International and Great Northern Depot, San Antonio, Texas

The International – Great Northern Railroad (I&GN) was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

that operated in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

. It was created on September 30, 1873, when the International Railroad and the Houston and Great Northern Railroad merged. The railroad was officially incorporated as the International & Great Northern Railroad Company. At its start, the I&GN operated of track from Hearne to Longview, but at its peak it owned of track. As the railroad expanded southwestward from Hearne, it reached Rockdale in 1874 and

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

on December 28, 1876. The line extended to

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

in 1880 and finally to the US-Mexican border town of Laredo on December 1, 1881. The I&GN, like other railroads of its time, had many financial troubles and went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

on several occasions. Industrialist

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 ...

acquired control of the I&GN in December 1880. Due to his control of the

Missouri Pacific The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad o ...

(Mopac) and the

Texas and Pacific Railroad Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

, the three were operated as one system, although they retained their separate corporate identities and seniority districts for union workers. Due to financial difficulties, stemming in part from the

Panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...

, the I-GN entered

in 1908 and was sold at

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

to a reorganized company, the International & Great Northern Railway Company on August 31, 1911. Less than four years later, the company entered receivership again, which lasted until it was sold at foreclosure in July 1922. The International–Great Northern Railroad was incorporated by the state of Texas on August 17, 1922, and fully took over operation of the International & Great Northern Railway on December 31, 1922. In a bit of planned corporate maneuvering to keep the I-GN within the Mopac fold, the

Gulf Coast Lines The Gulf Coast Lines was the name of a railroad system comprising three principal railroads, as well as some smaller ones, that stretched from New Orleans, Louisiana, via Baton Rouge and Houston to Brownsville, Texas. Originally chartered as sub ...

subsidiary, New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway, bought the I-GN on June 30, 1924; subsequently, the

were bought by the Missouri Pacific on January 1, 1925. Finally, on March 1, 1956, all of the GCL subsidiaries were merged into the parent

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

Company, and the I-GN ceased its corporate existence. In the 1960s, many of the redundant out-of-the-way lines were abandoned, including

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

Marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to deri ...

and Bryan to

Navasota Navasota is a city in Grimes County, Texas, Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 7,643 at the 2020 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature designated Navasota as the "Blues Capital of Texas" in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, ...

. The latter route was subsequently traversed via

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...

over the Southern Pacific Railroad between the same two points. The Missouri Pacific was merged in 1997 into the

Union Pacific Railroad 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 ...

References

External links

*
Zoomable system map of the I-GN from an 1877 promotional brochure
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Great Northern Railroad Defunct Texas railroads Predecessors of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Former Class I railroads in the United States Railway companies established in 1922 Railway companies disestablished in 1956

See also

References

External links