019 and 2023, with the $1.3 billion funding finalized in 2018. Over the course of 2016, rehabilitation work commenced on bridge deck repairs to keep the bridge operational until a replacement is built. From May 2 to August 26, the bridge was reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction, with full bridge closures on selected days.
The bridge reopened one month ahead of schedule, on August 29. List of crossings of the Fraser River
Dinsmore Bridge
Dinsmore Bridge is a bridge in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Built in 1969, it connects Sea Island to the main island of the city, it is an extension of Gilbert Road on Lulu Island. Its general direction is north-south and it has one lane going each direction, with a pedestrian sidewalk on the west side of the bridge; the bridge is operated by the Vancouver International Airport. The Dinsmore Bridge is named after pioneer John Dinsmore, owner of the Dinsmore Island Cannery, located on Dinsmore Island. Dinsmore Island known as Brough Island, was located in the Middle Arm off the southeast corner of Sea Island, located from the approximate location of the north end of the Dinsmore Bridge to where Gilbert Road intersects Russ Baker Way. By 1952 Dinsmore Island and nearly Pheasant Island had become a part of Sea Island due to infilling of the channel. Before construction of the No. 2 Road Bridge, Dinsmore Bridge was the shortest route to Vancouver for residents of the western part of Richmond.
Prior to October 11, 2006, Dinsmore Bridge was the bridge of choice of public transit buses from western Richmond. At the time, two express peak-hour buses to downtown Vancouver ran on the bridge: #491 One Road/Burrard Station and #496 Railway/Burrard Station. However, after the incident on October 11, weight restrictions were put in place for the bridge; until the restrictions are lifted, all buses are being diverted to the No. 2 Road Bridge. The bridge is used to access the Richmond Hospital and the WorkSafeBC headquarters, which are located on Gilbert Road at the intersection with Westminster Highway. On October 11, 2006, the bridge was closed for several days after a truck on River Road, carrying a crane to the Richmond Olympic Oval site, damaged the bottom of the bridge, it re-opened on October 13, but weight and speed restrictions were put in place until further notice. List of crossings of the Fraser River List of bridges in Canada List of bridges Bridges of Greater Vancouver Island City by Nature – Richmond’s Islands
Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing
The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing called the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and Second Narrows Bridge, is the second bridge constructed at the Second Narrows of Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Named the Second Narrows Bridge, it connects Vancouver to the North Shore of Burrard Inlet, which includes the District of North Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, West Vancouver, it was constructed adjacent to the older Second Narrows Bridge, now a rail bridge. The First Narrows Bridge, better known as Lions Gate Bridge, crosses Burrard Inlet about 8 kilometres west of the Second Narrows; the bridge is a steel truss cantilever bridge, designed by Swan Wooster Engineering Co. Ltd. Construction began in November 1957, the bridge was opened on August 25, 1960, it cost $15 million to build. Tolls were charged until 1963; the bridge is 1,292 metres long with a centre span of 335 metres. It is part of the Trans-Canada Highway. In June 2014 work began to widen the sidewalks on both sides of the bridge.
That work included the addition of'safety railings'. The'railing' is composed of spaced vertical steel bars ten feet high; the visual effect is a corridor-like narrowing of the bridge. There is a loss of direct light, a complete loss of the views on both sides of the bridge. On June 17, 1958, as a crane stretched from the north side of the new bridge to join the two chords of the unfinished arch, several spans collapsed. Seventy-nine workers plunged 30 metres into the water. Eighteen were killed either or shortly thereafter drowned by their heavy tool belts. A diver searching for bodies drowned bringing the total fatalities for the collapse to 19. In a subsequent Royal Commission inquiry, the bridge collapse was attributed to miscalculation by bridge engineers. A temporary arm, holding the fifth anchor span, was deemed too light to bear the weight; the bridge was renamed the "Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing" in 1994 to honour the 19 workers who died in the collapse, along with four others who died during the construction process.
Stompin' Tom Connors paid a musical tribute to the fallen ironworkers with the song "The Bridge Came Tumbling Down" on his 1972 album My Stompin' Grounds.. Jimmy Dean's 1962 song. Gary Geddes' 2007 book of poetry, entitled Falsework, is based on the collapse of the bridge. On February 2, 2009 several University of British Columbia engineering students were arrested while attempting to suspend the shell of a Volkswagen Beetle under the bridge as part of an "Engineering Week" tradition. List of bridges List of bridges in Canada List of bridge disasters History of Metropolitan Vancouver Satellite image of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and Second Narrows Bridge Vancouver, BC Bridge Under Construction Collapses, June 1958 at GenDisasters.com
Canada
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border, its capital is Ottawa, its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra, its population is urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons. Various indigenous peoples have inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Beginning in the 16th century and French expeditions explored, settled, along the Atlantic coast.
