Western Railroad Discussion > Texas Info Needed

Afternoon all- Work is sending me out and about again, time time to Texas. Looking for the following info:

My main "requests" would be quantity over quality locations. However, if you have any suggestions (depots, yards, etc) on these routes or areas, please holler! 

Day1: Midland/Odessa- Marble Falls
Day2: Marble Falls-Tyler via Diboll
Day3: Tyler- DFW area

Thanks in advance and feel free to PM!- Ross

Saginaw, north of Ft. Worth is a good place to sit vs chase. This is out by the huge grain elevators, worth a stop if you can. I would add Big Sandy as a place to visit. It's about a half hour drive north of Tyler.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/25 14:33 by pilotblue.

Ross, you've when you say "Day _" would I be correct to conclude that you'll have 24 hours at your disposal to travel between the starting and finishing points?

Matthew

Roadmaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ross, you've when you say "Day _" would I be
> correct to conclude that you'll have 24 hours at
> your disposal to travel between the starting and
> finishing points?
>
> Matthew

Yes, that is correct.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/25 16:38 by ross.

Regarding Day 1, I expect others to have a better idea than I what to suggest; I have not been out that way in 35 years. 

Day 2 intrigues me - Marble Falls to Diboll - and I was thinking about what routes might work that I was at supper earlier.  Google Maps has you go northeast around the north side of Austin to Jarrell and then up I-35 through Temple to Eddy.  From there, Google suggests taking state highway 7 east to Crockett, then US 287 and some state highways to get to Diboll.  What good railroad places are these along this route?  Temple is a good place to go - BNSF has a yard and junction there, the former Santa Fe locomotive facility is still in operation near the Santa Fe's Temple and Moody train stations on the southwest corner of downtown.  The MKT passenger depot, located along UP's fairly quiet Waco Sub, is east of downtown next to state highway 53.  BNSF's Knowd fueling facility is crossed by Loop 363 on the southeast edge of town.  If there's train traffic while you're in Temple, you should be very happy, but it can be dead at times as well.  The rest of Google's suggested route will not yield much train traffic for you, though a couple of spots are interesting in their own way.  East of Kosse on TX 7 you'll pass by an open pit coal mine (on the north side of the highway) and cross a rail line that serves it and several other mines.  If you take State Highway 94 through Apple Springs on the east end of Google's route, you'll run parallel to the long-abandoned, but quite obvious right-of-way of the Groveton, Lufkin, and Northern for a mile or so after passing Apple Springs; the ROW is used by a power line and will be on your right.  The most active rail lines you would cross are UP's Fort Worth Sub at Marlin, UP's Ennis Sub at Kosse, UP's Hearne Sub at Marquez and UP's Palestine Sub at Crockett.  You'll go under BNSF's Houston Sub east of Marquez and then cross Farm-to-Market Road 39, built on the right-of-way of SP's short-lived and long-gone Nelleva Cut-Off.

If you're looking for an alternate route with a rail line to follow for over half the day's travels, you could use US 79 to follow a former Missouri Pacific, nee International and Great Northern line, now the UP Austin and Hearne Subdivisions, from Round Rock to Marquez.  Round Rock is north of Austin along IH-35, but south of Jarrell, and you would not go through Temple.  Following the UP Austin and Hearne Subs would take you through interesting railroad towns such as Taylor and Hearne, and you could see the beautiful International and Great Northern depot at Rockdale.  Hearne's depot is a museum as well.  The drawback is that UP has the line set up for directional running in the same direction you would be traveling - so the chances of seeing little train traffic would be high.

Going north out of Diboll on US 59 will take you to Lufkin.  US 69 would take you straight to Tyler from there, roughly running parallel to the right-of-way of Cotton Belt's Lufkin branch - only short subs exist in Lufkin and Tyler.  You would go through Rusk, the eastern terminus of the Texas State Railroad.  The TSR's depot is on the west side of town out on US 84.  The only active line you'll cross on the way to Tyler is the UP's Longview Sub (I think that is what it's called) at Jacksonville.  Jacksonville used to host three rail lines, but looking for where the Cotton Belt and SP's line from Dallas to Nacogdoches ran through town won't yield much.  Instead of taking US 69 out of Lufkin, you could opt to continue on US 59 north to Nacogdoches, where a very nice SP depot still stands trackside on the north side of downtown.  Tyler's most active rail line, the former Cotton Belt main, now UP's Corsicana Sub, hosts mostly southbound traffic. 

Regarding Day 3, pilotblue is correct about Big Sandy being worth a visit, and it is not that far out of the way.  From Big Sandy, you would just follow US 80 and the UP Dallas Sub to the DFW metroplex.

Matthew

EDIT added reference to US 79 and corrected a typo



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/25 06:24 by Roadmaster.

Diboll has the History Center, which is the history of the Temple Lumber Co, and Southern Pine Lumbe (Texas Southeastern ) 4-6-0 #13 parked outside under cover.

If things work out where you are close to Ft Worth you need to visit it.  IT IS A RAILROAD TOWN.  There are 4 large yards in town.   2 in Saginaw, ,old  Katy yard about 1.5 miles south of Tower 55, and x-T&P yard (largest in town) which follows W. Vickery st for about 3 to 4 miles.

Thank you all for the replies thus far! Have quite an extensive list now!- Ross

Midland has a highway along the UP Fort Worth-El Paso main all the way to Odessa with many industries, and a yard on the east side of Odessa.  About 14 road freights a day and several locals.  

For activity from there directly to Marble Falls there's only San Angelo, with a nice Santa Fe depot housing a Fr-Su museum, and a shortlne based out of a north side yard.  The Austin and Western serves several rock quarries near Marble Falls, mostly to the north.  If you are willing to drive an extra 45 minutes you could head northeast from San Angelo, following the shortline to where it interchanges with the BNSF near Santa Anna, along the BNSF through Brownwood to Lampasas, then cut down to Marble Falls past 3 of the rock quarries.  In Brownwood there is a rock shortline serving a pit.  The BNSF sees 6 to 10+ trains a day but a scanner is advisable, since there are several gaps where it is out of view.

Or if you want more activity follow the UP from Midland to Abilene, then the BNSF from Tuscola through Brownwood to Lampasas, about the same timewise as via San Angelo-Brownwood. There is a shortline in Sweetwater, along with the BNSF yard and crew change point, while Abilene has a nice T&P depot, a local based near it, and another shortline.  All of this can be researched with Google Maps.   Googling "railroad frequencies" and "Texas" should provide a list of radio channels.

>
> Or if you want more activity follow the UP from
> Midland to Abilene, then the BNSF from Tuscola
> through Brownwood to Lampasas, about the same
> timewise as via San Angelo-Brownwood. There is a
> shortline in Sweetwater, along with the BNSF yard
> and crew change point, while Abilene has a nice
> T&P depot, a local based near it, and another
> shortline.  All of this can be researched with
> Google Maps.   Googling "railroad frequencies"
> and "Texas" should provide a list of radio
> channels.

I'll be taking this routing, thanks!