Texas Railroad History - Tower 191 - Marlin

A Crossing of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Missouri Pacific Railroad

 

Left: Rails in the pavement on Monroe St. help visualize the crossing of the Southern Pacific (SP) and Missouri Pacific (MP) railroads on the north side of Marlin, a site interlocked as Tower 191 in 1946. This Google Street View from July, 2023 looks southwest along the former MP right-of-way. The former SP tracks cross at an acute angle, now owned by Union Pacific (UP). The rails in the pavement indicate a connecting track between the two lines; a track chart shows it dating to at least 1915.

From Marlin, the MP and SP lines both went northwest to Waco, but the SP route was shorter, with fewer grades and curves. In the mid-1960s when SP planned to abandon their line through Marlin, MP arranged to buy it and abandon their Marlin-to-Waco tracks instead. This gave MP a shorter and easier route to navigate into Waco, hence, UP's track has both SP and MP heritage.

Having acquired the SP tracks to Waco, MP needed a connecting point in Marlin. Tower 191 could have served that purpose if a new connector had been built west of SP's tracks, approximately where the utility pole on the right now stands. Instead, where the MP and SP tracks approached Marlin from the south, MP built a 0.7-mile connector between them, abandoning its tracks farther north as SP abandoned its tracks to the south.

By an act of the Texas Legislature, Falls County was carved out of Milam and Limestone counties in 1850, named for waterfalls on the Brazos River which bisects the county. The law specified a settlement west of the Brazos as the county seat, but a vote of county residents in January, 1851 relocated the seat to Adams east of the Brazos. Two months later, the county commissioners voted to rename Adams in honor of John Marlin, a landowner who had established an early settlement nearby. About fifteen years later, Marlin became positioned to gain rail service when the citizens of Waco decided that the easiest way to obtain a railroad was to build their own. They proposed to "tap" the main line of the Houston & Texas Central (H&TC) Railway, which had begun building north out of Houston toward the Red River prior to the Civil War. The new railroad would be known as the Waco Tap, and it was chartered by an act of the Texas Legislature on November 5, 1866. Marlin was virtually assured of rail service; it was 21 miles southeast of Waco in the direction to reach the H&TC, and its population was growing, reaching 500 in the 1870 Census.

The Waco Tap had a charter but not much else, not even a corporation to own the charter; that would come later. It also lacked an obvious connecting point to the H&TC. During the War, the H&TC's end of track was at Millican, a tiny community between Navasota and Bryan, well to the northwest of Houston...in the direction of Waco. A straight line between Waco and Houston would pass very close to Millican, Navasota and Bryan. The H&TC appeared to be following the Brazos River toward Waco, remaining generally three to eight miles northeast of the river. After the Civil War, the H&TC resumed construction with the same northwest heading paralleling the Brazos, reaching Bryan (seven miles from the river) in 1867 and Hearne (five miles from the river) in 1868. Northwest of Hearne, the H&TC passed through Calvert (six miles from the river and only 26 miles from Marlin) in 1869. Nine miles beyond Calvert, the H&TC heading turned away from the Brazos, curving north-northeast. It continued on that heading another five miles into the town of Bremond, newly founded by the railroad and named for its first President, Paul Bremond. It was nine miles east of the river and sixteen miles southeast of Marlin.

In Texas, the unsettled nature of the banking system and financial markets during the post-War occupation by Federal troops had motivated the Legislature to specify a procedure for organizing the Waco Tap company, allowing two years in which to do so. The Waco Tap Railroad Co. was formally established as the holder of the Waco Tap charter in November, 1868, and it immediately began negotiating with the H&TC regarding the planned branch to Waco. The railroads chose Bremond to be their connecting point; the H&TC had already obtained a right-of-way there, but its tracks were still miles away. The initial survey work for the Waco Tap began in December, 1868, and a year later, the Houston Telegraph of December 16, 1869 quoted a Waco Register report that "Two miles of the road are now graded. The junction, Bremond, has been laid off into lots, the sale of which will commence soon." By the time the first scheduled H&TC train rolled into Bremond in June, 1870, the railroads had agreed that the H&TC would perform the construction work for the Waco Tap and would acquire the line upon completion. In his classic reference book A History of the Texas Railroads (St. Clair Publishing, 1941), author S. G. Reed explains that the H&TC...

