The abandoned right-of-way of the Katy Railroad is still evident immediately south of Mockingbird Station.
www.txrrhistory.com - Interlocking Tower
35 - Oasis (Dallas), Texas
When the Houston & Texas Central (H&TC) Railroad built
through Dallas in 1872, the town was just another rural community
in north Texas. By 1886, when the Katy Railroad entered Dallas
from the north under the charter of the Dallas & Greenville
Railway, Dallas was developing into a major rail and transportation
center on the banks of the Trinity River. The two lines crossed
a few miles north of downtown Dallas at a location that became
known as Highland, sometimes spelled "Hiland". Both
lines moved significant traffic through the diamond, and in 1904,
Tower 35 was established to interlock the crossing. Some years
later, Mrs. Baird's Bread Co. built a bakery southwest of the
junction, and later, the Dr. Pepper Company built its headquarters
northeast of the junction. A rail siding next to the Dr. Pepper
building was known as "Oasis".
As Dallas continued to grow, the H&TC tracks through downtown
became a safety and traffic congestion problem. In 1926, the Dallas
Belt Line was built to permit the Southern Pacific, successor
to the H&TC, to bypass downtown. The former main line was
relegated to secondary status and then eventually abandoned between
downtown and Tower 35. After World War II, the H&TC right-of-way
was used for the construction of Central Expressway, one of the
first freeways in Texas. In 1950, Tower 35 was decommissioned,
and in the early 1990s, the Katy line was taken out of service
by successor Union Pacific.
Today, the former site of Tower 35 is occupied by the Mockingbird Station of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system. Portions of the former rights-of-way of both railroads are now used by DART north and east of the station.
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Modern Photos of Interlocker 35
The abandoned right-of-way of the Katy Railroad is still evident
immediately south of Mockingbird Station.
Mockingbird Station is below ground to facilitate access to DART's
tunnel beneath Central Expressway south to downtown.
Photos by Jim King
Tower 35 Location Map
Map by Jim King
