Union Pacific line from Longview-Laredo, TX

[dehusman]

Just to the east of Tower 55 in Ft Worth is a small yard and a industrial lead that heads south through some industrial parks. The yard was called the "Ginnie" yard, short for IGN and the industrial lead is the Everaman lead which is the sole remaining portion of the old IGN mainline. There used to be a stub north out of Waco called the "Old Mart Main" but that's gone now.

Dave H.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by UnionPacificRR6737

One thing that surprises me is that the Missouri Pacific line going northbound from Laredo has never entered into the Dallas/Fort Worth area although now they can get there cause they have a Union Pacific line going north from Taylor to Dallas/Fort Worth and southbound from Taylor to Laredo.

Sure it did. For decades and decades. Go north (geographic east) past Taylor, turn left at Valley Junction, go north through Bellmead and roll straight on into FTW. Prior to 1968, it was all on IGN (MP) rails. It is my recollection these were all historically IGN properties. After 1968, MP moved to the Katy north of Bellmead and abandoned their parallel line. This was part of a reciprocal trackage rights deal. The IGN line went north from Bellmead east of the Katy, crossed it (Dallas sub) on a grade separation at Italy, crossed the ATSF (GCSF) Dallas-Cleburne line the same way at about Venus, then into FTW from the southeast. A lot of the IGN ROW is still recognizable, even after so many years. A lot of N-S freight still goes that way (Valley Jct-Bellmead-FTW), as it's part of the one way scheme with the Katy line to Taylor.

[Anonymous]

One thing that surprises me is that the Missouri Pacific line going northbound from Laredo has never entered into the Dallas/Fort Worth area although now they can get there cause they have a Union Pacific line going north from Taylor to Dallas/Fort Worth and southbound from Taylor to Laredo.

[Anonymous]

No. The closest UP yard to Austin is at Taylor, about 30 rail miles north. The Austin Area Terminal Railroad has a small yard at McNeil that takes interchange from UP and BNSF (rights gained in SP merger)-this is the line owned by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority and is the old SP Llano branch. They also have a few holding tracks in the downtown area.

[Anonymous]

Is there a railroad yard in Austin on the former Missouri Pacific line?

[Anonymous]

6737

Intermodal, auto racks and auto parts, and some mixed freight. Between the San Antonio/New Braunfels/Austin/Round Rock (Georgetown) and Valley Jct., lots of rock. And unit coal trains to San Antonio off the old Katy at Taylor.

Grain trains headed to the Port of Corpus Christi in season.

The Katy Lockhart Sub did connect the San Antonio main line at San Marcos with the Houston main line at Smithville. In the early 1900's they even ran a Pax train over it SAT-HOU. By the 1930's, the line was seeing mixed train service only. Pax rode in the caboose - Katy had a number of mixed train cabeese with baggage and very spartan pax compartments with walkover seats. There is a picture of one of these mixed trains taken in San Marcos in about 1945 in Ray George's book. I think Emery Gula***ook the photo, but I don't have it in front of me to verify. However, up until the Deramus era when things went downhill, the line handled both E-W SAT-HOU freight and N-S main line freight, except the Komet, which was a hot enough train to justify the rights charges over the MP between Taylor and San Marcos through Austin. From about Deramus up until Whitman/Gastler and the loans, the line was secondary or less and deteriorated badly. It has since been rebuilt. During the first UP constipation event, it had dead trains lined up on it almost nose to tail.

The connection to the Lockhart sub off the now-truncated Houston line is at the west end of what was the Katy yard at Smithville. This is a very tight wye right in the middle of town that also involves a couple of road crossings at grade. Lots of flange squealing going from the main to the Lockhart. Most of the old Smithville yard is abandoned, but the Lower Colorado River Authority has put in a state-of-the-art car maintenance shop on the west end by the old roundhouse location. That shop takes care of LCRA's coal gon fleet that services the Fayette Power Project just east in La Grange, which they own jontly with Austin Energy (City of Austin).

In Katy days, Smithville was a major division point.

[Anonymous]

What kind of trains do you mostly see on the Mo-Pac line from Longview-Laredo, TX? I know that the majority of the trains you see along I-15 and I-40 in Southeastern California are the double stack trains (especially on the Santa Fe line), I like the hopper trains quite a bit as well as the boxcar trains.

Wasn't the Katy line in the Lockhart Sub. on its way to Houston? I do know that they have the Katy line in Houston but I'm not sure where the switch to go towards Taylor-Lockhart.

[nanaimo73]

This site is interesting.
http://home.austin.rr.com/aldossantos/

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by UnionPacificRR6737

I think that it's great that the both the UP and the BNSF goes by on the same track, it definately makes railfanning more fun and interesting when you get to see both railroad companies on the same track.

Don't get too excited. The agreement effectively limits what BNSF can do on that line by limiting their traffic base.

