The T&BV grade passed left to right (southeast to northwest) as the I-GN grade crossed it and continued southwest in the distance past an unusual tower-shaped barn.
Tower 45 was located in Malone, TX. This area 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 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 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. Further information about the tower would be of great interest.
Text and photo by Jim King.
