| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Teague, Texas |
| Reporting mark | BRI |
| Locale | Texas |
| Dates of operation | 1902–1965 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Burlington-Rock Island Railroad( reporting mark BRI) came into existence on July 7, 1930, through the reorganization of its predecessor, the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway Company (T&BV), [1] [2] nicknamed the "Boll Weevil Line." [3]
Like its predecessor, the BRI was jointly owned by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (Rock Island), with each company owning half of the railroad. "It took its new name from the two owning systems and operated 303 miles (488 km) of track in 1930." [4]
The Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway (T&BV) was originally chartered on October 9, 1902, its first trackage consisting of an 88-mile (142 km) line from Cleburne, Texas, to Mexia, Texas, [5] which was finished in January 1904. Due to a shortage of operating capital to complete the project, the railroad was acquired in August 1905 by the Colorado and Southern Railway, which later sold a half interest in its investment to the Rock Island. The Colorado and Southern was bought by Burlington in 1908. Due to the influx of funds from these well-heeled financial partners, by 1907 the T&BV line had been extended to Houston from the Mexia terminal, with a line also added between Waxahachie and Teague. Trackage rights were also soon arranged with other railroads linking the T&BV with Waxahachie and Dallas, Cleburne and Fort Worth, and Houston and Galveston.
With ongoing financial problems resulting from inadequate revenue, the Trinity and Brazos Valley went into receivership in 1914. [6] A series of receivers were appointed including John W. Robbins (1914), L.H. Atwell, Jr, and in 1919, Gen. John A. Hulen. Hulen eventually became the first president of the BRI when the T&BV was reorganized. [7]
Hulen had begun improvements on the Trinity and Brazos while he was receiver, and this trend was continued after the reorganization. The two parent companies rotated their management of the BRI in 5 year intervals; the Rock Island started first and controlled the BRI until 1935. Soon after the reorganization an abandonment of the original right of way between Mexia and Cleburne began and was implemented in three stages, the first being the 30-mile (48 km) Cleburne to Hillsboro section (1932), next the 35-mile (56 km) section from Hillsboro to Hubbard (1935), and finally in 1942, the 23 miles (37 km) of track from Hubbard to Mexia.
Along with their partner the CB&Q, the BRI inaugurated the first streamlined passenger train service in Texas on October 1, 1936, the Sam Houston Zephyr . [8] Listed as a CB&Q train, it ran from Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston. Not to be outdone, Rock Island in cooperation with the BRI inaugurated its own named streamlined passenger train in 1937, the Texas Rocket . [9] The Rocket was replaced in January 1945 by the Twin Star Rocket , listed as a Rock Island train running between Houston and Minneapolis-St. Paul. [10]
A major change in the BRI landscape came in 1950 when the Rock Island partnered with the Fort Worth and Denver Railway to lease the BRI's line section from Teague to Houston, [11] [12] which they called the Joint Texas division. [13]
The BRI never lived up to its financial promise, finally succumbing to foreclosure in April 1964. Its assets were purchased by the owning partners, each receiving an uncontested half interest in the property. The railroad's tangible assets became part of the Fort Worth and Denver and Rock Island railroads in 1965 and the Burlington-Rock Island Railroad was no more. Rock Island went out of business on March 31, 1980, leaving the Fort Worth and Denver in sole control; it in turn merged into the Burlington Northern system on December 31, 1982. Burlington Northern would merge with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe in 1996 to form Ft. Worth-based BNSF Railway.
In 1940 B-RI reported 78 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 16 million passenger miles; at the end of that year it operated 255 miles of railroad.[ citation needed ]
Cleburne is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 31,352. The city is named in honor of Patrick Cleburne, a Confederate general. Lake Pat Cleburne, the reservoir that provides water to the city and surrounding area, is also named after him.
The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and also in Texas through subsidiaries Colorado and Southern Railway, Fort Worth and Denver Railway, and Burlington-Rock Island Railroad. Its primary connections included Chicago, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver. Because of this extensive trackage in the midwest and mountain states, the railroad used the advertising slogans "Everywhere West", "Way of the Zephyrs", and "The Way West".
