Imperial is perhaps the most recognizable name in sugar, and rightly so. For more than a century, Imperial Sugar’s crowned logo (and those that came before it) has graced nearly every grocer’s baking aisle. That legend began and lived much of its life in a city appropriately named Sugar Land, the very same city we call home.

In 1907, the year Imperial was given its world-famous name, the company also chartered a modest little railway for its own use. The Imperial Valley Railway Company was a short-lived enterprise responsible for transporting countless tons of Imperial’s prized sugar from its production facilities to connections that carried it across the Americas and the world.

Now, you might wonder why we’d spotlight a company that lasted barely five years before being folded into the Sugar Land Railway (which later joined the Missouri Pacific, and eventually the Union Pacific). While it could just be a tip of the hat to the city we call home, there’s a simple fact we’d like you to remember next time you’re overwhelmed and failing to live up to those lofty goals you have your eye on (as, indeed, we all do from time to time) and it’s this: the great Union Pacific didn’t start out as the giant it became. It grew into a legend through the contributions of many seemingly small and insignificant pieces—like the Imperial Valley. In other words, the journey of a thousand miles…