Texas Railroad History - Tower 138 - Harlingen

A Crossing of the Missouri Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads

 

 
Above Left
: This 1944 photo of Tower 138 shows that it was a typical Southern Pacific (SP) two-story structure resembling many other SP towers in Texas. SP's chosen architecture had remained essentially unchanged over a quarter century, e.g. compare Tower 138 (opened September 28, 1928) with Tower 26 (opened September 29, 1903.) This photo looks west down the SP tracks toward Edinburg, with an approaching SP train paused at the home signal exhibiting a stop condition (horizontal semaphore blade.) Tower 138 sat in the northeast quadrant of the crossing, with two tracks of the Missouri Pacific (MP) Railroad crossing north / south, behind the tower from this angle. (R. H. Carlson photo)

Above Right: This photo, also taken by R. H. Carlson on February 29, 1944, shows the southeast corner of the tower. A leaning metal pole set in concrete is visible in both photos between the tower and the cross buck. The pole has appendages that look similar to what might be expected for a large swing gate, but the location is not near the diamond where a gate would have been placed. Since the concrete base does not appear to be sunk into the ground, perhaps the pole had simply been moved away from the diamond when the tower was erected. The size of the pole is comparable to the swing gate pole at Tower 176, but such poles would not normally be bent. (photos courtesy of The Jernigan Library South Texas Archives)

Harlingen was founded through the efforts of Lon Hill, a lawyer and developer who served as the District Attorney for Bee County in the late 1890s. Envisioning significant growth opportunities for the Rio Grande Valley, Hill procured large tracts of land in Cameron County and operated a rice plantation near Brownsville, along with other commercial ventures. Hill began to pursue railroad service into the Valley and he led a committee that raised a bonus to be given to the first railroad to reach Brownsville. B. F. Yoakum's Gulf Coast Lines (GCL), under the charter of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico (SLB&M) Railway, collected the bonus by constructing a line from Robstown to Brownsville in 1904, a distance of 141 miles. Robstown was on the national rail network via Texas Mexican Railway connections to both Corpus Christi and Alice where rail lines to San Antonio and Houston could be accessed. Twenty-five miles north of Brownsville, the SLB&M passed through a clearing on Lon Hill's land that he had designated to be the future town of Harlingen, named for a Dutch city. Hill personally guaranteed free right-of-way plus an additional land bonus if the railroad also built a westward branch to Starr County. The SLB&M did so with a forty mile line that terminated in what is now the city of Mission, passing through locations that would prove to be excellent for agricultural development. As Lon Hill had planned, the town of Harlingen sprang up in his clearing, becoming an incorporated city in 1910.

While numerous short branch lines were built, no other major railroad came into the Valley for two decades. In a 1903 legal battle, Southern Pacific (SP) had lost control of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass (SA&AP) Railway which prevented SP from building toward the Valley. It also left the SA&AP independent, but with insufficient resources to continue its own construction toward the Valley from its southernmost rails at Falfurrias. As this greatly benefited B. F. Yoakum, SP accused Yoakum of being the hidden mastermind behind the legal issue through his friendships with the commissioners of the Railroad Commission of Texas (RCT). Yet SP had admitted that the control it was exercising over the SA&AP was illegal, as RCT had charged. SP didn't even take it to court, instead negotiating a settlement with RCT in which the SA&AP stock held by SP was cancelled and forfeited, but allowing the SA&AP to retain its state charter as an independent railroad. From Brownsville, Yoakum's SLB&M reached Houston via Algoa in 1908, remaining the only connection out of the Valley to the national rail network until 1926.


Above: SP's plan to build from Harlingen to Brownsville was BIG NEWS in the Brownsville Herald of October 27, 1926. The announcement came less than a year after SP was able to reacquire the SA&AP and resume construction south from Falfurrias. By then, the SLB&M had come under the ownership of the large Missouri Pacific Railroad (MP), and the two railroads would compete vigorously for Valley business in the years to come.

A year later, the Brownsville Herald of November 13, 1927 carried a lengthy article about SP's rapid advance into the Valley. It cites January 11, 1927 as the date that the track from Falfurrias to Edinburg was completed. It notes that SP passenger service to Edinburg began February 6, 1927, but that the line from Edinburg to Harlingen "had been completed before that date." SP's urgency to serve the Valley had motivated deployment of multiple construction crews so that service to Harlingen could commence practically as soon as the Falfurrias - Edinburg track had opened. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) approved SP's plans for the Brownsville extension on May 24, 1927. Construction began at Harlingen on June 30th; it was "rushed with all possible expedition" and completed to Brownsville within four months.