"...secured an agreement to build a branch from Bremond. The H. & T. C., however, did not intend to stop at Waco, but to extend it through the Panhandle toward Colorado. So the name was changed by the Legislature on August 6, 1870, to The Waco and Northwestern Railroad Company."

H&TC's investors had been looking at the prospect of building a lengthy branch line into the Texas Panhandle with Colorado as the long term goal. Waco was an obvious target in that direction, hence, it made sense to see what might be done under the Waco Tap's charter. The terms of H&TC's charter prohibited it from building branch lines until it had completed its main line to the Red River (which would occur in late 1872), but that did not prevent the H&TC from connecting to branch lines built under other charters. Consistent with the idea behind the Waco & Northwestern (W&NW), Colorado would soon become the foremost target for Texas railroad expansion. Both the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway and the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway would be chartered in 1873, putting Colorado front and center as an explicit goal.

Left: Although the first scheduled arrival of an H&TC train into Bremond reportedly took place on June 15, 1870 to a welcoming crowd of a thousand people, this news item from the
Houston Telegraph of Thursday, June 2, 1870, quotes the inaugural issue of the Bremond Central Texan that "preliminary opening day" at Bremond had taken place "Tuesday last", which could either mean May 31 (two days earlier) or May 24 (Tuesday of the prior week.) Various dignitaries of the H&TC were aboard the special train.

  



Left Top: While the Houston Evening Telegraph of June 2, 1870 reported grading north of Big Creek, within five miles of Marlin...

Left Bottom: ...the
Austin Daily State Journal of June 14, 1870 quoted the Waco Register's claim that "work" was "within seven miles of Marlin." The difference may be attributable to the time lag in obtaining the Waco Register report.

Right: Despite H&TC taking over the construction effort, the work proceeded slowly. The grading between Bremond and Marlin took another sixteen months. With the distribution of ties along the grade also nearly finished, the roadbed was finally ready for rails. (Austin Weekly Democrat Statesman, October5, 1871)

Trains finally operated into Marlin on February 24, 1872 and reached Waco on September 18, 1872. The W&NW was sold to H&TC five months later. Operations of the Tap (which was still the favored nickname) through Marlin helped spur a tripling of its population to 1,500 in the 1880 Census.
 

As explained by Reed, H&TC's track-laying for the W&NW did not stop at Waco; it continued to Ross in late 1872, ten miles farther northwest. There was nothing special about the tiny community of Ross; it was simply in the right direction as H&TC wanted to demonstrate its commitment to building to the Panhandle. The timing coincided with H&TC completing construction into Denison where it connected to a new bridge over the Red River built by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas (MK&T) Railroad coming south across Oklahoma. Reaching the Red River fulfilled H&TC's charter requirement, freeing it to build its own branch lines. It also attracted the attention of Charles Morgan, owner of a major steamship line operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Morgan had recognized the need to acquire railroads to move goods in and out of the major ports servicing his steamship line. To this end, he organized Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Company and then bought the H&TC in early 1877, naming his son-in-law, Charles Whitney, as President.

With Morgan and his family now in control, the H&TC and its investors refocused on the northwest extension. To build it, they elected to use a separate railroad for which a charter was granted on May 30, 1879. It was called the Texas Central (TC) Railway and was backed by many of the H&TC's existing investors. Charles Morgan's death at age 73 on May 8, 1878 put Charles Whitney firmly in charge of both the H&TC and the TC, which commenced construction out of Ross c.1879. The 55 miles from Bremond through Marlin to Ross remained under W&NW ownership controlled by the H&TC.

