Nostalgia & History > An interesting SP/MKT crossing

Sept 76
At Eureka Jct in Houston the SP had a connecting track that ran from their double track Sunset Route, crossed the MKT (here) and connected back in to the Dallas line in the distance at the code line.
The Katy line headed west (left) coming out of Eureka Yard.

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Instructions for crossing the MKT along with one of those motor car indicator signal.

 

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Looking west down the now abandoned MKT.
The SP track (thanks to GCL13) is still there.

Gary

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/21 03:13 by gcm.

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Neat shots, Gary!

RC Lundgren

Pretty neat set up and explanation.

Thanks for posting these. If you had not posted these, what are the chances of us seeing other photos of this crossing?
Bob

Just a guess here, but could this spur or leg to the Dallas/Hempstead line have been primarily used by SP passenger trains like the Sunbeam and the Austin train?  I guess further that this line went little or unused once those trains were discontinued in the 1950s.  If you look on old maps of Houston you see that there was a round house and wye near Chaney yard just to service passenger trains.  The massive and extensive operations that SP once had in Houston was amazing.

Good to see people shooting (and posting) pix like this. 

Actually the SP Track is still in service. It connects the east west SP (Old Terminal Subdivision now called Houston Subdivision) main track to the north south Line (Old Hearne Subdivision now called Eureka Subdivision. This connection formed a third leg to Eureka Junction. The track was primarily used by rock trains from San Antonio area going to destinations on the Eureka line or for detour moves. The Eureka Subdivision had a direct connection with the Houston Subdivision that allows through trains. Back in the day, SP passenger trains used the direct connection. 

The SP rails in photo #1 don't look very rusty on top but the weeds seem to say there were very few train movements on the line.   Anyone know what frequency that SP line saw traffic at the time?   That had to be a pain of a junction for SP crews to operate through.   

Thanks for your thorough photo documentation of this interesting crossing.
ALLEN 

Looks like the weed sprayer needed to pay a visit!

Andy