Texas Railroad History - Tower 58 - Alvarado
A Crossing of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway and the
Missouri - Kansas - Texas Railroad
The settlement of Alvarado had existed for some 25 years when two railroads
arrived in the 1879-81 timeframe. The Dallas, Cleburne & Rio Grande Railway
built through Alvarado as part of their narrow gauge line from Dallas to
Cleburne, but this was after a reorganization when the originally chartered
company could not be financed. According to the
Handbook of Texas...
"The Dallas and Cleburne Railroad had been
chartered on November 23, 1876, to build a narrow-gauge line between Dallas and
Cleburne, but the capital could not be raised and the road was reorganized as
the Dallas, Cleburne, and Rio Grande. In 1879 the company built fifty-three
miles of narrow-gauge track from Dallas to Cleburne. The company ran a freight
and passenger train over the tracks to collect a promised bonus, but service was
then abandoned. The right-of-way passed to the Chicago, Texas and Mexican
Central Railway Company in 1880."
The line was then acquired by the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe (GC&SF) Railway
two years later and converted to standard gauge. Meanwhile, the Missouri -
Kansas - Texas Railroad ("the Katy") passed west of Alvarado as they built from
Ft. Worth to Hillsboro in 1881. The two rail lines ran parallel for more than a
mile before crossing. Tower 58 was authorized for operation
at this location by the Railroad Commission of Texas on November 1, 1904.
Historic Photos, Tower 58 (John
W Barriger III National Railroad Library)
Above and Below: These two photos were shot sequentially from the rear
platform of John W Barriger III's business car,
probably in the late 1930's or early 1940's. The view of Tower 58 is looking
northwest along the Katy Railroad as Barriger's
train was headed south toward Waco. In the above photo, the Santa Fe crosses in
the foreground. To the left of the tower, the
Santa Fe curves back to the northwest to become parallel to the Katy. Also, what
appears to be a connecting track is located
at far left. Below, a siding for the Katy is visible beginning immediately south
of the tower. Note that the siding gives
the
illusion of a slight opposite direction curve near the siding switch. This
is where the Santa Fe connecting track joined the
Katy siding.
Below: This photo of Tower 58 was taken by Barriger on a different trip, this time looking
southwest down the Katy.
Modern Photo - Tower 58 Site
Above: It is apparent from the track layout
that sometime after Tower 58 was decommissioned, Santa Fe and the
Katy agreed to restructure this junction to allow movements between the two
railroads, something that was not
convenient in the original crossing design. This view is to the north with the
two railroads parallel in the distance:
Santa Fe (now Burlington Northern Santa Fe) on the left and the Katy (now Union
Pacific) on the right. In the
foreground, the Santa Fe line departs to the right as it curves back to the east
through the town of Alvarado.
By email on 4/25/14, Alan Hale adds... "The diamond for Tower 58 was
removed in late 1996 and replaced with the
interchanging switches currently in place. "
Location Map - Tower 58
Above: The Santa Fe looped
around to the north to avoid a 2.3% grade that would have resulted from a more direct
route (i.e. across this image).
