Texas State Railroad
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The Texas State Railroad is a historic
heritage railroad A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
between
Rusk A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake, rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the UK, the name also refers to a whea ...
and
Palestine, Texas Palestine ( ) is a city in and the seat of Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named for Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Daniel Parker, who had migrated from that town. The city had a 2020 U.S. census population of 18,544, mak ...
. Built by inmates, it was founded in 1883 by the state of Texas to haul raw materials for a smelter at the prison at Rusk. Regular service on the line was ended in 1921. The state leased the line to private companies until 1969, then turned it over to the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. Its mission is to manage ...
in 1972. In 2007, the railroad was transferred to the Texas State Railroad Authority and is now operating as a scenic tourist line. It is currently operated on a limited, year-round schedule. Today, the railroad has a total of five
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s (two of which are operational) and three
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s in their current roster. The
Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...
designated the Texas State Railroad as the official Railroad of Texas in 2003.


History

The start of the railroad dates back to 1883, with the completion of the Rusk Penitentiary in
Rusk, Texas Rusk is a city and the county seat of Cherokee County in the U.S. state of Texas. At the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 5,285. History The town was established by an act of the Texas Legislature on April 11, 1846. It was name ...
. Built with inmate labor, the original purpose of the railroad was to transport raw materials for the
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including Silver mining#Ore processing, silver, iron-making, iron, copper extracti ...
located at the Rusk Penitentiary. In 1906, the line reached Maydelle, and by 1909, the line was completed when it reached
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. The railroad grew and eventually expanded to freight and passenger service, but it was not profitable. Regular train service by the state ceased in 1921 and the line was leased to various railroad companies until 1969. In 1972, the
Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...
turned the railroad over to the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. Its mission is to manage ...
to be used as a
state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
. However, by 2006, the train cost the state of Texas $1 million per year more to maintain and to operate than the revenue from the park generated. Because of budget concerns, the Eightieth Texas Legislature (2007) passed Senate Bill 1659 which allowed for the creation of the Texas State Railroad Authority, and conveyed ownership of real estate and rolling stock to the Authority. The RoW was leased to the Authority for 99 years. The Authority leases operation of the line to qualified railroad operators. On September 1, 2007, the Texas State Railroad Authority leased the operations of the TSR to American Heritage Railways, which also operates the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
and the
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is a freight and heritage railroad based in Bryson City, North Carolina, United States. Since late 1999, the railroad is currently owned and operated by American Heritage Railways, Inc., which also owns and ...
in
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. In August 2012, American Heritage Railways abandoned the lease and
Iowa Pacific Holdings Iowa Pacific Holdings was a holding company that owned railroad properties across North America and the United Kingdom, as well as providing services such as railcar repairs, leasing, management and consulting services to other operators. The comp ...
leased operations. In addition to continuing passenger operations, Iowa Pacific Holdings opened the track to the main line in Palestine on November 1, 2012 to begin offering freight services. The Western Group replaced Iowa Pacific Holdings as operator in May 2017 and was in turn replaced by Jaguar Transport Holdings of
Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...
in November 2020. The leading supporters of keeping the railroad operational are State Senator Robert Nichols, along with State Representative Cody Harris. The schedule of the railroad allows visitors to ride trains pulled by antique diesel and
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s between the park's Victorian-style
depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...
s and through the
forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s of
East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...
. The railroad also has a long history of film and television productions, such as episodes of
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
''.


Motive power

The Texas State Railroad operates a
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
and two
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s, with build dates ranging from 1901 to 1958:


Currently rostered locomotives


Formerly rostered locomotives


Texas & Eastern Railroad

In September of 2012, the Surface Transportation Board approved an operating agreement between the Texas State Railroad Authority and the Rusk, Palestine & Pacific Railroad (RP&P) for the latter to perform common carrier freight service over the Rusk-to-Palestine line using the RP&P name. In May of 2017, the line was leased to the Texas & Eastern Railroad to carry on the freight services, the RP&P being dissolved in January of 2018. The freight trains bear the Texas & Eastern name, but the passenger excursions continue to operate under the Texas State Railroad name. The Texas & Eastern interchanges with the
Union Pacific 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 ...
at Palestine, and carries primarily construction aggregates, industrial products and chemicals.


See also

*
List of heritage railroads in the United States This is a list of heritage railroads in the United States. There are currently no such railroads in the states of Mississippi or North Dakota. Heritage railroads by state Alabama * Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, Shelby & Southern Railroad a ...


References


External links


Official websiteTexas State Railroad SocietyJaguar Transport Holdings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Texas State Railroad Heritage railroads in Texas Transportation in Cherokee County, Texas Transportation in Anderson County, Texas Railway companies established in 1881 Tourist attractions in Cherokee County, Texas Tourist attractions in Anderson County, Texas 1881 establishments in Texas