In 1883, SP acquired all of the Morgan interests, but the H&TC was allowed to operate under its own name as a wholly-owned subsidiary. The Depression of 1882-1885 had already begun, and it hit railroads particularly hard. The H&TC entered receivership in February, 1885 and SP lost control of it. In April, 1890, a financial reorganization resulted in the chartering of a new Houston & Texas Central "Railroad" (not "Railway", as originally named.) The W&NW had been separated from the H&TC by the Bankruptcy Court and remained in receivership, to be sold at auction. The new H&TC proceeded to buy the Houston - Denison main line from the bondholders, and then SP reacquired the new H&TC shortly thereafter.

The auction for the W&NW was held December 28, 1892 on the steps of the McLennan County Courthouse in Waco. SP lost the auction to Hetty Green, a wealthy Wall Street investor represented by her son, Col. E. H. R. Green, but a lawsuit was filed over the terms of the sale pertaining to first mortgage bonds. A court set aside the results of the auction, and after a lengthy court battle, a second auction was held on September 3, 1895. This time, the auction was won by Wilbur F. Boyle, an agent secretly acting on behalf of SP.

Extensive litigation followed. In a nutshell... although the "new" H&TC owned the main line and rolling stock, the remaining assets and obligations of the "old" H&TC and other Morgan interests were still being unraveled to decide what could be liquidated and paid to the bondholders. The "old" H&TC's ownership of the W&NW created legal obligations regarding first mortgage bonds (hence it had been separated so that the H&TC reorganization could proceed.) Though Boyle had won the auction, he could not complete the sale because the W&NW was still held in receivership while the lawsuit against the "old" H&TC was litigated. The W&NW was being operated in the interim under court supervision and was continuing to make a profit. Should the profits be held for Boyle to receive, if and when the sale was finally completed? Should they be paid to the W&NW's bondholders? How much profit was there? It was a jobs program for lawyers... The Federal District Court in Galveston handled the case and assigned a Special Master to sort out the details and issue reports to the Court. Naturally, every report from the Special Master resulted in motions to the judge by one side or the other disputing various details. Finally, after appellate rulings from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, the case wound down.

Right: The
Galveston Tribune of July 7, 1898 reported the end of the W&NW receivership. Six days earlier, Boyle had been able to convey the W&NW property title to SP's new H&TC subsidiary. Although Alfred Abeel is noted in the article as the Special Master, he was actually the court-appointed Receiver for the W&NW. The Special Master was Col. William L. Prather, who resigned his position with the Court on February 19, 1900 (the remainder of the lawsuit was still going on!) as he became President of the University of Texas, an institution he had served for many years on the Board of Regents. He is the namesake of Prather Hall on the Austin campus.

While Alfred Abeel had been running the W&NW as the court-appointed Receiver, the railroad had performed well. Abeel had to get Court permission for capital expenditures, but since the railroad was making a profit, such approval was typically forthcoming. By 1896, Abeel knew he needed new depots in Waco and Marlin.



Left and Above:
Galveston Daily News, April 18, 1896
In 1892, the City of Marlin accidentally discovered hot mineral water when it drilled an artesian well for municipal use. Soon, the "healing benefits" of Marlin's mineral waters were being marketed to the general public, many of whom arrived by train on the W&NW. The first bath house was completed in 1895 and the Arlington Hotel was built that same year as an elaborate facility for visitors who came to enjoy spa treatments. Additional hotels were built, and a substantial industry developed in Marlin around bath houses and spa facilities catering to travelers who came to "take the waters." Four major league baseball teams held spring training in Marlin in various years (c.1904-1918), always staying at the Arlington Hotel. The spa industry continued through the 1930s and then began to fade away.

Left: It seems likely that the growing influx of spa visitors to Marlin arriving on the W&NW motivated Abeel to request approval of a new passenger depot. The judge assigned it to Special Master Prather who issued a favorable report on the idea. Abeel's request also included building a new freight depot at Waco. [Note that "UP" in the headline does not refer to Union Pacific! It is simply that from the perspective of headline writers in the Galveston press, almost everything happening in Texas was "up", as in "up north".]

