Big Country Railroad Historical Society

05/18/2026

We at the Big Country Railroad Historical Society wish the San Antonio Railroad Heritage Museum good luck and a warm congratulations on their acquirement of the former San Antonio & Aransas Pass #260, which used to operate at the Stone Mountain Railroad, in Georgia. We will certainly keep our eyes and ears open for any and all news, as it comes. We thank you for the rescue and later repatriation of this assuredly Texas engine. We wish y'all the best of luck!

04/30/2026

How cool is this!?!

Howdy y'all! Gideon Menken here, to share with you an item from my collection. Here we have an original Texas State Railroad, (TSR) passenger ticket, specifically issued for a member of the Clergy, or church man, for the uninitiated.

For those that don't know, I will let the Texas State Historical Association tell y'all about the original TSR, and how it differs from the one that still operates steam in the Piney Woods, on the very same route dictated on this very ticket, to this day.

"The Texas State Railroad originated as an industrial railway serving the iron foundry operated by the Texas prison system on the penitentiary grounds near Rusk. In 1896 the first five miles of track were built west from North Rusk to haul wood and iron ore to the smelter known as the "Old Alcalde" that had been built by the state of Texas in 1884. In 1903 the prison smelter was expanded, and the railroad was extended five miles to the community of Maydelle. Governor Thomas M. Campbell conceived the idea that it would be profitable for the railroad to become a common carrier, and on April 5, 1907, the legislature approved his request to operate the railroad as a common carrier and to extend the line from Maydelle to Palestine. Regular service began on June 6, 1907, and the line to Palestine was put in service on April 15, 1909... In 1972 the Sixty-first Texas Legislature turned most of the railroad over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) for conversion to a hike and bike trail. However, a group of railroad enthusiasts implored the department to investigate operating a passenger train for tourists. The findings were favorable, and plans for a state park were formulated. Inmates of the Texas prison system were again used to rehabilitate the line, while steam locomotives and other equipment were located in various parts of the country."

This experpt is found at the following website. I hope that y'all learned something, along with us! Have a great day, y'all!

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/texas-state-railroad

08/06/2025

Today, we wish to bring the attention of the group to a little switcher from out West.

First off, an educational moment. A "Switching" or "Switcher" locomotive is one of typically small sizes, not meant or designed to haul long trains from town to town. Their service was reserved to servicing industries and their rail connection to the main line. Their service would entail taking a short string of freight cars from a side track (or "siding") to the main line, for the main line power to take it over longer distances, to customers farther away.

This here is a General Electric 70 Tonner was built in November of 1946 with the Serial Number of #28562, originally for the Albany & Northern #70. At some point during its 25+ years there, it was renumbered to the #1. It appears that this would be its longest time employed by any one owner.

Its sale from the Albany & Northern occurred sometime between 1969 and November 1970, when it was acquired by the Roscoe Snyder & Pacific Railway of Roscoe, Texas. However, the RS&P did not seem to use it for very long, as they sold it again in 1971 to American Grain & Cattle Co. of Plainview, Texas, without any road number at all.

However, if the sources are correct, American Grain & Cattle Co. filed for bankruptcy sometime between then and 1975.

In a deal that I do not yet know of, now AG&CCo. went to Continental Grain of Beaumont, Texas, in 1979, again, with no road number.

The information is lacking on the Beaumont location of Continental Grain, although it seems that the location has shut down. The team here at the BCRHS cannot firmly establish whether or not it has been declared a Superfund site by the EPA at this time, based on the information currently available.

Therefore, we do not know if this locomotive still exists in the present day. Any valuable information would be appreciated. We hope y'all enjoyed reading, and we wish that you have a great day!

A huge thanks for all of the information in this post goes to the individuals behind the following photographs and websites:

Don Ross, and his Texas Short Lines and Industrial Railroads page of his Don's Depot website. https://donsdepot.irm.org/dr4235.htm

Clint Chamberlin at the Northeast Railfan website, and George Elwood for photographing this locomotive as Albany & Northern #1.
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tr_an1.jpg

Corrender Taylor for the photograph of this locomotive in Roscoe, Texas, in 1971.

Michael Palmieri and the photographer Todd Minsk on Railroad Picture Archives.
https://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4800337

The folks at Justia Law for the American Grain & Cattle Co. court case discussing their bankruptcy.
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/415/270/2248656/

The EPA for the details on the Beaumont location of Continental Grain.
https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/CurSites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0601917

07/22/2025

Although late, the folks here at the BCRHS acknowledge the momentus anniversary that we have just recently undergone! Thank you, Texas State Historical Association for sharing this with all of us! Y'all have a great day!

