What was the relationship between the Cotton Belt and the Espee? They did share a paint scheme, after all. Was the SSW swallowed in the UP merger?
Matthew Hicks
See the last paragraph at this link.
http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/railroad/STLOUISSOUTHWESTERN.cfm
SP swallowed up St. Louis & Southwestern (SSW or Cotton Belt) well before UP swallowed up SP.
In practice the SSW was seperate from the rest of the SP untill Mr. Russell became the SP’s president in the 1950s. When he became president everyone reported to Mr. Russell! That was the end of the SSW being truly independent.
You will probably find some interesting information in the article about Southern Pacific in the March 2005 issue of Trains.