As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces; this began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition, with Elizabeth II as its queen and a prime minister who serves as the chair of the federal cabinet and head of government; the country is a realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and bilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, education.
It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. A developed country, Canada has the sixteenth-highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the twelfth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index, its advanced economy is the tenth-largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada is part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of Canada, the name is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".
In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona. From the 16th to the early 18th century "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named the Canadas. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference, the word Dominion was conferred as the country's title. By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "Realm of the Commonwealth"; the government of Louis St. Laurent ended the practice of using'Dominion' in the Statutes of Canada in 1951. In 1982, the passage of the Canada Act, bringing the Constitution of Canada under Canadian control, referred only to Canada, that year the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The term Dominion was used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though after the Second World War the term federal had replaced dominion. Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Métis, the last being a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers; the term "Aboriginal" as a collective noun is a specific term of art used in some legal documents, including the Constitution Act 1982. The first inhabitants of North America are hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago; the Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada. The characteristics of Canadian indigenous societies included permanent settlements, complex societal hierarchies, trading networks; some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.
The indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000
Portland, Oregon
Portland is the largest and most populous city in the U. S. state of Oregon and the seat of Multnomah County. It is a major port in the Willamette Valley region of the Pacific Northwest, at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers; as of 2017, Portland had an estimated population of 647,805, making it the 26th-largest city in the United States, the second-most populous in the Pacific Northwest. 2.4 million people live in the Portland metropolitan statistical area, making it the 25th most populous MSA in the United States. Its Combined Statistical Area ranks 18th-largest with a population of around 3.2 million. 60% of Oregon's population resides within the Portland metropolitan area. Named after Portland, the Oregon settlement began to be populated in the 1830s near the end of the Oregon Trail, its water access provided convenient transportation of goods, the timber industry was a major force in the city's early economy. At the turn of the 20th century, the city had a reputation as one of the most dangerous port cities in the world, a hub for organized crime and racketeering.
After the city's economy experienced an industrial boom during World War II, its hard-edged reputation began to dissipate. Beginning in the 1960s, Portland became noted for its growing progressive political values, earning it a reputation as a bastion of counterculture; the city operates with a commission-based government guided by a mayor and four commissioners as well as Metro, the only directly elected metropolitan planning organization in the United States. The city government is notable for its land-use investment in public transportation. Portland is recognized as one of the world's most environmentally conscious cities because of its high walkability, large community of bicyclists, farm-to-table dining, expansive network of public transportation options, over 10,000 acres of public parks, its climate is marked by cool, rainy winters. This climate is ideal for growing roses, Portland has been called the "City of Roses" for over a century. During the prehistoric period, the land that would become Portland was flooded after the collapse of glacial dams from Lake Missoula, in what would become Montana.
These massive floods occurred during the last ice age and filled the Willamette Valley with 300 to 400 feet of water. Before American pioneers began arriving in the 1800s, the land was inhabited for many centuries by two bands of indigenous Chinook people—the Multnomah and the Clackamas; the Chinook people occupying the land were first documented in 1805 by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Before its European settlement, the Portland Basin of the lower Columbia River and Willamette River valleys had been one of the most densely populated regions on the Pacific Coast. Large numbers of pioneer settlers began arriving in the Willamette Valley in the 1830s via the Oregon Trail, though life was centered in nearby Oregon City. In the early 1840s a new settlement emerged ten miles from the mouth of the Willamette River halfway between Oregon City and Fort Vancouver; this community was referred to as "Stumptown" and "The Clearing" because of the many trees cut down to allow for its growth. In 1843 William Overton saw potential in the new settlement but lacked the funds to file an official land claim.
For 25 cents, Overton agreed to share half of the 640-acre site with Asa Lovejoy of Boston. In 1845 Overton sold his remaining half of the claim to Francis W. Pettygrove of Maine. Both Pettygrove and Lovejoy wished to rename "The Clearing" after their respective hometowns; this controversy was settled with a coin toss that Pettygrove won in a series of two out of three tosses, thereby providing Portland with its namesake. The coin used for this decision, now known as the Portland Penny, is on display in the headquarters of the Oregon Historical Society. At the time of its incorporation on February 8, 1851, Portland had over 800 inhabitants, a steam sawmill, a log cabin hotel, a newspaper, the Weekly Oregonian. A major fire swept through downtown in August 1873, destroying twenty blocks on the west side of the Willamette along Yamhill and Morrison Streets, causing $1.3 million in damage. By 1879, the population had grown to 17,500 and by 1890 it had grown to 46,385. In 1888, the city built the first steel bridge built on the West Coast.