6737--Since the inception of the Austin subdivision in 1905, the MKT operated on rights on the MP between the Colorado Bridge in Austin and MKT junction in San Marcos (which has been called a number of different names, but it's adjacent to the south end of Bobcat Stadium at TSU and surrounded by remote student parking lots). This was done reputedly because of the relative difficulty in cutting a new line through the terrain when an accessible parallel line was available at the right price. The Katy Lockhart sub joins the line about 1/2 mile east (geographically) of MKT junction and was a full wye up until a few years ago--now it goes south only. Early maps show several crossovers between the MKT and MP (IGN) in the immediate San Marcos area, but these all went away fairly fast, with the only "connections" at the quarries that were dually served. The lines run roughly parallel all the way to what is now Ogden, south of New Braunfels. South of Hunter, they cross at a grade separation, and they cross at grade about 1/2 mile south of the MP station in downtown New Braunfels.

Katy ran on its own line Austin-Granger until it was abandoned in the late 1970's. This was primarily a passenger line, with all freights but the Komet and a local running thru Smithville and the Lockhart sub (the Komet was the fastest thing on the line and for many years was the fastest freight in the US, so they spent the mileage charge to keep it that way; the local is self-explanatory). When they abandoned the Austin line south of Weir (Georgetown), much of their freight was diverted to the MP Taylor-San Marcos due to poor track conditions on the Lockhart sub and the additional mileage required.

[Anonymous]

I think that it's great that the both the UP and the BNSF goes by on the same track, it definately makes railfanning more fun and interesting when you get to see both railroad companies on the same track.

[nanaimo73]

ATK is for Amtrak, in this case the Texas Eagle.

You can use this BNSF system map which will show you BNSF's trackage rights in Texas. Just click on the Gulf Division. You can magnify it as much as you want.
http://www.bnsf.com/tools/reference/division_maps/?menu=5&submenu=0

[Anonymous]

What exactly does ATK mean? I had no idea that BNSF also uses the Taylor-Smithville-Lockhart-San Marcos as well as the UP, I take it that the BNSF has trackage rights on that railroad line, I do know about the BNSF trackage rights that goes through the UP line in Little Rock, Arkansas and Salt Lake City, Utah.

I was also unaware about the MKT going through the Austin-New Braunfels-San Marcos-San Antonio line, I guess that the MKT and the Mo-Pac lines connected together for a while.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by UnionPacificRR6737

I've forgotten all about the Katy line that goes through Smithville and Lockhart, is that now owned by Union Pacific? I do know that they do have an Amtrak that goes from San Antonio to Taylor on the Mo-Pac line then the Amtrak cuts on the Katy to Temple and then the Amtrak cuts on the Santa Fe line all the way to Fort Worth and beyond.

All of the Katy is owned by UP, since 1988. The Taylor-Smithville-Lockhart-San Marcos line is primarily for southbound, plus BNSF both ways (merger concession). There are exceptions, and UP does use the Austin line for southbound as well as northbound freight. The ex-Katy line is longer and slower.

From San Marcos to Ogden Jct. (north of San Antonio) the lines are parallel with some crossovers, and operate largely as double track. Below Ogden, SB is on the MP side and NB is on the MKT side. ATK 21/22 run on the MP south of San Marcos to Ogden. Below Ogden, ATK 21 is on the ex-MP and 22 is on the ex-MKT (necessitating a long backing move from Sunset Station west on the ex-SP to the old MKT crossing, then north (east) on the ex-MKT. All of this could be alleviated if they would put the connector in where the old SP crosses the Katy between East Yard and Kirby. ATK has refused to do so since the Reistrup days.

By the time ATK 21 (SB) makes it to Austin, I's only been on the Taylor-Austin line for about 30 miles, so it doesn't get stabbed much. The stabbing that you see by the time the train gets to Austin occurs north of Taylor, and even as far north as Missouri.

[Anonymous]

Anyways I appreciate the input that you gave me, since I knew that the Amtrak goes on the Union Pacific/Mo-Pac line part of the way I felt that they would have alot of trains that goes through the Mo-Pac line, it's a shame about the Southbound Texas Eagle showing up late almost every night.

[Anonymous]

I've forgotten all about the Katy line that goes through Smithville and Lockhart, is that now owned by Union Pacific? I do know that they do have an Amtrak that goes from San Antonio to Taylor on the Mo-Pac line then the Amtrak cuts on the Katy to Temple and then the Amtrak cuts on the Santa Fe line all the way to Fort Worth and beyond.

[dldance]

As I sat in a boring meeting in the Austin Hyatt one day, I counted 8 northbound trains in 4 hours crossing the Colorado River bridge. The Southbound Texas Eagle has a hard time fighting it's way through that traffic and so is late most every night.

dd

[Anonymous]

All the time. Very heavy traffic. Mostly northbound north of SA, but not exclusively, particularly between Taylor and SA, as the Katy line through Smithville and Lockhart sub is about 30 miles longer.

[Anonymous]

How often would trains go by on the Union Pacific (formerly Missouri Pacific) line from Longview to Laredo? I do know that it goes through Palestine, Taylor, Austin, San Marcos and New Braunfels, San Antonio and finally Laredo, Texas?