Texas State Railroad
September 1, 2012
Rusk, Texas - Palestine, Texas
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Video Compilation |
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In mid-August, Iowa Pacific took over control of the Texas State Railroad from American Heritage Railways. My buddy Everett Lueck and I made plans to head up to Rusk on our first free weekend. It turned out to be Labor Day Weekend and the TSR would be running two trains that day with the new General Manger, Earl Knoob, on board. SCORE!
We left Spring/Woodlands at 0700 and made our way north into the piney woods of East Texas.
2.5 hours later we pulled into the Rusk yard. Despite planning to chase all day, we both purchased tickets to help support the railroad. While buying our tickets Earl walked in and we spent about half an hour chatting with a living legend. I couldn't be more impressed with Earl. He was a gracious host. |
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First Crossing west of Rusk - Country Road 2103 At the first crossing we met up with John Price, the President of the Texas State Railroad Society. We followed John to the best photo stops for the rest of the morning. I now know of several new spots. |
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County Road 2112 - The "Pumpkin Patch" |
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Facing north |
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Everett checks for snakes... |
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Remnant of an old logging spur at County Road 399 |
Arriving in Palestine, Texas |
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Engineer Scott |
Everett and Scott |
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After the train arrived in Palestine, Everett and I were invited to have lunch on one of the air-conditioned Lone Star cars by Earl. This alone made the whole trip well worth it!
After lunch, the train went back to Rusk and Everett and I followed the line into Palestine to see how much work had been done on rebuilding this section and how much needed to be done. We found quite a few surprises in the process... |
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Departing Palestine |
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Quite a bit of brush has been cleared here at FM 323 . Here is a photo from 2011. You can see newly cut flanges in the dirt. No other rail traffic has crossed these rails in at least 2 decades! |
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Our first surprise was at the Highway 256 crossing. It was rebuilt in 2006 by UP. We assume that the State paid for it since the railroad was State-owned at the time. The junction box even has power (right). |
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Broken rail at Hwy 256 |
Oakhurst Drive (east) |
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Oakhurst Drive (west) |
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Here is the second surprise: the TSR rails past the UP Junction and into Palestine are STILL INTACT!! West Cook St |
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Old general store near the former location of the TSR Depot |
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The former location of the TSR Palestine Depot
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Palestine Visitor's Center |
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Surprise #3 was finding the Neches, Texas I&GN depot now serving as the Palestine Visitors Center *Thanks to Jeff Ford for the information on this depot |
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UP Caboose, history plaque, and "RGX1" at the Neches I&GN Depot. |
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With the clock running out on the next departure from Rusk, we left Palestine and made our way east. Surprise #4 was finding about 5 MILES of former SSW/Cotton Belt rails between the SSW/Cotton Belt Rusk Yard and about a mile west of the current TSR Rusk Depot. These shots (above) were taken near the current TSR Depot.
Yes, this section of track has really been re-gauged to 2'. It is privately owned and I don't know what the plans are/were. Who would've guessed that 2' rails existed in Texas! |
Location of SSW/Cotton Belt Yard in Rusk, Texas |
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Location of the SSW/Cotton Belt Yard in Rusk, Texas |
Just across from the former SSW/Cotton Belt yard is the original TSR Rusk Depot |
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Old SSW/Cotton Belt rails on Burke St |
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2nd run at Co Rd 2103 |
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GM Earl Knoob |
Iron Bridge Creek Road - Facing south |
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Facing west |
Facing east |
Palestine Yard Throat - MP 25.0 |
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MP 25.0 |
Cattle guards |
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GM Earl Knoob |
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GM Earl Knoob |
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Engineer Scott |
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GM Earl Knoob |
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Palestine Engine House |
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Our mission complete, we ended a great day and headed south to Spring and The Woodlands.
I'm very much looking forward to the magic that Earl will be working on the TSR. The future looks VERY bright, indeed! |
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