In 1949, Western Pacific joined with the Denver & Rio Grande Western and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads to introduce a new streamlined passenger train between Oakland and Chicago, the "California Zephyr." The cars on the Zephyr were exchanged between the three railroads, but each used its locomotives on its own portion of the trip. The Western Pacific introduced an orange and silver paint scheme with an elaborate, stylized red nose feather to decorate its new passenger locomotives.
The Western Pacific operated 1,719 route miles in California, Nevada and Utah. Its main line paralleled rival Southern Pacific between Oakland and Salt Lake City, and its "Inside Gateway" connection in Northern California challenged Southern Pacific’s north-south route.
The company struggled financially through most of its existence due to the lack of feeder branch lines and competition from Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway for transcontinental traffic. Western Pacific was acquired by Union Pacific on Dec. 22, 1982.
