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The SP was the defendant in the landmark 1886 [[United States Supreme Court]] case ''[[Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad]]'', which is often interpreted as having established certain [[corporation|corporate rights]] under the [[United States Constitution|Constitution of the United States]].
The Southern Pacific Railroad was replaced by the Southern Pacific Company and assumed the railroad operations of the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1929, Southern Pacific/Texas and New Orleans operated 13,848 route-miles not including Cotton Belt, whose purchase of the Golden State Route circa 1980 nearly doubled its size to {{convert|3085|mi|km}}, bringing total SP/SSW mileage to around {{convert|13508|mi|km}}. The T&NO was fully merged into the SP in 1961.
[[File:SP 6453 EB Floriston PRS spc Feb 1971.jpg|thumb|left|An [[EMD FP7]] leads a Pacific Rail Society Special through [[Floriston, California]], in February 1971.]]
In 1969, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company was established and took over the Southern Pacific Company; this Southern Pacific railroad is the last incarnation and was at times called "Southern Pacific Industries", though "Southern Pacific Industries" is not the official name of the company. By the 1980s, route mileage had dropped to {{convert|10423|mi|km}}, mainly due to the pruning of branch lines. On October 13, 1988, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company (including its subsidiary, St. Louis Southwestern Railway) was taken over by [[Rio Grande Industries]], the parent company that controlled the [[Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad]]. Rio Grande Industries did not merge the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad together, but transferred direct ownership of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad to the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, allowing the combined Rio Grande Industries railroad system to use the Southern Pacific name due to its brand recognition in the railroad industry and with customers of both the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. A long time Southern Pacific subsidiary, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway was also marketed under the Southern Pacific name. Along with the addition of the SPCSL Corporation route from Chicago to St. Louis, the former mainline of the [[Chicago, Missouri and Western Railroad]] that once belonged to the [[Alton Railroad]], the total length of the D&RGW/SP/SSW system was {{convert|15959|mi|km}}. Rio Grande Industries was later renamed [[Southern Pacific Rail Corporation]].
By 1996, years of financial problems had dropped Southern Pacific's mileage to {{convert|13715|mi|km}}. The financial problems caused the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to be taken over by the [[Union Pacific Corporation]]; the parent Southern Pacific Rail Corporation (formerly Rio Grande Industries), the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the SPCSL Corporation was also taken over by the Union Pacific Corporation. The Union Pacific Corporation merged the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the SPCSL Corporation into their [[Union Pacific Railroad]] but did not merge the Southern Pacific Transportation Company into the Union Pacific Railroad. Instead, the Union Pacific Corporation merged the Union Pacific Railroad into the Southern Pacific Transportation Company on February 1, 1998; the Southern Pacific Transportation Company became the surviving railroad and at the same time the Union Pacific Corporation renamed the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to Union Pacific Railroad. Thus, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company became, and is still operating as, the current incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad.
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