Texas Railroad History - Tower 193 - Sinton
A Crossing of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway and
the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad
Historic Photo - Tower 193 Crossing
Above: John W. Barriger III
took this photo from the rear platform of his business car as he passed through
Sinton in the late 30's or early 40's.
The image comes from photo 063 of the Gulf Coast Lines set in the
John W Barriger III
National Railroad Library. It appears the photo was
taken prior to 1946 since there is no visible interlocking plant. The view is to
the northeast along the StLB&M line. The SA&AP crossing is
protected by a manual gate.
Sinton was founded in 1886, shortly after the San Antonio &
Aransas Pass (SA&AP) railroad passed through the area as it constructed
a line from San Antonio to Aransas Pass. Two decades later, the
St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico (StLB&M) Railway was constructed from Houston to Brownsville,
crossing the SA&AP in Sinton. Population growth was slow, but by 1910, the town
had a bank, a hotel, a newspaper and several businesses. Local commerce was
mostly agricultural until 1935 when oil was discovered in the area. With the oil
boom on, the increase in rail traffic over this crossing justified an automatic
interlocker which was installed in 1946. The interlocker was formally named Tower 193
by the Railroad Commission of Texas, but there may not have been any structure at all,
certainly not a manned structure. Most likely it was just a cabin to house the
interlocking electronics.
The SA&AP became integrated into the Southern Pacific (SP) system while the
StLB&M came under Missouri Pacific (MP) ownership. Both MP and SP were
subsequently merged into the Union Pacific system which now owns both of the lines through Sinton. The
ex-StLB&M line continues to be the major route between the Rio Grande Valley and
points north. The ex-SA&AP line is still in use to the southeast to access
petrochemical industries along the north side of Corpus Christi Bay. To the
northwest, the SA&AP line was abandoned in stages until the final abandonment
from Beeville to Sinton in 1995.
Modern Photo - Tower 193
(Carl Codney photos)
Above: This is the view
c.2001 along the SA&AP line looking northwest. The photo shows that the
tracks remained
in place across the diamond after the final abandonment in 1995. This allowed
access to the "old SP yard" which
was still in use. Note also that a connecting track is visible at left beyond
the StLB&M main track to allow access
to this yard from the StLB&M. Below: This view along the StLB&M line looking southwest
shows two connecting tracks in the distance. The one
at right is the west connector visible in the above photo. The one to the left
is the connector in the south quadrant
that remains in use today (see satellite image further below).
Satellite Image, Tower 193 Crossing
Above: Looking north, the former StLB&M runs
diagonally across the image from lower left (southwest) to upper right
(northeast). The ex-SA&AP
crosses diagonally from upper left (northwest) to lower right (southeast). The
diamond no longer exists as only the tracks to the southeast
remain in use on the former SA&AP, now accessed solely by the connector visible
in the south quadrant. Remnants of the "old SP yard" are
visible at upper left and the path of the former connector can be seen on the
west side of the diamond.
