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Hate to correct Ed, but Burlington and the Rock did not form the Fort Worth & Denver (nee Fort Worth and Denver City) under the Texas law. The FW&D was the Texas subsidiary of the Colorado & Southern formed under the Texas law, and it ran from Fort Worth northwest through Wichita Falls and Amarillo to the state line at Texline out past Dalhart in the Panhandle, with branches to Abilene, Lubbock and a few other places. C&S (FW&D) purchased the failing and incomplete (Cleburne-Mexia had been built) Trinity & Brazos Valley in 1905 with the provision that they would sell 1/2 interest to CRI&G (Chicago Rock Island and Gulf) within a year, which they did. They jointly ran over the line using trackage rights over GC&SF between Cleburne and Ft Worth and over MKT between Waxahatchie and Dallas. The line was complete to Houston in 1907, but failed in 1914 and was forced into receivership. In 1930 it was reorganized as the Burlington-Rock Island Railroad Company (B-RI), with operating authority in alternating 5 year periods, with RI taking the first turn in 1931. Dallas-Fort Worth was RI operated jointly by B-RI. This whole arrangement lasted until RI's closure in 1980, and BN bought the half interest in B-RI from the RI trustee, retaining rights over the MKT into Dallas, and BNSF got the MKT Waxahatchie line as part of the UP merger-related deals. The DFW line had been operated by MKT under a Directed Service Order associated with the bankruptcy, and Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the City of Ft Worth got it as part of the breakup (this is the TRE line), and BNSF still has rights, as does UP. By the way, the Dallas Union Terminal Co. had RI running its trackage (allegedly because it was by that time "impartial" with respect to the big RRs running through there--all the freight lines save SP went through UTCo) at the time of the bankruptcy and, like the B-RI, maintenance got so bad on many days they couldn't get ATK in and out of the remaining station tracks because of poor maintenance on the pneumatic switch machines, and of course the freight operators had the same problems on the 3 outside freight tracks. Probably more info than you want. By the way, (back to Ed's post) it's a fascinating study to look at all the SP/T&NO predecessors and subsidiaries that came into Houston, including the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado (1853); Houston & Texas Central (1856); Houston East & West Texas (a former 3' gauge line); Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio (1870); Dayton & Goose Creek (technically in the suburbs); Texas & New Orleans (1859); and San Antonio & Aransas Pass. And, not only is a locomotive on the Houston seal, but also a replica runs across the outside wall behind the outfield at Minute Maid park as part of the show when the Astros hit a homer.
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