Below: The mineral waters industry in Marlin was no "mom and pop" operation. (University of North Texas collection, Portal to Texas History)
   

As the mineral waters fed Marlin's economic growth in the late 1890s, the town became targeted for additional rail service. The International & Great Northern (I&GN) Railroad, one of the largest in Texas, had begun to contemplate a new rail line to connect Fort Worth and Waco with Houston and Galveston, with the route passing through Marlin. The I&GN was controlled by the family of rail baron Jay Gould who had died in December, 1892. His rail empire had passed to his sons George and Edwin. Edwin ran the St. Louis Southwestern ("Cotton Belt") while George ran the I&GN and the Texas & Pacific, plus additional railroads outside of Texas (notably, the Missouri Pacific, which had been evicted from Texas when its lease of the MK&T was broken by the Texas Supreme Court in 1891.) Because Fort Worth had become a major rail gateway to the north and west, the belief was that a faster, more direct route from Fort Worth to Houston and the Port of Galveston would pay dividends for the I&GN.

Like many other rail executives, George Gould elected to charter a separate railroad, the Calvert, Waco and Brazos Valley (CW&BV), to handle the construction of the new line, ostensibly from Valley Junction (near Hearne) to Waco and Fort Worth. At Fort Worth, the I&GN would connect with several railroads; it had no existing operations there, but the Texas & Pacific led by Gould had a major presence. Although Valley Junction was on the I&GN main line between Longview and Laredo, neither of those endpoints was in the direction of Houston, hence there was no practical benefit to Valley Junction being the southern terminus of the new line. The charter was revised on May 6, 1900 to make Bryan the southern terminus, but there was no I&GN connection there at all. From Bryan, a trackage rights agreement with the H&TC would be needed to reach Houston, and there was no assurance that a deal could be made (no doubt H&TC was very unhappy with I&GN's plan to serve many of the same towns along the Brazos.) The charter was revised again in December, 1900 to move the south endpoint to Spring, just north of Houston on another I&GN main line that ran to Palestine. It was feasible to build to Spring, and the line from Spring into Houston connected with the Galveston, Houston & Henderson (GH&H) of which I&GN was half-owner. I&GN possessed an independent and unlimited right to use the GH&H tracks to reach Galveston.

Left: area map showing SP and MP rail lines along the Brazos River between Waco and Navasota -- other railroads not shown

From Waco, the new I&GN tracks would parallel the Brazos River much of the way south, passing through Marlin, Valley Junction, Bryan, College Station and Navasota. Except for Valley Junction, all of these towns were already served by the H&TC, and Valley Junction was only four miles from the major H&TC yard at Hearne. (Note that SP's line from Giddings through Tatsie to Hearne shown on the map was built later, c.1914.) The two railroads' proximity created serious conflict between them, and there was litigation associated with crossings and rights-of-way.

The entire line between Spring and Fort Worth was built in disjointed pieces by multiple I&GN crews. New construction reported annually to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RCT) reflects the nature of the effort.

1900: Calvert to Valley Junction, 14.3 miles (CW&BV)
1901: Valley Junction to Bryan, 22.75 miles (CW&BV)
1901: Calvert Junction to Marlin, 28.65 miles (CW&BV)
1902: Bryan to Spring, 78.22 miles (I&GN)
1902: Marlin to Waco, 41 miles (I&GN)
1903: Waco to Fort Worth, 94.55 miles (I&GN)

In February, 1901, an act of the Texas Legislature allowed the I&GN to acquire and merge the CW&BV, hence all post-1901 mileage is attributed to the I&GN.

In addition to Tower 191 at Marlin, the locations on this map that were interlocked are Waco (Towers 8, 59, 21 and 144), Valley Junction (Tower 194), Hearne (Tower 15), Tatsie (Tower 140), Bryan (Tower 36), College Station (Tower 7), Navasota (Towers 9 and 41), Milano (Tower 23) and Rockdale (Tower 54).

The overall design of the I&GN line between Spring and Fort Worth sacrificed grade quality for construction speed, and opted for circuitous routes in places to mitigate direct competition with the H&TC. This did not bode well for the long term since the I&GN's objective was a faster route to Houston. Its Fort Worth Division became notorious for wrecks, derailments and slow orders due to bad roadbed, poor signaling and numerous curves. The Brazos River and its tributary creeks flooded periodically creating more problems.