Left and Right: Brownsville Herald, October 26, 1927

In the same October 27, 1926 issue of the Brownsville Herald that produced the massive headline above, another article revealed that the location of the future Tower 138 crossing was the subject of a serious dispute between MP and SP. This dispute may also help to explain a curious aspect of SP's route into Harlingen. On October 16, 1927, a judge in Harlingen had granted a temporary restraining order requested by SP that prevented MP "...from running trains over certain tracks on property claimed..." by SP. SP believed it had acquired an option to purchase three acres near MP's yard which it intended to use as the location for the grade crossing over MP's tracks. MP claimed that prior to its awareness of SP's option, it had authorized $22,000 to procure the land directly from the owner, W. H. Neu, a resident of the tiny community of Lindsey six miles west of Gainesville near the Red River. Perhaps due to communications issues or mail delays, both railroads thought they had control of the land. MP wanted it to expand its yard while SP planned to use it to cross MP's tracks. SP asserted there was no other feasible crossing location while MP responded that a site a mile farther north would be suitable. The Google Earth image below has been annotated to show that less than two miles from Harlingen, SP's tracks turned due east to proceed across the MP tracks and then turn south. With rural, unpopulated land available for its right-of-way, there is no obvious reason for SP to have planned this jog to the east and then south. Projecting a route (yellow dashes) onto SP's approach angle surmises a crossing about where the disputed property was located. Apparently, a settlement ensued or perhaps SP simply lost its case.

SP's plans for a Brownsville extension were submitted in October, 1926, but SP did not receive ICC permission until May 24, 1927 and the construction work did not commence until June 30. Presumably, well before then, the crossing site had been settled, but it is not known for certain when SP actually built across the SLB&M tracks. Since RCT authorized Tower 138 to begin operating in September, 1928, there was most likely a period of 12 to 15 months where the diamond was uncontrolled. This lends credence to the idea that the metal pole visible in the photos might have been used for a gate prior to Tower 138's opening (but if so, why was the pole still sitting near the tower sixteen years later?) A gate would have allowed trains to approach the crossing at restricted speed and continue across the diamond without stopping if the gate was visibly open.

A news item in the January 7, 1928 issue of Railway Age listed Harlingen as a planned location for SP to install an 18-function mechanical interlocker during the upcoming year. By the time Tower 138 opened on September 28, the function count had grown to 30 according to a table published by RCT at the end of the year. Two years later, RCT published a table showing the count had dropped to 20, but this was the final comprehensive table of active interlockers that RCT ever issued.

Tower 138 was one of the last 2-story interlocking towers built in Texas. Tower 159 in Mathis opened in November, 1929 as the final 2-story interlocking tower built in Texas (Tower 199 opened at Settegast Yard in Houston in 1952, but the interlocking was a secondary feature of what was essentially a multi-story yard tower.) Improvements in remote control technology and consolidation of rail networks (and associated line abandonments) reduced the need for manned towers, particularly as automatic interlockers became authorized by RCT in 1930.

As the second railroad at Harlingen, RCT rules required SP to provide all capital funding for the tower and its interlocking plant, including associated signals and derails. Although SP took the lead on designing and erecting the tower, RCT records show that MP was the railroad responsible for operations and maintenance (O&M) staffing. This was the rare case where the railroad that designed the tower was not assigned initially to staff it. MP likely sought this arrangement since its main line was much busier than SP's branch line, i.e. MP had a stronger interest in fast, effective O&M. Staffing and materials expenses would have been shared between MP and SP based on a weighted function formula promulgated by RCT.

Left: The July, 1951 issue of Railway Signaling and Communications carried this news item regarding the installation of an automatic interlocking plant at Harlingen. Presumably the installation was accomplished later that year or in early 1952, resulting in the closure of Tower 138. The fate of the tower building is unknown.

MP entered a lengthy receivership in 1933 that last until 1956. It emerged from bankruptcy with a reorganization plan that dissolved the SLB&M and other MP subsidiaries, fully integrating their assets into MP operations. MP remained independent until 1982 when it was acquired by Union Pacific (UP), but it continued to operate as a subsidiary under its own name.

In 1979, SP abandoned their main line into the Valley from Falfurrias to Edinburg in favor of a trackage rights agreement to use MP's main line south from Placedo. To facilitate continued access to Brownsville by SP on its own track east from Tower 138, a connector was added in the northeast quadrant of the crossing. By 1994, SP's trackage rights had rendered the Tower 138 automatic interlocker unnecessary and it was removed, replaced by stop signs. In 1996, UP acquired SP, which led to removal of the Tower 138 diamonds in 1998 since all of the tracks belonged to UP. The Santa Rosa sugar mill -- eleven miles west on the former SP tracks -- continued to be served from Harlingen using a reworked connector off the main line in the southwest quadrant. Randy Curlin explains the evolution of the Tower 138 crossing:

"In the early 1990s, the crossing was "simplified" with stop signs in order to deactivate the signals [and interlocker.] Around 1975, SP had begun using the MP line so this crossing saw very light use for SP save for a couple of locals and yard jobs. The diamonds (MP main and drill-yard lead) were removed in 1998 to speed up operations in the area. The SP switch job was moved to the MP yard and a worn out connector track allowed access to the Santa Rosa sugar mill from the MP yard."

 

Left: Randy Curlin describes this photo he took in June, 1998:

"This photo is looking south toward the MP Harlingen yard. The main is the left track and the yard lead is the right track. The SP line crosses from left (Harlingen) to right (Edinburg). The backs of stop signs are visible for northbound trains. Tank cars are sitting on the MP - SP interchange tracks. The connector track that allows southbound trains to access the SP line for Brownsville is out of picture to the left."

