Temple Consists 1907-1909

ATSF 33690 Somerville TX Somerville tie treating plant in 1910. Countless cars of company ties moved north through Temple from Somerville during this period. Boxcars such as the ATSF 33690 above were true workhorses, carrying any number of commodities such as cotton, lumber, ties, wheat, merchandise, cottonseed hulls, and even onions. The 33690 does not appear in the consists, but many sisters like ATSF 33692 do. From the DeGoyler Library, Southern Methodist University.

Above are 227 train consists for outbound trains departing Temple, TX in November 1907. It appears some dates include all of the freight trains that operated that day, while other days are incomplete. Some of the consists are undated, but based on where they were found in the collection, I could make educated guesses for the appropriate date for all but a few of them.

Also included are a few inbound train consists from 1909.

In 1907, the line west of Temple ended at San Angelo; the route to Lubbock and the Panhandle had not yet been built.

Temple, Texas in 1907

In 1907, the Panhandle & Santa Fe line to Lubbock and a connection with the Santa Fe to California had not yet been built. Therefore, all through traffic moved north and south through Temple. The Temple yards served to classify traffic to and from the San Angelo branch as well as local stations north and south of Temple. It appears many trains of northbound lumber and forest products and southbound grain and cotton ran through Temple without working (though they probably changed power.)

Southbound Trains

Most southbound trains are extras heavily laden with wheat and cotton bound for Galveston and Houston. Oil also makes an appearance in The Texas Co. tank cars (Texaco) bound for Saratoga, where the oil would be transferred to pipelines for refineries in the Beaumont Port Arthur area.

Train 37 was the time freight from the north (probably originating at Kansas City); it carried commodities such as merchandise, manufactured goods, and perishables, as well as the usual cotton and wheat. Train 27 was the local for Bellville; one interesting regular move were cars of water bound for Rogers.

Northbound Trains

A steady parade of extras carried train loads of lumber from the virgin forests of East Texas and Louisiana and ties from the tie plant at Somerville. Other extras were made up almost entirely of empty boxcars that carried wheat and cotton south and sometimes empty reefers.

Train 38 was the northbound time freight probably destined for Kansas City; besides lumber and ties, it handled merchandise, company fuel oil for Cleburne, and sometimes cattle for Fort Worth. Train 26 was the local to Cleburne.

Westbound Trains

Two regular trains ran west. Train 71 was the local to Brownwood; it handled all of the cars bound for stations between Temple and Brownwood, as well as a few cars for destinations west of Brownwood. A regular extra handled Brownwood and beyond cars, to presumably be classified into a local running between Brownwood and San Angelo.

Galveston Cotton Shipping Cotton at Galveston. From the DeGoyler Library, Southern Methodist University.