The Texas Electric Railway is a historic

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

railroad that operated 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 ...

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 ...

, to Denison,

Corsicana Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and an important Agri-business ...

, and

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 ...

. It began operation in 1908 and through the merger of several companies became the largest interurban railway operator in the South before its demise in 1948.

History

In 1901 the Denison 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 ...

Railway opened as the first interurban rail line in Texas, connecting the towns of Denison and Sherman with ten miles of track. This line was purchased in 1911 by the Texas Traction Company, who had constructed a sixty-five-mile line of their own from Dallas to Sherman and began operation in 1908. Seeing a need to expand in other directions, the owners of the Texas Traction Company purchased a twenty-eight-mile line from Dallas to Waxahachie in 1912. Built by the Dallas Southern Traction Company, the company became known as the Southern Traction Company and the rail line extended to Waco in 1913. A separate fifty-six-mile line from Dallas to Corsicana was also completed. In 1917 the Texas Traction Company and the Southern Traction Company merged to form the Texas Electric Railway Company and became the largest interurban railway in the South with more than 200 miles of track. The interurban became a vital link for communities until the popularity of the automobile caused a decline in revenue. The Dallas-Corsicana branch was discontinued in 1941 and the Dallas-Waco and Dallas-Denison branches closed in 1948.

Today

Today several pieces of infrastructure still remain. The

Dallas Area Rapid Transit Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is a transit agency serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex of Texas. It operates buses, light rail, commuter rail, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes in Dallas and twelve of its suburbs. In , the system had a ...

light rail system utilizes the right-of-way of the Texas Electric Railway for several of its lines, including the Red Line. The original Plano Station still serves as

Downtown Plano station Downtown Plano station is a DART Light Rail station in Plano, Texas. It is located at the intersection of 15th Street and Avenue J and serves the and . It opened on December 9, 2002. It is located at the historic Plano Station, which was onc ...

on the DART Red Line. The wood frame passenger depot in downtown Plano and its attached brick electric transformer section remained in use until December 31, 1948. The Plano Station building now hosts the

Interurban Railway Museum Plano Station, Texas Electric Railway, now known as the Interurban Railway Museum, is a historic train station at 901 E 15th Street in Plano, Texas. It is still served by the Downtown Plano station of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail, wh ...

where a restored Texas Electric Railway car may be seen, and is listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The Monroe Shops (1914), once the maintenance facility for Texas Electric's vehicles, was restored in 2011 and now serves as headquarters to the DART Police Department. The Dallas Interurban Building (1916), once serving as the main Dallas depot, now houses residents and retail. The Texas Electric Railway Allen Station still stands at 105 South Butler Drive.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0nRF8wH2v5Y/VRWER1NSwiI/AAAAAAAAHxk/pViwifzq1cU/s1600/Allen%2BDepot%2BTE.jpg

References

Reading Bibliography

* Myers, J.J. and L.O. King. 1982. ''Texas Electric Railway''. Central Electric Railfans Association. Library of Congress Catalog Card #82-71474. * Varney, R. ''Texas Electric Album''. Interurbans Special #62. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Texas Electric Railway Defunct Texas railroads Interurban railways in Texas