              

                                            Above:
Railway Journal, April, 1901

Wayne Cline described the I&GN construction in his book The Texas Railroad ((c) Wayne Cline, 2015)...

...the Fort Worth Division was built with "rapid-fire" techniques, which were not noted for producing safe and durable results. By 1902 short trains were rocking slowly along the wavy tracks of the new Fort Worth Division, and the following year found them creeping over a new 45-mile branch between Navasota and Madisonville."

     
Above Left: The
Navasota Daily Examiner of August 14, 1901 reported on a meeting between the two railroads at College Station regarding the I&GN's "right of way ... through the college grounds." Above Right: Three weeks later, the September 6 issue of the newspaper reported that track work had been suspended within a half-mile of College Station due to an injunction obtained by the H&TC to temporarily prevent the I&GN from crossing the H&TC's tracks. The I&GN eventually won the case and was allowed to proceed across the H&TC at College Station. This became one of the earliest crossings to be interlocked, commissioned by RCT on February 21, 1903 as Tower 7.

H&TC instituted a couple of legal roadblocks to try to deter the I&GN's construction, or at least steer it away from putting its grade directly beside the H&TC tracks. They lost in court, but they may ultimately have influenced I&GN's route. Despite grade crossings of the two railroads at Navasota, College Station, Bryan and Marlin, the tracks never ran side-by-side for any significant length until the crossing at Tatsie was built by SP in 1914 as part of the "Dalsa Cutoff" between Giddings and Hearne.

That the Fort Worth Division's construction had begun at Calvert (a town on the H&TC between Bremond and Hearne) is perhaps indicative of the chaotic nature of I&GN's planning. S. G. Reed wrote that the original concept was to build from "...Valley Junction on the Longview-San Antonio Line through Calvert to Fort Worth...", but despite Calvert being prominent in the CW&BV name, it wasn't even on the main line when the project was finished. The initial construction by the CW&BV began at Calvert and went west far enough (five miles) to cross the Little Brazos River. Safely ensconced a quarter mile west of the Little Brazos and a mile east of the "big" Brazos, the tracks made a 90-degree turn to the south to reach Valley Junction. The turn became known as Calvert Junction when it was subsequently used as the starting point from which to build north to Marlin. Thus, the actual main line ran between Valley Junction and Marlin, with Calvert merely the endpoint of a five-mile spur. Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of Calvert show that the I&GN and H&TC served the same cotton processing facility but otherwise did not connect at Calvert.

Because of population growth in Marlin, the I&GN had difficulty obtaining a right-of-way through town, and ultimately, the only choice was to run its tracks through the heart of Marlin on Falls St. and Ward St. This made operations in town very slow and somewhat dangerous due to wagon and pedestrian traffic. The Jefferson Jimplecute of February 2, 1907 (in what can only be characterized as random filler from a town 180 miles away) reported that while "improving its track", the I&GN "...is making needed improvements to portions of Ward and Falls streets." Perhaps Jefferson residents liked to go to Marlin to take the waters?

Right: This snippet from the 1903 Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. map of Marlin highlights the I&GN track running through Marlin's Public Square, where Falls St. becomes Ward St. along the east side of the Falls County Courthouse. A county courthouse located this close to a railroad main line must have been rare in Texas, even in 1901. It was obviously a busy area filled with people and commerce. Delays were mitigated somewhat by the I&GN passenger depot being located one block south of the square; trains would have been moving slowly anyway arriving or departing the depot.

To the north, the H&TC (W&NW) already occupied the optimum route between Marlin and Waco, so the I&GN chose to take a circuitous path from Marlin north to the community of Mart and then west to Waco. While this was an economic boon for Mart -- its population grew from 300 to 3,000 over the next decade -- it made the I&GN's route slower and more expensive to operate. Eventually, Mart became the I&GN division point and a yard was built there. Operations to the south were in the Mart District and operations to the north were in the Fort Worth District.

