The Texas & New Mexico Railway is a class III short-line railroad operating in west Texas and southeast New Mexico. The railroad line operates on 111 miles of track from a connection with the Union Pacific at

Monahans, Texas Monahans is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, Texas, United States. A very small portion of the city extends into Winkler County. The population was 6,953 at the 2010 census. In 2018, the population was estimated at 7,669. History ...

, and terminates at Lovington, New Mexico. The railroad primarily provides freight service for the

oilfield A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

s and related industries in the region.

History

Lovington, New Mexico is the terminus of the TNMR. Before 1930, the planned Gulf, Texas and New Mexico Railway proposed to construct a branch running westward from

Seminole, Texas Seminole is a city in and the county seat of Gaines County in Texas, United States. The population was 6,430 at the 2010 census. Seminole and Gaines County are also home to a large German Mennonite population that came to West Texas in the 1980 ...

via Lovington, NM and terminating at

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in, and the County seat, seat of, Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the List of micropolitan areas in New Mexico, Roswell micropolitan area. As of ...

. However, the tracks were never constructed, and for a time the nearest rail line was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in nearby

Seagraves, Texas Seagraves is a city in Gaines County, Texas, United States. Its population was 2,417 at the 2010 census. History A post office at the home of S.J. Blythe occupied the area known as Blythe, Texas. In 1917, the Santa Fe Railroad moved into the vic ...

. As a result of the oil discovered in the

Permian Basin The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

in 1927, the Texas–New Mexico Railway was incorporated on November 19, 1927. Within a year the railroad fell under the control of the

Texas & Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. History Under the influence of ...

. Construction commenced in 1928 and the line was completed on July 20, 1930. In 1989, what was then Union Pacific sold the property to RailTex, and short line service started on September 18, 1989. Railtex sold to RailAmerica in February 2000, which in turn sold to Permian Basin Railways in May 2002. In September 2011, Iowa Pacific Holdings, which owned Permian Basin Railways, announced a major rebuilding of the railroad, including track upgrades and new locomotives, at a cost of more than $20 million. In May 2015 Watco purchased the assets of the Texas – New Mexico Railroad from Iowa Pacific Holdings, and renamed the railroad the Texas & New Mexico Railway.

Ownership of the line

*1930–1976: Operated as a subsidiary of the

(TP), which was a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of the Missouri Pacific Railroad (MP) *1976–1982: Operated by the Missouri Pacific Railroad *1982–1989: Operated by the Union Pacific *1989–1999: Owned/operated by

RailTex RailTex was a transportation holding company that specialized in owning and operating short line railroads across North America. Based in San Antonio, Texas, the public company was a leader in making unprofitable lines shed by Class I railroads ...

*1999–2002: Owned/operated by RailAmerica *2002–2015: Owned/operated by Permian Basin Railways *2015–present: Owned/operated by Watco.

Route

(interchange with Union Pacific Railroad mainline) *Cloyd, Texas (no longer shown in timetables) *Prairie Spur, Texas (no longer Shown in timetables) *Wink Junction (no longer shown in timetables - abandoned branch to

Wink, Texas Wink is a city in Winkler County, Texas, United States. The population was 940 at the 2010 census. Wink was a temporary childhood home to singer and songwriter Roy Orbison, although he was born in Vernon, Texas. Orbison later described the maj ...

) * Kermit, Texas *Magwait, Texas *Cheyenne, Texas (no longer shown in timetables) *

Jal, New Mexico Jal is a small city located in Lea County, New Mexico, United States. It is New Mexico's south-easternmost city, and shares a border with eastward state Texas. The population was 2,047 at the 2010 census. Jal is historically important in the natu ...

*Combest, New Mexico *United Carbon * Eunice, New Mexico *Kornegray, New Mexico (no longer shown in timetables) *Warren, New Mexico *Climax, New Mexico * Hobbs, New Mexico (yard/office) *Permco (Airfield) (no longer shown in timetables) *Kimbrough, New Mexico (no longer shown in timetables) *Southern Union Oil *

Lea County Lea County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, its population was 64,727. Its county seat is Lovington. It is both west and north of the Texas state line. Lea County comprises the Hobbs, NM micropoli ...

Oil * Lovington, New Mexico

References

External links

Iowa Pacific Holdings' Texas–New Mexico Railroad page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Texas New Mexico Railroad New Mexico railroads Texas railroads Spin-offs of the Union Pacific Railroad RailAmerica

History

Ownership of the line

Route

See also

References

External links