out.

The first extension of the Santa Fe was to Deming, New Mexico, where
in March, 1881, its tracks met those of the Southern Pacific, and by
agreement the company secured the use of the Southern Pacific to Benson,
Arizona. From the first this new through route to the Pacific began to
pay handsomely. Later on the line into Guaymas, Mexico, was added by the
purchase of the Sonora Railway. Soon afterward the Santa Fe secured from
the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway a half interest in the charter
of the Atlantic and Pacific, a company which planned to build through to
the coast. Meanwhile the St. Louis and San Francisco had been acquired
by the Gould and Huntington interests, which, as the owners of the Texas
and Pacific and the Southern Pacific systems, naturally opposed the
plans of the Santa Fe. The matter was compromised by the agreement of
the Santa Fe to build no farther west than the Colorado River, where the
Santa Fe was to be met by an extension of the Southern Pacific line from
Mojave, California.

This arrangement proved unprofitable to the Santa Fe, for the Southern
Pacific naturally diverted traffic to El Paso and Ogden, A new
arrangement was accordingly made in 1884, involving the purchase, by the
Atlantic and Pacific, of the Southern Pacific division between Needles
and Mojave, the obtaining of trackage rights between Mojave and
San Francisco, and the use of the Southern Pacific terminals at San
Francisco. To assure a connection with the coast in Southern California,
the Santa Fe built a line to Colton, acquired the California Southern
Railway from Colton to San Diego, and effected an entrance to Los
Angeles by leasing the Southern Pacific tracks from Colton.

The Santa Fe had now reached the Pacific coast over its own lines, but
it was handicapped by poor connections with the East. Its next move
therefore was eastward to Chicago, where it acquired the Chicago and
St. Louis Railroad between Chicago and Streator, Illinois, and then
constructed lines between the latter point and the Missouri River.
During the same year the company opened branches southward to the Gulf
of Mexico, until by May, 1888, the entire system comprised 7100 miles.

This rapid expansion of the property, combined with extravagance in
management and a reckless policy in the payment of dividends, brought
the company into financial difficulties within a year after the
completion of the system. Unprofitable branches had been built,