Western Railroad Discussion > Fort Worth to Houston main lines compared

The recent thread on Chicago to Omaha routes...

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3645443

...got me asking the same question about the routes between Fort Worth (Dallas) and Houston - which was best, which was worst, strengths/weaknesses, etc.

As far as I can tell from my 1949 official guide, the following roads had routes between the two:

1. ATSF (via Cleburne/temple/sealy)
2. SP (via College Station/Corsicana)
3. Rock Island (shared w/ Burlington)
4. Burlington (shared w/ Rock Island)
5. MP
6. MKT

I'm not a Texas RR expert, so I have no idea which of these routes remain - although I think the tail end of MKT in Houston has been abandoned.

The fastest road in 1949 (at least for passenger) was SP Sunbeam (avg 4.3 h) and the slowest appeared to be MKT (avg 9.4 h).

Anybody wish to comment?

Thanks --

jofegan

The portion of the Katy mainline between Katy (the town) and Houston was abandoned. UP through traffic on the remainder of the line jumps onto trackage rights on the ex-ATSF at Sealy.

The ATSF line into Houston diverges at Alvin and heads north into the city. (The original GC&SF was funded largely by Galveston business interests, who purposefully wanted the mainline to bypass Houston.). ATSF passenger trains used the SP from Rosenberg into H-town.

Posted from iPhone

Currently, a great deal of Union Pacific trackage throughout Texas has directional running.

The ex-SP to Corsicana and Hearne is virtually all southbound traffic. Upon reaching Hearne, trains can continue on towards Houston or go towards Flatonia or San Antonio. A new massive hump yard is in the works in Hearne. http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2015/01/0112-hearne-texas-up

The ex-MKT from Waco is primarily northbound traffic. Northbound Houston traffic will also go through the Hearne area.

The ex-ATSF to Houston and Galveston is BNSF's primary route. It sees everything from intermodal, manifest, autorack, and unit trains.

The ex-Burlington / Rock Island to Corsicana, Teague, and Houston is more of a secondary route. It sees coal, rock, and manifest trains.

Andrew

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/15 11:44 by florida581.

Which RR owns/runs the old-BRI route?

It's remarkable that there is no intercity service between DFW and Houston - seems like it would be a natural corridor.

-j

florida581 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> The ex-Burlington / Rock Island to Corsicana,
> Teague, and Houston is more of a secondary route.
> It sees coal, rock, and manifest trains.

jofegan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Which RR owns/runs the old-BRI route?
>
> It's remarkable that there is no intercity service
> between DFW and Houston - seems like it would be a
> natural corridor.
>
> -j
>
> florida581 Wrote:

Nah, everybody in this state just meets in Austin. Houstonian's think Dallas is full of Easterners and Northerners, And Dallas thinks Houston is nothing but Mexicans and Truck drivers!

:^>

RickL
Houston (formerly Dallas) TX

jofegan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Which RR owns/runs the old-BRI route?
>
> It's remarkable that there is no intercity service
> between DFW and Houston - seems like it would be a
> natural corridor.
>
> -j

It's owned by BNSF.

Andrew

Posted from iPhone

florida581 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jofegan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Which RR owns/runs the old-BRI route?
> >
> > It's remarkable that there is no intercity
> service
> > between DFW and Houston - seems like it would be
> a
> > natural corridor.
> >
> > -j
>
> It's owned by BNSF.
>
> Andrew
>
> Posted from iPhone


Also technically the portion between Waxahachie and Dallas is ex-MKT -- the B-RI had trackage rights. After the UP-SP merger UP was compelled to sell the ex-MKT between Dallas and Waxahachie to BNSF, but they retained the exclusive right to serve customers located on that line segment.

In. '49 the Katy train from Dallas to Houston, The Bluebonnet, required dwell time in Waco.

That's why it's numbers are so slow in your summation.