The Texas and New Orleans Railroad was a railroad in

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 ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. It operated of railroad in 1934; by 1961, remained when it merged with parent company

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 ...

Location

The Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad was a partly double-track, standard-gauge, steam railroad, situated entirely within the

State of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is border ...

. The main line extended from

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

opposite

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, to

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

, where it connected with the line of the Louisiana Western Railroad Company. It formed an important link in the through route of the

Southern Pacific Company Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

between New Orleans and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. The principal branch lines extended from Lafayette to the Mississippi River opposite

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

, from Lafayette to Cheneyville, from

Breaux Bridge Breaux Bridge (;Jack A. Reynolds. "Breaux Bridge" entry i"Louisiana Placenames of Romance Origin."LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses #7852. 1942. p. 77. french: Pont-Breaux; frc, Pont-(de)-Breaux ) is a small city in St. Martin Parish, Loui ...

to Port Barre, from Breaux Bridge to Cade, and from Thibodaux Junction to

Napoleonville Napoleonville is a village and the parish seat of Assumption Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 660 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area. The village is best known as the loca ...

. There were a number of other branch lines of an average length of about 10 miles, which served the numerous sugar plantations along parts of the line.United States Interstate Commerce Commission
''Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports.''
Volume 36, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1932.

History

Early history 1856–1880

Asher & Adams' Texas (Eastern Half) 1871 UTA

The Texas and New Orleans Railroad was chartered as the Sabine and Galveston Bay Railroad and Lumber Company in 1856, and was formed to build a railroad from Madison (now

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

) in Orange County to tidewater at

Galveston Bay Galveston Bay ( ) is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of ...

. Groundbreaking was on August 27, 1857 outside

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and real construction work began in April, 1858. Shortly thereafter some work was transferred to Beaumont and railroad construction went east and west. By this time many people started to figure out the builders of the railroad wanted to see a railroad connecting Houston with

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. In the following year rails and equipment were ordered and received. By 1860, of right-of-way was graded and of track was laid. In late 1859 the name of the railroad was changed to the Texas and New Orleans Railroad Company."Texas and New Orleans Railroad," ''Handbook of Texas Online''
/ref> By early 1861, track was laid for west of Beaumont and the trackage to Houston was complete. In spring 1862 the President of the Railway, Abram M. Gentry, stated that the line from Houston to Orange was open, but some of the track was temporary for military needs due to the Civil War. Scheduled service was operated from Houston to Orange from 1862 to mid-1863 and irregular service until early 1864. Work on the line to Louisiana continued until New Orleans was captured. The Trinity River Bridge washed out in 1867 and the Texas and New Orleans continued to offer service between Houston and Beaumont until spring 1868, at which time the company was forced into receivership. From 1870 to 1871 limited service operated between Houston and West Liberty until the railroad was sold. The purchaser was John F. Terry of the New York banking firm of J. S. Kennedy and Company. A new Texas and New Orleans Railroad company was chartered in 1874 and Terry was named president. The first train from Houston to Orange in over a decade ran in late 1876. It was during this time the railroad was converted from to . In 1878 the Texas and New Orleans, Charles Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Company, and the Louisiana Western Railroad Company reached an agreement and the line was finished from Orange to New Orleans. The Louisiana Western Extension Railroad Company was chartered in Texas to build from Orange to the Louisiana boundary and the first through train ran from Houston to New Orleans on August 30, 1880.Handbook of Texas Online - ECHO, TX
/ref>

Expansion 1881–1920

Railroad Station at Morgan City, Louisiana (1893)

In 1881

C. P. Huntington ''C. P. Huntington'' is a 4-2-4T steam locomotive on static display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California, USA. It is the first locomotive purchased by the Southern Pacific Railroad, carrying that railroad's number ...

, acting for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, bought the Texas and New Orleans as well as many other railroads in the southern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. As a result of this acquiring of railroads by

, The Texas and New Orleans Railroad found itself as part of a major transcontinental route. In 1882, The T&NO made over $1,500,000 and owned 36 locomotives as well as over 1000 pieces of rolling stock. Also in 1882 the T&NO acquired the Sabine and East Texas Railway Company. Many more companies were merged into T&NO from 1880 to 1900. In the early years of the 20th century The Texas and New Orleans built over of track, much of it between Cedar and Rockland, opening up a through route from

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex **Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * Be ...

. In 1921, the Texas State Railroad was leased in.

1921–1961

At the end of 1925 T&NO operated 545 miles of railroad; to simplify SP's corporate holdings T&NO leased the other Texas-Louisiana SP lines in 1927, including: *Dayton-Goose Creek Railway Company *Franklin and Abbeville Railway *

Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway (B.B.B.C. or B.B.B. & C.), also called the Harrisburg Road or Harrisburg Railroad, was the first operating railroad in Texas. It completed its first segment of track between Harrisburg, Texas (now a ...

*Houston and Shreveport Railroad *

Houston and Texas Central Railway The Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC), was an 872-mile (1403-km) railway system chartered in Texas in 1848, with construction beginning in 1856. The line eventually stretched from Houston northward to Dallas and Denison, Texas. with branch ...

Houston East and West Texas Railway 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 ...

*Iberia and Vermilion Railroad *Lake Charles and Northern Railroad *Louisiana Western Railroad * Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Co *

San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway first began operation in the U.S. state of Texas in 1886. It was developed by Uriah Lott and businessmen of San Antonio as a direct route from the city to Aransas Bay on the Texas Gulf coast. It was eventual ...

Texas Midland Railroad Texas Midland Railroad (TM) was incorporated in Texas on December 1, 1892 by Hetty Green. The original standard gauge 52 mile line was built between Garrett and Midland Junction (also called Roberts) by the Houston and Texas Central Railroad in 1 ...

In 1934 all of these were merged into T&NO, making it the largest Texas railroad with of road (not all in Texas). On November 1, 1961 the remaining merged into the Southern Pacific and the T&NO ceased to exist.

Named trains

Named

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

s operated on T&NO rails included: *''

Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betwe ...

'' (New Orleans to Los Angeles) *''

Argonaut The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', ...

'' (New Orleans to Los Angeles) *''

Sunbeam A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of particle-scattered sunl ...

'' (Houston to Dallas) *''Hustler'' (Houston to Dallas) *''Owl'' (Houston to Dallas) *''Border Limited'' (Houston to Brownsville) *''Rabbit'' (Houston to Shreveport) *''Alamo'' (San Antonio to New Orleans)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Texas New Orleans Railroad Defunct Louisiana railroads Defunct Texas railroads Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company Former Class I railroads in the United States Railway companies established in 1859 Railway companies disestablished in 1961 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United States 1859 establishments in Texas American companies established in 1859 American companies disestablished in 1961