Tower 45 Site Photo
The T&BV grade passed left to right as the I-GN grade crossed it and continued southwest in the distance
A Crossing of the International & Great Northern Railway and the Trinity & Brazos Valley Railroad
The area around the town of Malone northeast of
Waco was originally settled by Alonzo Dru Walling and a community
was named after him in 1884 or 1885. The community moved two miles
eastward in 1902 so that it might become a stop on the International & Great
Northern (I-GN) Railroad, which had recently extended its tracks through
the area on a route from Waco to Ft. Worth. In 1903 the Trinity
and Brazos Valley (T&BV) Railway extended its tracks from east to west
across the county, intending to intersect the I-GN tracks at Walling.
A. D. Walling, seeing the economic potential of a community served
by two railroads, overcame the hostility of William Malone, president
of the I-GN, toward a competing rail line in the area by suggesting
the establishment of a new town, which would allow Malone's line
to maintain its control of rail traffic in Walling. The new settlement,
where the two lines would intersect, was to be called Malone and
was located on farmland owned by A. D. Walling, just west of the
town that bore his name. Walling and a few other investors surveyed
the new community and divided it into lots, which were sold at
public auction on December 2, 1903. Officials of both the I-GN
and the T&BV lines were given an interest in the sale of property
in Malone, and directors of the latter line agreed to build a
station there. A. D. Walling ensured the growth of Malone through
litigation that forced officials of the International-Great Northern
to build a station and schedule regular stops in the new community.
While the development of Malone was assured, the decline of the
town of Walling was made equally certain by these actions. A.
D. Walling built and owned most of the commercial buildings in
Malone, and by 1913 the settlement was "really a live little
town." Today, it's a sleepy little community.
The T&BV line was part of a route constructed from Teague to Cleburne, but the section through Malone was abandoned in 1935. The T&BV grade paralleled Highway 171 and is probably underneath it in many sections of the highway. The I-GN line had a much longer life as part of the Missouri Pacific's line from Waco to Ft. Worth. It was finally abandoned in 1967. Remnants, particularly concrete bridges, are easily spotted parallel to FM 308 on the southeast side. Remnants of a grade on the east side of town indicate that the I-GN line may have had a lengthy exchange track with the T&BV.
The actual structure of Tower 45 is unknown.
Tower 45 Site Photo
The T&BV grade passed left to right as the I-GN grade crossed it and
continued southwest in the distance
