Steam & Excursion > Timeless Railroading in the Piney Woods

As a California boy I grew up with high mountains, giant redwoods and big pines. The majesty of these elements notwithstanding, I find that the comparatively flat Piney Woods of east Texas strike a responsive chord in the deep recesses my mind.

The reason, I think, lies in a combination of southern railroading history and mythology as presented in the eclectic readings of my youth - Ford Times magazine, the works of Thomas Wolfe and the novel The Long Summer of George Adams by Weldon Hill. Ford Times served up beautiful watercolor illustrations of the region, Wolfe brought the South of the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s to life in magical prose, especially as it described the trains of the period and Hill’s novel simply provided a wonderful look at a life in transition in the context of a railroad converting from steam to diesel power amid the social prejudices of a small town environment. Set in Cushing, Oklahoma in 1952, the story was made into a 1981 movie starring James Garner and Joan Hackett. The Piney Woods and the Texas State Railway Yard at Rusk, Texas substituted for Cushing.

For me, the tourist passenger trains of the Texas State Railway bring the rural South of Wolfe and Hill to life, exemplified by these two views of Texas State Railway 2-8-2 No. 400 passing the small station at Maydelle before heading back into the woods on its way to Palestine. A timeless scene of a small town and a steam powered passenger train with the coach windows open in a never ending battle against the summer heat.

The handsome mike was built in 1917 as locomotive No. 30 (c/n 46491) for Louisiana’s Tremont & Gulf where she served in the Piney Woods of that state until 1954, before going west to the Arizona desert and the Magma Arizona Railroad at Superior, Arizona where she carried the number 7. While employed there, she played a starring roll in a railroad wreck scene in the movie How the West Was Won before coming back home to the Piney Woods in 1971.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/10 15:04 by africansteam.

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Hard to believe that in a state with the wealth of Texas that the operation has been in constant money
problems. Needs to be adopted by Mark Cuban.

I have ridden the cab of that engine several times. Can't get over how rough riding it is even at the speeds the TSR runs which I don't think exceed 20 MPH. The pacific #500 is a smooth rider.

What is the date that these pictures were taken Jack?

Con

Con,I scanned these some time back and they have been languishing on my hard drive for a while, but I but I want to say July of 1988.
I will have to go into my slide file to verify that, but if it turns out to be otherwise I will post a correction.

Cheers,
Jack

rehunn Wrote:
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> Hard to believe that in a state with the wealth of
> Texas that the operation has been in constant
> money
> problems. Needs to be adopted by Mark Cuban.


Yea, baby - Mavs dancers could pile out of the cars and entertain each time the 400 takes on water