Portland's access to the Pacific Ocean via the Willamette and Columbia rivers, as well as its easy access to the agricultural Tualatin Valley via the "Great Plank Road", provided the pioneer city with an advantage over other nearby ports, it grew quickly. Portland remained the major port in the Pacific Northwest for much of the 19th century, until the 1890s, when Seattle's deepwater harbor was connected to the rest of the mainland by rail, affording an inland route without the treacherous navigation of the Columbia River; the city had its own Japantown, for one, the lumber industry became a prominent economic presence, due to the area's large population of Douglas Firs, Western Hemlocks, Red Cedars, Big Leaf Maple trees. Portland developed a reputation early in its history as a gritty port town; some historians have described the city's early establishment as being a "scion of New England. In 1889, The Oregonian called Portland "the most filthy city in the Northern States", due to the unsanitary sewers and gutters, and, at the turn of the 20th century, it was considered one of the most dangerous port cities in the world.
The city housed a large number of saloons
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, located south of the Fraser River and north of the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of metropolitan area. A suburban city, Surrey is the province's second-largest by population after Vancouver and the third largest by area after Abbotsford and Prince George; the seven neighbourhoods or "town centres" the City of Surrey comprises are: Fleetwood, City Centre, Newton and South Surrey. Surrey was incorporated in 1879, encompasses land occupied by a number of Halqemeylem-speaking aboriginal groups; when Englishman H. J. Brewer looked across the Fraser River from New Westminster and saw a land reminiscent of his native County of Surrey in England, the settlement of Surrey was placed on the map; the area comprised forests of douglas-fir, red cedar, blackberry bushes, cranberry bogs. A portion of present-day Whalley was used as a burial ground by the Kwantlen Nation. Settlers arrived first in Cloverdale and parts of South Surrey to farm, harvest oysters, or set up small stores.
Once the Pattullo Bridge was erected in 1937, the way was open for Surrey to expand. In the post-war 1950s, North Surrey's neighbourhoods filled with single family homes and Surrey became a bedroom community, absorbing commuters who worked in Burnaby or Vancouver. In the 1980s and 1990s, Surrey witnessed unprecedented growth, as people from different parts of Canada and the world Asia, began to make the municipality their home. Surrey is projected to surpass the city of Vancouver as the most populous city in BC by 2020 - 2030. Surrey is governed by an eight-member city council; the current mayor of Surrey is Doug McCallum, who took office on November 5, 2018. The last elections were held in October 2018. In the 2017 provincial election, the BC NDP doubled their held three elected MLAs to six, while the number of MLAs for the BC Liberals dropped from five to three. In 1997, Gurmant Grewal became the first visible minority elected in Surrey. In 2004, when his wife, Nina was elected to parliament, they became the first married couple to serve Canadian parliament concurrently.
Following the 2015 federal election, the Liberal Party of Canada holds three of Surrey's four seats in the House of Commons of Canada. Conservative MP Dianne Watts resigned in 2017 to compete to be the leader for the BC Liberal Party. In 2016 the population was recorded at 517,887, an increase of 10.6% from 2011. This made it the 12th largest city in Canada, while being the fifth largest city in Western Canada. In recent years, a expanding urban core in Downtown Surrey, located in Whalley has transformed the area into the secondary downtown core in Metro Vancouver. Surrey forms an integral part of Metro Vancouver as it is the second largest city in the region, albeit while serving as the secondary economic core of the metropolitan area; when combined with the City of Vancouver, both cities account for nearly 50% of the region's population. Within the City of Surrey itself feature many neighborhoods including Whalley, Guildford, Fleetwood and South Surrey. Immigration to Surrey has drastically increased since the 1990s.
52% do not speak English as their first language, while over 30% of the city's inhabitants are of South Asian heritage. In the early 2000s, an influx of South Asians began moving to the city from neighbouring Vancouver due to rising housing costs and increasing rent costs for businesses; the outflow of these residents and increased immigration from the Indian Subcontinent therefore established in Surrey one of the largest concentrations of ethnic South Asian residents in North America. Other significant Asian groups which reside in the city include Chinese and Southeast Asian; the city houses large Aboriginal and African populations, when compared with the rest of cities in the region. The 2016 census found; the next most common language was Punjabi, spoken by 20.48% of the population, followed by Mandarin at 4.42%. The 2011 National Household Survey states, "71.4% of the population in Surrey reported a religious affiliation, while 28.6% said they had no religious affiliation. For British Columbia as a whole, 55.9% of the population reported a religious affiliation, while 44.1% had no religion.
