A Crossing of Texas & New Orleans Railway and the Kansas City Southern Railway
The Texas & New Orleans (T&NO) was one of the earliest railroads in Texas. Under the ownership of the Southern Pacific (SP) Railroad, the T&NO was for many years the primary operating company for the SP in Texas. Its original line in Texas, later part of the famed "Sunset Route", connected Houston with Orange in 1861. It was completed shortly before the Civil War using wide (5' 6") gauge construction. However, there is historical evidence to suggest that the line was never operated between Beaumont and Orange before or during the War. In 1863, rails were removed between Orange and Beaumont by Confederate forces to assist in building a fort at Sabine Pass. The complete line between Houston and Beaumont was rebuilt to standard gauge in 1866, and extended to Orange in 1876.
The Texarkana and Fort Smith (T&FS) Railway was originally chartered as the Texarkana and Northern Railway in 1885, planning to build north from Texarkana to serve logging interests in Arkansas. The name was changed in 1889 as plans were made to extend the line to Fort Smith. By 1892, only 26 miles of construction had been completed into the forests of southern Arkansas, and that year, the railroad was acquired by the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf (KCP&G) Railroad as part of Arthur Stilwell's plan to build a rail line between Kansas City and the Gulf of Mexico. The T&FS charter was amended to include a route south from Texarkana to the Gulf of Mexico, with much of it to be located in Louisiana. In 1896, the T&FS built 24 miles of track south from Texarkana to the Louisiana state line. By 1897, the construction had re-entered Texas northeast of Beaumont and continued south to the newly founded "Port Arthur", crossing the T&NO east of Beaumont, the site where Tower 31 was eventually constructed. Full service between Kansas City and Port Arthur began on November 1, 1897. By 1900, Stilwell had lost control of the KCP&G and it was bought by the newly chartered Kansas City Southern (KCS) Railway, which continues to operate the route today.
The crossing site was approximately one mile east of the Neches
River; each railroad maintained its own bridge over the Neches into downtown
Beaumont. The lines crossed at an acute angle since the two railroads were on
similar northeast/southwest headings. Tower 31 was located near the east end of
T&NO's Diana Siding and was commissioned for operations on October 1, 1903. The Reese-Corriher
Lumber Co. established a mill near the tower in 1913, and the town that sprang
up to serve the mill became known as Connell for the mill's president, G. H.
Connell. A post office opened, but the lumber in this area played out by 1924
and the town was abandoned. Years later (date TBD), SP's bridge over the Neches
was removed and the two railroads began sharing the use and maintenance of the
KCS bridge over the Neches, an arrangement that continues today controlled by
the KCS Tower (see photo and map below). As a result, the T&NO rails have been
removed between Tower 31 and downtown Beaumont. However, "Tower 31" continues as
the designation for the automatic interlocker at this junction of KCS and Union Pacific.
The location of Tower 31 is shown on the map below.
We would like to have a historic photo showing the tower at this
location.
If you have any information regarding a source for a photo, please
contact us.
Modern Photos, Tower 31
Above: Tower 31 is now a walk-in interlocker.
Above: A bird's eye view of Tower 31. To the right, the UP line (lower)
splits from the KCS tracks as they
proceed east. (both images, Microsoft Visual Earth)
Below: Looking south, a KCS train occupies the tracks at Tower 31. The UP tracks
depart the KCS main at lower left. A spur
track into a salvage yard is also visible. The overgrown T&NO ROW is visible as
a tree line to the right.
SP Bridge over the Neches River
SP's bridge over the Neches River appears to have been a swivel bridge to
facilitate shipping. The decision to
abandon this bridge in favor of sharing KCS' bridge may have been due to the
simpler "lift" design of the KCS
bridge (see photo near bottom of page).
Location Map, Beaumont Area Towers
The
map above depicts the historic locations of the main rail lines and junctions
in the Beaumont area, some of which are no longer in service.
Legend: Yellow => Missouri Pacific (MP), Blue => Southern Pacific (SP), Purple
=> Kansas City Southern (KCS), Green => Santa Fe (GCSF)
Satellite
Map, Tower 31 Location
Below is a
recent photo of the KCS Tower at the Neches River bridge. [We do not know who to
credit for
this photo. If it belongs to you, please email us!]
Aerial Images, Neches River Bridge and KCS Tower
Above: KCS Tower is visible on the west side (left) of the Neches River
bridge near
downtown Beaumont (Microsoft Visual Earth).
Below: A close-up of the tower shows the trackside staircase.
Last Revised: 9/23/2008 JGK - Contact the Texas
Interlocking Towers Page.