Downing B. Jenks
Downing Jenks was born in Portland, Oregon, in August 1915. He graduated from Yale University and was a third-generation railroader. He served as Lieutenant colonel in the Army in Africa, Italy, France and Germany in World War II.
Jenks started as a chainman on the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway in 1934. From 1949 through 1961, he worked for the Rock Island Lines, retiring as its president.
He joined the Missouri Pacific as President and CEO in 1961 and launched a major overhaul of the railroad. Under Jenks’ leadership, Missouri Pacific became known as one of the best managed and maintained railroad in the country. He was a pioneer in the early days of computer-guided rail technology.
In April 1961, to save money, Jenks introduced a new paint scheme for the railroad's locomotives which became known as “Jenks blue.”
In 1971, he was elected president and CEO of Mississippi River Corporation, the parent company of Missouri Pacific Railroad and of Mississippi River Transmission Corporation, a gas pipeline company. He became Chairman two years later, while continuing to serve as Chairman of the railroad. In 1978, the parent company’s name was changed to Missouri Pacific Corporation.
By the 1980s, the system owned 11,469 miles of rail line over 11 states bounded by Chicago in the east; Pueblo, Colorado, in the west; Omaha in the north; Laredo, Texas, on the US-Mexico border; and southeast along the Gulf seaports of Louisiana and Texas. MoPac operated a fleet of more than 1,500 diesel locomotives, almost all purchased within the previous 10 years. The line was a major hauler of coal, grain, ore, autos, dry goods, and shipping containers.
In December 1982, Union Pacific Corporation acquired Missouri Pacific Corp. Jenks retired a year later and joined the Union Pacific board of directors. The UP’s Jenks Locomotive Facility is named in his honor.
Jenks died October 26, 1996, in Chesterfield, Missouri.