The Texas State Railroad
November, 2006
Campground Name: Rusk & Palestine State Parks
Campground's Website:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/f...tate_railroad/
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/f...and_palestine/
Overall Rating: 5
Pictures:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/turnke.../ph//my_photos
Pictures associated with this review may only be available at the above link for a limited time. If you find that the link is no longer active, feel free to contact me via “Private Message” and I will do my best to e-mail the related pictures to you.
Our Trip:
Well, sometimes you just don’t get to go camping!!! That’s what happened to us the week following Thanksgiving. We had the time “off’ and had planned to leave on a 4-5 day trip on the Sunday following the holiday. Unfortunately, the weather decided that it was not going to cooperate. The Dallas/Ft. Worth area got cold and wet that week and then got socked with snow and ice for a couple of days late in the week. Wouldn’t have been a lot of fun and I really didn’t want to have to worry about pulling the “5th” on an icy road. Not at all enjoyable. So that being the case, we looked at alternative plans for the week and came up with the idea of a ride on the Texas State Railroad (TSRR). This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and information that I’ve received suggests that “sooner” could be much better then “later”. As some may know, there is a faction in Texas that wants to build a new reservoir in the area of the railroad. This body of water is intended to serve Dallas but would most assuredly mean the end of the TSRR. This plan has been debated and I’ve heard that it may have met its demise. I have also heard from some sources that it is believed that Dallas has enough clout to resurrect the plan for the reservoir and the railroad may find itself up to its smokestacks in water. Not wanting to risk missing an opportunity, we decided to drive down to Palestine and take a ride on the TSRR. Here’s what we found.
The Texas State Railroad runs approximately 25 miles between the towns of Palestine and Rusk, Texas, beginning and ending in state parks of the same names. Its east-west journey covers parts of both Anderson and Cherokee Counties and passes through the community of Maydelle, Texas. Palestine State Park, the roads western terminus and our point of embarkation, is located two miles east of Loop 256, turning south off of US 84 onto Park Road 70. To reach Rusk State Park, travel 3 mile west of Rusk, Texas on US 84. Turn south on Park Road 76 and follow the signs to the train station. We reached Palestine State Park from the Ft. Worth area by way of State Highway 287 to I-45. From there we went south to State Highway 84, just west of Fairfield. We proceeded east, skirting the south side of Palestine on Loop 256 then continued east on 84 until we came to Park Road 70. For a change on our trip home, we went north on Loop 256 and picked up State Highway 287 on the northwest side of town where we proceeded northwest. This route allowed us to pickup I-45 just south of Corsicana. Both routes worked well with neither showing any significant advantage.
The history of the Texas State Railroad begins in 1881 with state prison inmates being utilized for construction. The line’s original purpose had been the transport of native iron ore and wood to the prison operated smelting operation at the East Texas State Penitentiary at Rusk. The iron produced was used in many state funded projects including the Capital building in Austin. The TSRR was extended to Maydelle by 1906 and by 1909 prisoners had taken the line to its western limit at Palestine. For their efforts from sun to sun, prisoners received 50 cents per day with the final cost of the line coming in at a bit over $573,000. A mere pittance by today’s standard.
In addition to building the line, prisoners functioned as train crew members with the exception of the engineer. This practice ceased with the introduction of passenger service to Palestine. From that time staff members, other then the engineer, received the princely sum of $1.01 per day worked.
By 1913 the iron works had closed and the prison was later converted to a state mental hospital. In 1921 the state leased the line to the Southern Pacific Line. In the early ‘60s, Texas Southeastern Railroad took control and continued operations until December, 1969. In February of 1972, ownership of the line was conveyed to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. This transference was made with the intended purpose of creating a state historical park. In an interesting twist of fate, state prisoners were again brought in to refurbish the line and get it ready for its new role. On July 4, 1976 the Texas State Railroad State Park was opened to the public as part of our country’s Bicentennial Celebration. It continues today with its stated goal of “Education, Interpretation and Preservation of the Golden Age of Steam”.
In addition to the main line, service tracks have been added at strategic locations. The Jarvis Turning Wye is located a few miles east of Palestine with a second wye being located in the center of the camping area in Rusk State Park. Kiddos, big and small should get a kick out of that. Storage and switching trackage is to be found at both ends of the line along with some covered storage for rolling stock. Maydelle is home for the RR’s maintenance area with multiple sidings and the line’s only turntable. You will find shots of the turntable in the pictures associated with this review. The Mewshaw Siding is located at the approximate halfway point of the line. This 600 foot siding allows for two trains to pass and can yield some pretty nice pictures.
Train stations have been built at each end of the line. The Parks Department has done a very nice job on both, building attractive and functional facilities that serve their purpose well. Stations are similar, equipped with a ticket office, gift shop, railroad displays and small concession stands. Even though these concession stands are available and will take care of your hunger, picnic baskets and ice chests are allowed on the trains and I believe you will find their use to be a better choice.
Motive power on the line varies with no steam engine newer then the late ‘20s. Tonnage ranges from 79 to 224 ton. Engine 300, the last known operating “Pershing” engine, has a rather interesting history and might be worth a read.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/f...srrno300.phtml
Our train was pulled by a 1947 RS-2 Alco diesel. These engines were built between 1946 and 1950 with a total of 417 units being produced. They weigh in at 115 tons and can move along at a top speed of 65 MPH though we never got moving near that fast. It should be noted that during some parts of the winter months, this is the only engine running. If you desire to be pulled by a steam engine for your excursion, a telephone call during those months may be a wise choice.
