The Central Texas & Colorado River Railway is a

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

Brady, Texas Brady is a city in McCulloch County, Texas, United States. Brady refers to itself as the "Heart of Texas", as it is the city closest to the geographical centre, geographical center of the state, which is about 15 miles northeast of Brady. Its popul ...

. Formerly known as the Heart of Texas Railroad, the railroad operates a portion of the former Santa Fe

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

to Eden, between Brady and an interchange with the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

at Lometa. It acquired the line from the bankrupt Gulf, Colorado and San Saba Railway in 2013. The railroad is currently owned by

OmniTrax OmniTRAX, Inc. is a transportation and transportation infrastructure holding company based in Denver, Colorado, in the United States. It primarily owns or operates railroads, with a network of 25 regional and shortline railroads in 12 U.S. states ...

. They bought the railroad in 2016.

History

The Heart of Texas Railroad was organized in 2012 and acquired the line from the bankrupt Gulf, Colorado and San Saba Railway in 2013. Operations began on January 29 of that year. On May 19, 2013, a -long trestle carrying the tracks over the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

about west of Lometa burned and collapsed. The fire, of unknown origin, began on the western side of the trestle about 4 p.m.; by the time volunteer firefighters from Lometa arrived, the fire was uncontrollable. There were no injuries. At the time the potential loss to the company was estimated at $10 million. The company contracted with JCF Bridge & Concrete to replace the bridge, and the new span opened on May 16, 2014. The bridge cost $4 million.

OmniTRAX OmniTRAX, Inc. is a transportation and transportation infrastructure holding company based in Denver, Colorado, in the United States. It primarily owns or operates railroads, with a network of 25 regional and shortline railroads in 12 U.S. states ...

announced its acquisition of the company in May 2016. In August 2019 OmniTRAX filed with the Surface Transportation Board to abandon the line, "citing its dim prospects and millions of dollars in operating losses since it acquired the route in 2016," according to an article in ''Trains News Wire.'' The article added: "The prime culprits: New crushed rock traffic that never materialized as expected and rapidly declining shipments of frac sand." Due to bridge problems and unsafe track requiring $2.3 million in repairs, the line had been placed under embargo on July 25, 2019. This would have been on top of the $2 million it has already spent to improve the line after acquiring it just a few years ago. According to TNW, "A proposed rock-crushing facility was expected to generate 8,000 to 10,000 loads annually. But the facility never opened as planned in 2017 and is unlikely to ever be developed." Additionally, "The railroad expected to haul just 553 carloads in total this year, down from 1,210 in 2018."

Operations

The CTXR

interchanges Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

with the

at Lometa. It primarily carries frac sand used in

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...

References

External links

Heart of Texas Railroad on JCF Bridge & Concrete
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heart of Texas Railroad 2013 establishments in Texas Texas railroads