The Blacklands Railroad is a class III

short-line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

headquartered in

Sulphur Springs, Texas Sulphur Springs is a city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 15,449. Sulphur Springs is located along the western edge of Northeast Texas. History ...

History

The Blacklands Railroad began operations in 1999 on an abandoned

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

rail line that stretched from Mt. Pleasant, Texas to

Greenville, Texas Greenville is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, about northeast of Dallas. It is the county seat and largest city of Hunt County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,557, and in 2019, its estimated population was 28,827. ...

. In 2010, Blacklands Railroad expanded to operate another shortline, The Henderson-Overton Branch (HOB), that stretched from

Overton, Texas Overton is a city in Rusk and Smith counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Overton lies in two counties as well as two metropolitan areas. The Rusk County portion of the city is part of the Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Smi ...

Henderson, Texas Henderson is a city and the county seat of Rusk County, Texas, in Northeast Texas. Its population was 13,271 at the 2020 census. Henderson is named for James Pinckney Henderson, the first governor of Texas. The city has functioned as a major cro ...

. Blacklands Railroad further diversified in 2014 by creating a subsidiary
Black Gold Terminals
that specializes in transloading, contract switching, and industrial rail parks. Blacklands Railroad was awarded the Short Line Railroad of the Year in 2011 by

Railway Age ''Railway Age'' is an American trade magazine for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago (the United States' major railroad hub) and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. History The magazine's ...

Blacklands Railroad (BLR)

The St. Louis, Arkansas, & Texas Railroad was built through

, in 1887 on its way to

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

and

Sherman Sherman most commonly refers to: *Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name) ** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General *M4 Sherman, a tank Sherman may also refer to: Places United St ...

. The next year the line was completed to

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. In 1891, the bankrupt railroad was sold to

Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made hi ...

Interests and renamed the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, also known as the Cotton Belt. This line became the basis of Blacklands Railroad, but not before portions of it were owned by Southern Pacific and Union Pacific. The Northeast Texas Rural Rail Transportation District (NETEX) purchased the segment between

and Sulphur Springs in 1995 (from the

), and the remainder of the line in 2000 (from

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

). In 1999, Blacklands Railroad was awarded the contract to operate the 65.6 mile line, from Greenville where it interchanges with Kansas City Southern to Sulphur Springs (another KCS interchange) and finally Mount Vernon, Texas near the

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

county line; from this point Blacklands Railroad operates via Union Pacific trackage rights to

Mount Pleasant, Texas Mount Pleasant is the county seat of and largest city in Titus County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, Mount Pleasant's population was 16,047; it is situated in Northeast Texas. History Mount Pleasant was founded May 11, 184 ...

where it interchanges with Union Pacific. Over the years, Blacklands Railroad traffic has included a host of commodities including forest products, scrap materials, plastic, grain, chemicals, and steel.

Henderson-Overton Branch (HOB)

Originally chartered in 1874, the Henderson-Overton Branch was completed in 1877. The line ran 15 miles from a connection with the

International and Great Northern Railway International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, with various industries along the way. The Henderson-Overton Branch was acquired by the International and Great Northern on September 27, 1880, and was operated by the latter company until it was consolidated with the newly reorganized International and Great Northern Railway Company on August 31, 1911. Through mergers and acquisitions, the branch was owned by a number of railroads, including the

Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railway was a Class I railroad company in the United States, with its last headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Established in 1865 under the name Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch, it came to serve an extensive ra ...

, before finally landing with Union Pacific Railroad. Union Pacific provided notice to abandon the line in 2008, citing lack of traffic on the branch. The Henderson-Overton Branch was subsequently purchased by Rusk County Rail District in 2010. Blacklands Railroad was chosen by Rusk County Rail District to operate the line for the benefit of existing customers, primarily a lumber mill in Henderson, and new businesses which may be interested in locating along the line. In 2017, Blacklands Railroad established a

transload Transloading, also known as cross-docking, is the process of transferring a shipment from one mode of transportation to another. It is most commonly employed when one mode cannot be used for the entire trip, such as when goods must be shipped in ...

site in Henderson under it
Black Gold Terminals
subsidiary to help customers in the area gain access to the rail network even if they were not located on the railroad. HOB commodities include asphalt, steel, lumber, and chemicals.

Black Gold Terminals

Black Gold Terminals
was created in 2017 as a subsidiary of Blacklands Railroad. Blacklands Railroad leveraged its knowledge and experience in the rail industry to provide an additional service to shippers looking to move goods by rail, regardless of whether they have direct rail access. Specializing in transloading, contract switching, and industrial rail parks
Black Gold Terminals
operates

facilities in Henderson, Texas;

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, mak ...

;

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

; and

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

References

External links

Link to Union Pacific Website with BLR DetailsBlacklands RailroadNortheast Texas Rural Rail Transportation District (NETEX)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blacklands Railroad Texas railroads