 

Right: Compare this June, 1998 photo with the first photo at the top of page.

Randy continues...
"This photo is looking west on the SP toward Edinburg. The nearest MP track is the main; the other is the yard lead. Harlingen is to the south (left) and Kingsville is to the north (right). It is strange that an SP yard limit sign is so close to the diamond. Hopper cars are on the MP - SP interchange tracks."



Below: yard limit sign

        

  
Above Left: By October, 1998, UP had begun the effort to remove the former SP track across the UP main line. To retain access to the SP line to the mill, the connecting track visible at upper left would become the lead. Though not detectable from the photo, there were actually two parallel connecting tracks that merged immediately prior to reaching the switch onto the SP track. That switch was removed since there was no longer a "straight through" track across the Tower 138 diamonds. Above Right: By November, 1998, the SP track had been removed between the location of the connecting track switch and the UP main line, which shows newer rails where the diamonds had been located. Most likely, the SP rails had also been lifted back to the east (behind the camera) to the point where they intersected the northeast quadrant connector (purple arrows below) that enabled access to the former SP line to Brownsville. (Randy Curlin photos)

Left
: annotated 1983 aerial ((c)historicaerials.com) -- orange arrows: connector to Edinburg; purple arrows: connector to SP Brownsville line; red circle: Tower 138 crossing

Above: Grasses have overgrown the former SP right-of-way where the tracks to the crossing were removed. (Randy Curlin, September, 2004)


  
Above:
These two annotated maps showing the rail lines northwest (left) and southeast (right) of Harlingen have the Tower 138 crossing as a green circle, which can be used to align the locations depicted. The maps are from the same source but have different magnifications and thus different scales. They were published by Mike Walker in the Texas component of his series
Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America ((c) Steam Powered Video, 2001.) When SP built to Brownsville in 1927, it crossed the MP main at Harlingen and almost immediately began a curve to the right to begin a south-southeast bearing toward Brownsville. SP's Harlingen yard was also eventually placed along this track. But SP did not parallel MP's tracks all the way to Brownsville, preferring to access new agricultural developments farther east near Lantana and Lozano before turning due south. This resulted in some additional rail grade crossings, and the colored circles depict the interlocker locations of Tower 151 (Rosita) and Tower 147 (Lantana.) Back to the west, Tower 146 (Edcouch) was also established as were Towers 145 and 149 at Edinburg (off the map to the left.) All of these were MP / SP crossings. These maps date to 2001, but UP had acquired and integrated virtually all of the railroads in this area by 1997. Hence, UP is shown as the owner of most lines, with predecessor companies in parentheses. Where "UP / BNSF" is shown, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) had acquired trackage rights from UP as part of the UP / SP merger in 1996. "SBRG" is the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway which did some early construction in the Valley a few years after the SLB&M had arrived. The SBRG was acquired and merged into MP in 1925. UP has retained both routes to Brownsville: the former MP main line, and the SP route that goes east and then south. (Note that trackage rights changes and abandonments after 2001 may affect the accuracy of this map.)

Below
: The Rio Valley Switching Co. (RVSC) operates many of the former MP and SP lines in this area including the former SP line westward out of Harlingen toward Edcouch and Edinburg. This line now terminates just beyond Santa Rosa where a sugar mill has been operating for 50+ years but has recently closed down. In June, 1999, UP received permission from the Surface Transportation Board to abandon the SP line between the outskirts of Edinburg and the Santa Rosa sugar mill. The rails were removed in 2000 and the remaining track east of the mill became known as the Santa Rosa Industrial Lead. (map courtesy RVSC)

 

         
Above: The former southwest quadrant connecting track at Tower 138 is now the entrance to the Santa Rosa Industrial Lead which runs just over ten miles to the northwest on the former SP tracks. The light color pavement patch visible at far right provides the telltale sign of where the SP tracks were removed in the autumn of 1998. This Google Street View from is 2019; a 2023 Street View shows that N. Commerce St. has been completely repaved. Tower 138 was located in the vicinity of the short pole in the vacant area this side of the equipment cabinet.

Below: It's apparent from these tanker cars stored up to, but not crossing, Hand Rd. that the Santa Rosa Industrial Lead was rarely in use in February, 2023 when this Google Street View was captured. Another string of tanker cars occupies the track in the opposite direction west of Hand Rd. Although the sugar mill formally closed in 2024, production may have been curtailed for a lengthy period, eliminating the need for rail service. Satellite imagery from June, 2023 shows several cuts of tanker cars visible over a two-mile stretch from Hand Rd. west to Burns Rd.

        
Above: In this April, 2021 Street View, hopper cars sit on the Santa Rosa Lead just shy of the switch to the plant track for the sugar mill. Below: By April, 2023, the Santa Rosa Lead appears to be out of service at the mill.

 

 
Last Revised: 5/12/2024 JGK - Contact the Texas Interlocking Towers Page.