Rolling stock appears to vary on the line. Our train was made up of the engine and four coaches. Three of the four were standard coaches equipped to seat about 50 people each. One of these three cars was enclosed and climate controlled with the balance having operating windows for ventilation. One car in our train was built to carry passengers and freight. The “freight” half of this car was used to accommodate a small refreshment stand and the “necessary room” for the train. There were also some shelves mounted to the side of the car that allowed for storage of passengers’ ice chests and picnic hampers. The large freight doors that had been included in this car for the loading of cargo are now utilized to give ready access to those confined to wheelchairs and scooters. There is an area in the seating area of this coach reserved for those with such needs. Incidentally, those large doors offer a great place to stand and take pictures as the train rumble along.
There is one thing that I found very interesting/odd about all of the coaches that I looked at. Each was equipped with overhead electric lights. These lights had been made to look like or were re-manufactured from old oil lamps. They were suspended from the ceiling underneath roof vents that appeared to be original equipment for the coaches. In addition, the electric power to the lights was routed to the fixtures through gas lines and fittings. The whole arrangement gave the appearance that the cars had been originally light with oil, later converted to gas and finally equipped with electricity. Given that I don’t believe that the cars were anywhere near that old, I find this hard to believe. I have included a picture or two of this arrangement in the shots associated with this review. Maybe someone else can figure what was intended by this configuration.
The number of trains run per week varies depending on the time of year. It is best to consult the TSRR’s web site for exact days. Trains leave both stations at 11 AM and arrive at their destinations at 12:30 PM. A 1½ hour layover will give you enough time for lunch and a walk around the park. Your train will again depart at 2:00 PM, returning you to your point of origin at 3:30 PM. One-Way tickets are also available, leaving you responsible for any further transportation needs. Fares at this time vary from $8 for a one-way, child’s fare to $24 for an adult, round-trip on one of the “Climate-Controlled” cars.
We departed Palestine station on time, beginning our eastwardly adventure. To be honest, I really have little to say about the actual trip. The track runs through miles of Texas bottomland and you actually spend a great deal of time in a rather low ravine with little to see. Even where the tracks rise a bit, there is little of interest to observe. We were fortunate that the fall “color” was better then I expected so we did have that to enjoy. Also, there were a few marshy areas that we passed in addition to our passing over the Neches River. Regrettably, we also passed some private property where the owners felt that “trackside” would be the best place to park derelict cars and trucks. No full-blown junkyards but a couple of places with a couple of abandoned vehicles each sure does “bring down the neighborhood”. This sort of thing does nothing but take away from any natural beauty that could be found. With all of this said, I will add that I suspect that the spring display of color in this area could be quite remarkable.
We arrived at Rusk on schedule and spent our 1½ hours eating lunch and looking at the small lake. The park has boat rental “in season” and it could be fun to take our kayaks there. The park also has a small, white church building on the property. There was no markings suggesting the significance of this structure and it appears that though the building is rather old, it has not been on its present site long. I was able to find no other information but did find it and its surroundings appealing. I have included a picture of it with the shots associated with this review. I figure one of my readers may be able to “bring me up to speed” on this.
Some may have noticed that I have said nothing about camping facilities at either Palestine or Rusk State Parks. The reason for this omission is based entirely on time. With near 3 hours on the road in each direction plus the time on the train, DW and I felt that there was just not enough time to complete any sort of proper evaluation of the camping facilities at either of the parks. I will leave any such review for a later trip and offer the links above as sources of information.
At 2 PM we were back aboard our train for the westward trip. This passage was much the same as the eastward journey with little to add except for our stop at the Mewshaw Siding. It was our turn to wait for Engine 300 this time and aside from being able to observe the train crew as they performed their duties, it allowed me to get some pretty nice shots of the on-coming train. Again, you will find some of these included with the pictures associated with this review. We arrived in Palestine on time and after taking a few more pictures, we were soon on the road for home.
All in all, I can not say that this was one of our more interesting trips. Park facilities and the train itself were all very nice, offering value for money spent. I also am impressed that a “day use” fee is not charged for entering the park to ride the train (I had expected this). Though the history of the area and the line itself may be of interest to some (me included), the train ride did little to reinforce knowledge of that history. I could see some enroute interpretation going a long way towards that goal. Information fed via wire or radio to headsets could furnish this information with live narration being another option. DW suggested the idea of using narrators dressed as convicts and/or prison guards. There is some interesting history connected with this line but it’s not being shown to its advantage. This said, I am glad that we took the time to go on this trip. With the threat of losing the TSRR to another reservoir, I would hate to say that I missed the opportunity.
I hope that you have enjoyed this review and been able to gather some helpful information. If you have any questions that I may be able to answer, feel free to contact me through this forum’s messaging system. Until then and always,
Happy Camping!
Note: Information and site references contained in this review were current as of this writing. I apologize for any errors you may find and will attempt to correct them if notified. Further, any copyright infringement that may have occurred during the writing of this review was purely accidental. In the case of such infringement, I will be more then happy to give proper credit or delete the infringing material when notified.
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