On this day in 1876, the Texas and Pacific Railway finally completed its line into Fort Worth. Construction of the line had stalled just sixteen miles to the east, at Eagle Ford. Eager to reach Fort Worth before the Texas legislature could revoke its charter and withhold its land subsidy, the T&P hired Welshman Morgan Jones to complete the line before the legislature adjourned. Work continued day and night, while a little more than a mile a day of track was laid. A holiday spirit filled the town when Jones's line finally reached Fort Worth on time. The success made the Welshman a local hero and marked the beginning of a new era of growth for Fort Worth.

07/02/2025

This is a Past and Present comparison of the circa 1915 Roby & Northern Railroad depot in Roby, Texas.

The Past photograph was taken between 1925 and 1940, by Alvin Carl Greene, the beloved author and historic photographer.

The Present photograph was taken on July 1st, 2025, by myself, Gideon L. Menken, the amature historian, and mediocre photographer, at best.

Yours Truly tried their hardest not to get hit by the oncoming traffic on U.S Route 180, and such appears to be successful. However, the angle is still not of absolute perfection.

Following is a paraphrased history of the Roby & Northern by the Texas State Historical Association*, included for context. Such has been fact checked and verified by the research team here at the Big Country Railroad Historical Society.

"The Roby and Northern Railroad Company was chartered on May 5, 1915, to build from Roby north to a junction with the Texas Central Railroad, a distance of five miles. Rails and other materials were obtained from the abandoned Estacado and Gulf Railroad, and the road was placed in service between Roby and North Roby on January 3, 1916. The West Texas Utilities Company acquired the Roby and Northern and converted it to electric operation in 1923. The road discontinued all operations on December 31, 1941, and was abandoned the following year."

*https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/roby-and-northern-railroad

02/20/2025

In July 1944 the Vice President of General Motors (GM) and General Manager of the Electro-Motive Division (EMD), Cyrus R. Osborn, was traveling on a train across Colorado. During that trip he had a vision for passengers to experience the same views the locomotive crews had while traveling. From this vision was born the famous dome passenger car. Throughout 1944 - 46 GM and EMD worked diligently to both design and promote the new dome car. In 1947 they rolled out the "Train of Tomorrow", a complete, newly designed streamlined passenger train. This train featured a brand new E7A locomotive and various dome car designs that began a nationwide travelling campaign. On January 18, 1948 the eastbound traveling "Train of Tomorrow" stopped for display in Abilene, TX from 12P - 9P before proceeding East to Dallas.

- Photo provided by McMurry University Library via The Portal to Texas History
- Official correspondence letter provided by the Corrender Taylor Collection

01/23/2025

This spectacular aerial view of Stamford, Texas gives a great perspective of the vast, complex railroad history that Stamford holds and was so close to showcasing its greatest features; the union depot and roundhouse. Captured at the bottom of the image is the east side of the Wichita Valley Railway yard which is the meeting point of the Abilene & Northern Railway and the Stamford & Northwestern. Captured towards the top of the image is the Texas Central Railroad which later became the Missouri-Kansas & Texas Railway. If the tracks are followed off to the right of the image, it is quite noticeable that they would eventually cross. That is where the Union Depot was located, just of to the right of the image. And just barely making it out of frame to the bottom left would be the roundhouse. A great view that shows all the different Stamford industries and compresses served by the railroad.

01/20/2025

Mark your calendars! We have a wonderful lecture coming in February about the history of the Wichita Valley Railway by the Wichita Valley Chapter NRHS!

01/16/2025

This Gulf Colorado & Santa Fe Railway depot located in Coleman, Texas was built in 1916. Although it was not the first it is by far the most extravagant. At the time the depot was built, the former wooden depot was used as a freight depot for decades afterwards. Like most of Santa Fe's depots, it was likely closed in the late 60's early 70s. Its brick and stucco design with a pitched roof makes it a unique, one of a kind design compared to Santa Fe's standard flat roof design for their depots out west.

01/09/2025

This rare photo from the Vinson Family Collection provided by Barbara Fahrlender captures an eastbound Texas & Pacific 4-6-0 pulling a freight train on approach to the Cedar Creek bridge on the east side of Abilene, Texas. This bridge alone is one of the oldest if not the oldest bridge in Abilene. This particular bridge still stands along with the original abutments and piers. The locomotive pulling this train is an early version of Texas & Pacific's ten-wheeler types. A photo from the Corrender Taylor Collection gives a better visual of what this locomotive likely looked like.