The I&GN went into receivership in 1908. This was partly from economic conditions and partly from financial miscalculations by George Gould pertaining to railroad investments elsewhere in the U.S. Gould issued a statement blaming it on orders issued by RCT that would require large expenditures to improve the I&GN's infrastructure. RCT stuck to its order, though it was roundly criticized throughout the railroad industry. While other railroads were ordered to make similar improvements, RCT rightfully had very serious concerns about the I&GN. The new Fort Worth Division was the culprit, though it comprised just 25% of the I&GN's track mileage. Wayne Cline explains that after Gould had taken control in the wake of his father's death in late 1892...

"...the International and Great Northern had compiled a reasonably acceptable safety record, but it went rapidly downhill shortly after the Fort Worth Division was constructed. In 1904, casualties suddenly soared when 139 workers and passengers were injured -- almost twice the average for the previous ten years. ...[in 1908] Commission records showed that 99 wrecks had occurred on the I&GN since the summer of 1907, and 41 of them occurred on the newly laid track of the Fort Worth Division."

In 1911, a new I&GN company was organized to take over the assets and operations of the old company, with the Gould family still in charge. In early 1914, the I&GN again returned to receivership, this time for several years which included the period under the U. S. Railroad Administration during the World War. Another new company, the International - Great Northern (I-GN) was formed in 1922 to acquire the I&GN out of foreclosure, at which point the Gould family was no longer involved.

The I-GN's financial reorganization coupled with its service to many of the major cities in Texas and its thousand miles of track made it an attractive target for acquisition. MP had gained independence from the Gould family in 1917 and wanted to buy the I-GN to reenter the Texas market, but the sale was nixed by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Going to Plan B, MP helped the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico (NOT&M) Railway buy the I-GN. The NOT&M had become the corporate entity for a collection of railroads that operated between New Orleans and Brownsville using the moniker Gulf Coast Lines (GCL) under executive control of the St. Louis - San Francisco ("Frisco") Railway. The GCL had gained independence during the Frisco's receivership in 1914 and it was also a candidate to be acquired by a larger railroad. The ICC approved NOT&M's purchase of the I-GN in 1924, and then allowed MP to buy the NOT&M on January 1, 1925. This gave MP the I-GN plus all of the NOT&M railroads -- a sudden and massive presence for MP in Texas. In 1933, MP went into a lengthy receivership which likewise compelled a receivership for the I-GN. Operating for more than two decades under court supervision, MP finally emerged from bankruptcy in 1956. MP dissolved the I-GN at that time and integrated its operations under the MP name.

In 1927, SP chose one of its Texas subsidiaries, the Texas & New Orleans (T&NO) Railroad, to become its primary operating entity for Texas and Louisiana. SP began leasing its various Texas and Louisiana properties to the T&NO and in 1934, merged them into the T&NO corporation. Although this did not include the Cotton Belt, of which SP had gained control in 1933, it did include the H&TC and W&NW. All subsequent SP operations through Marlin were under the T&NO name.

Left: 1915 track chart of Marlin from the MK&T railroad's Office of the Chief Engineer (courtesy Ed Chambers) Below: An automatic interlocker for Marlin was ordered in 1945 by the I-GN. It was commissioned as Tower 191 by RCT on January 18, 1946.

                 Above:
Railway Signaling, June, 1945

 

Right: SP used an internal drawing known as a D-205 to provide summary documentation for the interlockers in which it had a financial interest. The upper portion of the original D-205 for Tower 191 shows that the contract between the two railroads dated to the last day of 1944. Just over a year later, the interlocker was commissioned for operation. Since the T&NO was the "Senior Company", the I-GN had responsibility for the capital expense for the interlocking plant and associated signals. The bottom of the document (not shown) indicates that the recurring expenses were shared in the ratio of 41.18% for the T&NO and 58.82% for the I-GN. (Carl Codney collection)

The specific impetus to interlock the Marlin crossing in 1945 rather than years earlier is undetermined. Presumably the crossing was gated, most likely against the T&NO. The Waco branch had never been a main line for SP, and a 1941 T&NO timetable shows only one mixed train daily each way through Marlin. Despite all of the infrastructure problems during the Gould era, MP made substantially greater use of its Fort Worth Division. Assuming the crossing was gated against the T&NO and that MP trains were operating at restricted speed near the depot anyway, MP might have had little incentive to pay the capital expense for an automatic interlocker. Thus, the decision to interlock the Marlin crossing might have resulted from an order by RCT. In October, 1959, the D-205 was revised because a T&NO siding or spur track was removed. This reduced T&NO's recurring expense share to 36.51%.