Dallas Union Station, officially Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station, also known as Dallas Union Terminal, is a large intermodal railroad station in Dallas, Texas. It is the third busiest Amtrak station in Texas, behind Fort Worth Central Station and San Antonio station. It serves DART light rail Blue and Red lines, Trinity Railway Express commuter rail and Amtrak inter-city rail. It is located on Houston Street, between Wood and Young Streets, in the Reunion district of Downtown Dallas. The structure is a Dallas Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Denver Zephyr was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado. In peak years it ran to Colorado Springs. It operated from 1936 to 1973. The Denver Zephyr continued operating after the Burlington Northern Railroad merger in 1970. BN conveyed the train to Amtrak in 1971; Amtrak merged it with the Denver–Oakland City of San Francisco to form the San Francisco Zephyr and dropped the "Denver" name in 1973.
The Fort Worth and Western Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Operating only within the state of Texas, its main freight service route is between Carrollton, Fort Worth and Brownwood.
The Fort Worth and Denver Railway, nicknamed "the Denver Road," was a class I American railroad company that operated in the northern part of Texas from 1881 to 1982, and had a profound influence on the early settlement and economic development of the region.
Iola is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States, on Farm to Market Road 39 and the Burlington-Rock Island Railroad, at the headwaters of Ragan Creek in northwestern Grimes County. As of the 2020 census the population was 311.
The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (GC&SF) was chartered in Texas in 1873 to build a railroad from Galveston, Texas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. By 1886, it had built from Galveston to a junction in Temple, Texas, which was founded by the company. From Temple, one line went north to Dallas and Fort Worth via a junction in Cleburne, while a second line extended northwest and terminated near Coleman, Texas.
The Texas Zephyr was a named passenger train operated by the Colorado & Southern Railway and the Fort Worth & Denver Railway. The train was originally designated number 1 southbound, and number 2 northbound. It ran from Denver, Colorado to Dallas, Texas.
The Sunbeam was a named passenger train between Houston and Dallas on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad (T&NO), a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). The train carried number 13 northbound and number 14 southbound.
The Twin Star Rocket was a passenger train operated by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Introduced on January 14, 1945, it was the only new streamlined train permitted to enter service in World War II by the U.S. government. The new train became the second longest north–south train itinerary under the management of a single railroad in the United States with its northern terminal at the Milwaukee Road’s Minneapolis depot and southern terminal 1,363 miles (2,194 km) away at Houston, Texas. The name of the new streamlined train was derived from its terminal states—Texas being known as the Lone Star State and Minnesota as the North Star State.
The Sam Houston Zephyr was a named passenger train operated by the Burlington-Rock Island Railroad, a subsidiary of both the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It was the first streamlined passenger train in Texas.
The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads, the largest class by operating revenue.
The Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC) was an 872-mile (1403-km) railway system chartered in Texas in 1848, with construction beginning in 1856. The line eventually stretched from Houston northward to Dallas and Denison, Texas, with branches to Austin and Waco.
The Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway of Texas came into existence on October 7, 1902, originally chartered to build a railroad from Johnson County to the Beaumont area near the Gulf coast. It took its name from the Trinity and Brazos rivers. It was commonly known as the “Boll Weevil," though it referred to itself as the "Valley Road."
The Mexia-Nelleva Cutoff was a railroad cutoff constructed between Nelleva and Mexia, in eastern Texas. It has not been used since 1933, when it was abandoned by its owner, the Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC).
Union Station is a building in Houston, Texas, in the United States. Dedicated on March 2, 1911, and formerly a hub of rail transportation, the building now serves as a cornerstone for Daikin Park. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has since been superseded by Houston's Amtrak station.
The Pioneer Zephyr is a diesel-powered stream-lined train-set built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in the United States.
This first eighty miles will be from Cleburne to Mexia ...
The train will begin its initial trip ... October 1 ... This is Texas' first streamlined train.
Twice daily streamline passenger service will be inaugurated by Burlington-Rock Island Lines August 29 ... when the company's new "Rocket" train joins the Sam Houston Zephyr.
The Twin Star Rocket, replacing the Texas Rocket ... will be extended through to Minneapolis.
Appointment of Richard E. Johnson as superintendent of the Joint Texas division of the Rock Island Lines and the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway Company was announced ...