The most reported religious affiliation in Surrey was Sikh, reported by 104,720 of the population. Other reported religions included: Roman Catholic and Christian, n.i.e.. In comparison, the top three most reported religions in British Columbia were: Roman Catholic, Christian, n.i.e. and the United Church." As of 2010, Surrey had the highest median family income of CDN$78,283, while BC provincial median was $71,660, national's median was $74,540. The average family income was $85,765. South Surrey area had the highest average household income of all six town centres in Surrey, with an average of $86,824 as of 2010. Median household income was high at $62,960. South Surrey's neighbourhood of Rosemary Heights is the richest in Surrey and throughout the Metro Vancouver area, with a median income more than twice the regional average; as of 2010, the median household income of Surrey was $67,702 (versus the national medi
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway Company is the largest freight railroad network in North America. One of eight North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 44,000 employees, 32,500 miles of track in 28 states, more than 8,000 locomotives, it has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad; the BNSF and Union Pacific have a duopoly on all transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western U. S. and share trackage rights over thousands of miles of track. The BNSF Railway Company is the principal operating subsidiary of parent company Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC. Headquartered in Fort Worth, the railroad's parent company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. According to corporate press releases, the BNSF Railway is among the top transporters of intermodal freight in North America, it hauls bulk cargo, including enough coal to generate around ten per cent of the electricity produced in the United States.
The creation of BNSF started with the formation of a holding company on September 22, 1995. This new holding company purchased the Atchison and Santa Fe Railway and Burlington Northern Railroad, formally merged the railways into the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway on December 31, 1996. On January 24, 2005, the railroad's name was changed to BNSF Railway Company using the initials of its original name. On November 3, 2009, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced it would acquire the remaining 77.4 percent of BNSF it did not own for $100 per share in cash and stock — a deal valued at $44 billion. The company is acquiring $10 billion in debt. On February 12, 2010, shareholders of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation voted in favor of the acquisition. BNSF's history dates back to 1849, when the Aurora Branch Railroad in Illinois and the Pacific Railroad of Missouri were formed; the Aurora Branch grew into the Chicago and Quincy Railroad, a major component of successor Burlington Northern.
A portion of the Pacific Railroad became the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway; the Atchison and Santa Fe Railway was chartered in 1859. It built one of the first transcontinental railroads in North America, linking Chicago and Southern California; the Interstate Commerce Commission denied a proposed merger with the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in the 1980s. The Burlington Northern Railroad was created in 1970 through the consolidation of the Chicago and Quincy Railroad, the Great Northern Railway, the Northern Pacific Railway and the Spokane and Seattle Railway, it absorbed the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway in 1980, its main lines included Chicago-Seattle with branches to Texas and Montgomery and access to the low-sulfur coal of Wyoming's Powder River Basin. On June 30, 1994, BN and ATSF announced plans to merge. S. Class I railroads; the long-rumored announcement was delayed by a disagreement over the disposition of Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation, a gold mining subsidiary that ATSF agreed to sell to stockholders.
This announcement began the next wave of mergers, as the "Super Seven" were merged down to four in the next five years. The Illinois Central Railroad and Kansas City Southern Railway, two of the five "small" Class Is, announced on July 19 that the former would buy the latter, but this plan was called off on October 25; the Union Pacific Railroad, another major Western system, started a bidding war with BN for control of the SF on October 5. The UP gave up on January 1995, paving the way for the BN-ATSF merger. Subsequently, the UP acquired the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in 1996, Eastern systems CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway split Conrail in 1999. On February 7, 1995, BN and ATSF heads Gerald Grinstein and Robert D. Krebs both announced shareholders had approved the plan, which would save overhead costs and combine BN's coal and ATSF's intermodal strengths. Although the two systems complemented each other with little overlap, in contrast to the Santa Fe-Southern Pacific merger, which failed because it would have eliminated competition in many areas of the Southwest, BN and ATSF came to agreements with most other Class Is to keep them from opposing the merger.
UP was satisfied with a single segment of trackage rights from Abilene, Kansas to Superior, which BN and ATSF had both served. KCS gained haulage rights to several Midwest locations, including Omaha, East St. Louis, Memphis, in exchange for BNSF getting similar access to New Orleans. SP requesting far-reaching trackage rights throughout the West, soon agreed on a reduced plan, whereby SP acquired trackage rights on ATSF for intermodal and automotive traffic to Chicago, other trackage rights on ATSF in Kansas, south to Texas, between Colorado and Texas. In exchange, SP assigned BNSF trackage rights over the former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad between El Paso and Topeka and haulage rights to the Mexican border at Eagle Pass, Texas. Regional Toledo and Western Railway obtained trackage rights over BN from Peoria to Galesburg, Illinois, a BN hub where it could interchange with SP; the Interstate Commerce Commission approved the BNSF merger on July 20, 1995, less than a month before UP announced on August
