The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad was a Class I railroad company in the United States, with its last headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Established in 1865 under the name Union Pacific Railroad (UP), Southern Branch, it came to serve an extensive rail network in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. In 1988, it merged with the Missouri Pacific Railroad; today, it is part of UP.
The Missouri Pacific Railroad, commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad operated 9,041 miles of road and 13,318 miles of track, not including DK&S, NO&LC, T&P, and its subsidiaries C&EI and Missouri-Illinois.
The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to April 17, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated 4,547 miles (7,318 km) of road on 6,574 miles (10,580 km) of track, not including subsidiaries Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway and the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad; that year, it reported 12,795 million ton-miles of revenue freight and no passengers. It was purchased and absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980. Despite its name, it never came close to San Francisco.
The International – Great Northern Railroad (I&GN) was a railroad that operated in the U.S. state of Texas. It was created on September 30, 1873, when the International Railroad and the Houston and Great Northern Railroad merged. The railroad was officially incorporated as the International & Great Northern Railroad Company.
The Texas Mexican Railway was a short line railroad in the U.S. state of Texas operating between Corpus Christi and the Texas Mexican Railway International Bridge in Laredo, Texas. It is often referred to as the Tex-Mex, or TexMex Railway.
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.
The Texas and New Orleans Railroad was a railroad in Texas and Louisiana. It operated 3,713 miles (5,975 km) of railroad in 1934; by 1961, 3,385 miles (5,448 km) remained when it merged with parent company Southern Pacific.
The Beaumont, Sour Lake and Western Railway was an 85-mile (137 km) railroad that ran from Beaumont, Texas to Gulf Coast Junction in Houston. It passed through small southeast Texas communities such as Hull, Kenefick, and Huffman. As part of the Gulf Coast Lines system, the road was eventually merged into the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1956, which in turn was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad in 1982. The Union Pacific still makes heavy use of the route.
Article X of the Texas Constitution of 1876 covers railroad companies and the creation of the Railroad Commission of Texas. The federal government later created the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railroads, and eight of the nine sections of Article X were repealed in 1969 as "deadwood".
Benjamin Franklin Yoakum was an American railroad executive of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who attempted to join the Frisco and Rock Island Railroads into a great system stretching from Chicago to Mexico. In 1909, when Yoakum controlled 17,500 miles of railroad, Railway World magazine called him an "empire builder" who had done as much for the Southwest as legendary James J. Hill had done for the Northwest.
The Louisiana Southern Railway Company (LS) was a railroad in southern Louisiana, chartered in 1897 as successor to several short lines which had operated along the Mississippi River, including Mississippi, Terre aux Boeuf, and Lake; New Orleans and Gulf; and New Orleans and Southern, that eventually became part of the Southern Railway system.
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 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 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.
Chartered on June 6, 1903, the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway was a 200-mile (321 km) U.S. railroad that operated from Brownsville, Texas, to Gulf Coast Junction in Houston, Texas. It served numerous towns and cities along its routes and operated a rail bridge between Brownsville and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in junction with the Mexican government. The Brownie connected the citizens of Brownsville to nearby Corpus Christi for the first time on land rather than using water transportation.
The Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, chartered under the laws of Texas on June 1, 1885, was part of a plan conceived by Buckley Burton Paddock and other Fort Worth civic leaders to create a transcontinental route linking New York, Fort Worth, and the Pacific port of Topolobampo, which they believed would stimulate the growth and development of southwest Texas in general, and the economy of Fort Worth in particular.
The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway first began operation in the U.S. state of Texas in 1886. It was developed by Uriah Lott and businessmen of San Antonio as a direct route from the city to Aransas Bay on the Texas Gulf coast. It was eventually absorbed in the 20th century by Southern Pacific.
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 history of the Southern Pacific ("SP") stretched from 1865 to 1998.
