The Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, chartered under the laws of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

on June 1, 1885, was part of a plan conceived by Buckley Burton Paddock and other Fort Worth civic leaders to create a transcontinental route linking

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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 ...

, and the Pacific port of

Topolobampo Topolobampo () is a port on the Gulf of California in northwestern Sinaloa, Mexico. It is the fourth-largest town in the municipality of Ahome (after Los Mochis, Ahome, and Higuera de Zaragoza), reporting a 2010 census population of 6,361 inhabit ...

, which they believed would stimulate the growth and development of southwest Texas in general, and the economy of Fort Worth in particular. With financial backing from the Vanderbilt railroad syndicate, construction of the FW&RG began at Fort Worth in November, 1886, but proceeded slowly with many changes of route, reaching Granbury ( away) a year later,

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

in 1890, and Brownwood, from Fort Worth, in 1891. In 1901, the

Frisco Railroad Frisco may refer to: Places in the United States *Frisco, Alabama, an unincorporated community *San Francisco, California, as a nickname *Frisco, Colorado, a home rule municipality **Frisco Historic Park – see Frisco Schoolhouse * Frisco, Idaho ...

got control of the FW&RG, which it operated as an independent subsidiary, extending the line to

Brady Brady may refer to: People * Brady (surname) * Brady (given name) * Brady (nickname) * Brady Boone, a ring name of American professional wrestler Dean Peters (1958–1998) Places in the United States * Brady, Montana, a census-designated plac ...

in 1903 and on to

Menard Menard may refer to: Places Canada *Menard River, a tributary of the Wawagosic River in Quebec, Canada United States * Menard County, Illinois ** Menard, Illinois * Menard County, Texas ** Menard, Texas * Menard–Hodges site, archaeological s ...

in 1911. The Frisco entered bankruptcy in 1913 and made no further extensions of the FW&RG, which in most years failed to make a

net profit In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, a ...

. On March 1, 1937, Frisco sold the FW&RG to the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

for $1.5 million, giving the latter an entry into Fort Worth from the west. Santa Fe immediately leased the FW&RG to its Texas subsidiary,

Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. From its starting point in Galveston, Texas, the railroad eventually extended northwestwards across the state to Sweetwater and northwards via ...

, into which the FW&RG was merged on December 31, 1948. The FW&RG trackage was known as the Dublin Subdivision. On acquisition, Santa Fe improved the FW&RG track and began routing high volumes of freight over it, en route between the Dallas/Fort Worth area and California. The GC&SF was merged into corporate parent

on August 1, 1965. The Brownwood-Brady segment () had been abandoned in 1959, and the Brady-Menard segment () was abandoned in 1972. The remainder of the former FW&RG from Belt Junction in Fort Worth to Ricker, east of Brownwood, was bought by Cen-Tex Rail Link, an affiliate of the South Orient Railroad on May 20, 1994. South Orient sold the Cen-Tex line to the

Fort Worth and Western Railroad The Fort Worth and Western Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Operating only within the state of Texas, its main freight service route is between Carrollton, Fort Worth and Brownwood. History Much ...

in 1999.

Footnotes

References

External links

1926 map of Santa Fe lines in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana
The FW&RG line from Fort Worth to Brownwood, Brady, and Menard is indicated, though not marked as such.
1946 map of Santa Fe lines in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana
In this map, the former FW&RG is shown as part of the GC&SF.
Osborn, William. "East of Eden, West of Lometa: The Santa Fe Railroad and the Livestock Industry of the Edwards Plateau, 1885-1975,"
presentation to the 31st annual meeting of the Edwards Plateau Historical Association, 5 Oct. 2002, accessed 24 May 2013. {{Former Class I 1885 establishments in Texas 1948 disestablishments in Texas Railway companies established in 1885 Railway companies disestablished in 1948 American companies disestablished in 1948 American companies established in 1885 1901 mergers and acquisitions 1937 mergers and acquisitions 1948 mergers and acquisitions St. Louis–San Francisco Railway Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Defunct Texas railroads Transportation in Fort Worth, Texas History of Fort Worth, Texas Former Class I railroads in the United States

See also

Footnotes

References

External links