 

The precise date the Marlin interlocker was commissioned for operation is undetermined, but it is listed as an automatic interlocker in a T&NO Employee Timetable (ETT) dated May 19, 1946. With a June, 1945 ordering date, it was probably installed in early 1946.

For whatever period of time the I&GN tracks from Valley Junction ended at Marlin in 1901, there would have been no reason to extend them past the depot to the point where they crossed the H&TC farther north. Thus, installation of the crossing diamond most likely occurred when the I&GN proceeded with construction from Marlin to Waco in 1902. On that basis, I-GN would have taken the lead in ordering the interlocker because it would have been paying all of the capital expenses. For crossings that existed as of 1901, RCT required the railroads to share interlocker capital expenses equally, but the Marlin crossing most likely dated from 1902.

Left: These special instructions from the 1946 ETT indicate that there was a control box mounted at the crossing to be used for overriding the signals when necessary. This is common for automatic interlockers, e.g. Tower 70,
Tower 103, Tower 127. The "Compress track" refers to a cotton processing facility identified on Sanborn Fire Insurance maps as "Exporters and Traders Compress and Ware Ho." southwest of the diamond. It was served by both railroads.

Over many years, SP's track and infrastructure development in Texas had rendered the route through Marlin unnecessary. The mixed train daily on T&NO's schedule in 1941 remained the only regular operations on the line. A 1962 timetable lists only a single daily freight in each direction; passenger service had apparently been dropped. With little commerce on the line, the T&NO proceeded to abandon its Waco Branch through Marlin in 1965. MP took this opportunity to eliminate the lengthy segment from Marlin to Waco via Mart by purchasing T&NO's more direct route. Rather than connecting to the T&NO tracks at the Tower 191 crossing, MP chose to eliminate the tracks on Ward St. and Falls St. by using T&NO's entire route through town. Tower 191 no longer served a crossing so it was decommissioned, but the plan necessitated construction of a short connecting track in south Marlin. Today, this route remains a UP main line.


Above: These two aerial images ((c)historicaerials.com) captured forty years apart show the revisions to the tracks on the south side of Marlin that resulted from MP buying SP's route to Waco in 1965. Prior to the sale, the MP tracks (pink arrows) ran north/south along the west side of Marlin while the SP tracks (blue arrows) ran northwest/southeast on the east side of Marlin. The 1955 imagery shows that MP had a wye (orange arrows) going east off the main line; the wye also appears on the 1915 track chart. MP used the south leg of the wye as the starting point for the new connector (orange dashes) that ran northeast and curved onto SP's tracks. The connector is visible in the 1995 image. The end result was that the MP tracks north of the connector (pink dashes) and the SP tracks south of the connector (blue dashes) were abandoned.

Below Left: Looking west, the north and south legs of MP's wye merged at the Bennett St. grade crossing. The south leg was used as the lead for the connecting track to carry MP trains to SP's tracks and is now part of UP's main line. The north leg was abandoned, but its path ran northwest past the utility pole at right of center where a vague right-of-way is visible extending into the distance. Below Right: Looking north-northwest from the former Tiller St. grade crossing, SP's right-of-way from Bremond shows a slightly elevated grade paralleling Kennedy St. About 0.6 miles distant, the grade becomes occupied by UP's tracks where MP's connecting track merged into SP's line to Waco. The connecting point was formerly the Conoly St. grade crossing, but barriers were erected to block the crossing and little remains of Conoly St. today. (Google Street View images)
   

In 1982, UP acquired MP but continued to operate it as a wholly-owned subsidiary. In 1996, UP acquired SP and shortly thereafter, SP and MP were integrated into UP's operations and they ceased to exist as separate railroads.

 

 
Last Revised: 9/13/2024 JGK - Contact the Texas Interlocking Towers Website.