www.txrrhistory.com - Tower 129 - Tuscola
A Crossing of the Abilene & Southern Railway and the Pecos
& Northern Texas Railway
Rails did not arrive in the small town of Tuscola south of Abilene until 1909
when the Abilene & Southern (A&S) Railway built 54 miles from Abilene to
Ballinger, which was reached in 1910. The A&S had grand plans to build south to
Sonora via San Angelo, but since Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe (GC&SF) Railway
tracks already existed between Ballinger and San Angelo, the A&S connected with
the Santa Fe at Tower 128 in Ballinger and never
proceeded further south. In 1926, the A&S was purchased by the Texas & Pacific
Railway but retained its name as an operating subsidiary.
Within three years, Tuscola became a railroad junction when Santa Fe built
183 miles of track between Slaton Junction (near Lubbock) and Coleman. This
provided a through route for Santa Fe between their major hub at Temple and the
New Mexico border at Farwell. Because Santa Fe's
construction was done under the charter of a subsidiary, the Pecos & Northern
Texas (P&NT) Railroad, Tuscola was officially listed by the Railroad Commission
of Texas as an A&S/P&NT crossing. Tower 129 was commissioned there as a
6-function mechanical cabin interlocker March 15, 1927. The Santa Fe line
remains in use today by successor Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), but the
A&S tracks were abandoned in the 1980s by successor Missouri Pacific.
Cy Martin provides this description of the interlocker cabin: "A
friend of mine was trying to organize an effort to acquire the A & S before it
was abandoned. We checked the Tuscola interlocker out. It was a cabin about the
size of an outhouse, containing levers and a telephone. Too bad there is no
picture..."
Tower 129 Site Photos
Above: The utility poles in the distance mark the route of the A&S tracks
near the crossing of the
former P&NT line (now BNSF) at Tuscola. The view is roughly due north with the
BNSF tracks
at right heading southeast toward Coleman.
Below: The aerial view below is approximately aligned with the photo above,
which was taken at the north end of the street that
curves sharply to the left (west) near the outfield wall of the Tuscola High
School baseball stadium. From this view, it is apparent
that the former A&S right-of-way was used for construction of this street.
Ironically, the street is named "Pecos Trail", perhaps a
tribute to the Pecos & Northern Texas construction at Tuscola was, of course,
the "other" rail line, still in use by BNSF.
Tower 129 Location
