Q. the first union railroad was built in what year?

In 1883-1884 the Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railroad laid 456 miles of rails between Memphis and New Orleans.  On October 6, 1884 the first passenger train schedule between New Orleans and Memphis was put into effect.  The LNO & T ran its tracks through the 160 acre farm owned by Darel Zachary.  He sold a strip of land to LNO & T and when the station was completed, it was known as the Zachary Station.  The LNO & T line through Zachary became part of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley on October 24, 1892 and ultimately became part of the Illinois Central Railroad.--Zachary Faces and Places, 1975.