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.
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. "