Kenedy to Houston, TX

Home | TX | SA&AP , SP , T&NO

This line between Union Station in downtown Houston and Kenedy, Texas, was originally built as the Houston Branch of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway in 1887 as their second main line, reaching Houston proper in 1890. It was acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1925 and was made part of SP's Texas and New Orleans Railroad in 1934. In the late 1950s most of the line near Cuero that had originally traversed south of the T&NO's Cuero Branch was abandoned in favor of a connection, known as River Junction, to the Cuero Branch west of the Guadalupe River and three miles away from Cuero. A short section of the original SA&AP line in Cuero itself remained as a freight spur until the 1990s.

The beginning of the end for the Kenedy-Houston line started with abandonment of the section between Yoakum and Sheridan in 1959, thus creating several branches. Over the following decades more sections would be abandoned in phases culminating with the last major abandonment of a large section between a grain facility east of Eagle Lake and Bellaire Junction in Houston in 1993.

Four sections of the line are in use today, the track between Yoakum and Cuero is used by Union Pacific as part of it's Victoria Subdivision, a short section from Eagle Lake is used as a spur for a sand and gravel mine, and two other short sections in Houston are used as industrial spurs. Other than that, everything else of the line is abandoned.

Date of abandonments:

Late 1950s: Section outside of Cuero
1959: Yoakum to Sheridan
1963: Altair to Sheridan per ICC filing (applying to 11 miles of track outside of Altair to Sheridan)
1990s: lengthy section west of Altair continued as a gravel pit spur
1963: Yorktown to Kennedy
Late 1960s: Section between Bellaire Junction and the Houston yard
1969: Yorktown to Cuero per ICC filing (stating section between outside of Yoakum and Yorktown, though only the section between River Junction (west of Cuero) and Yorktown was actually removed
1980s: Houston yard
1993, Bellaire Line: section between a grain facility east of Eagle Lake and Bellaire Junction, Houston
2001: Houston Metro bought the line within Houston and began removing it so that the Westpark Tollway could be built on top of the former ROW
2008, Chesterville Industrial Lead: a section of the remaining Bellaire Line from Eagle Lake used as an industrial spur

Looking east towards Houston on the west side of the UP double t... — Looking east towards Houston on the west side of the UP double track main. The ties and rails are in the process of being removed. Photo by Jason Rose, 6/1/2001.

Abandoned crossing signals! On the section being abandoned west ... — Abandoned crossing signals! On the section being abandoned west of the UP main. Evidently, the City of Houston abandoned the road before the rail line was abandoned. Photo by Jason Rose, 6/1/2001.

The end of the line to the east of the UP main, looking back wes... — The end of the line to the east of the UP main, looking back west towards the UP main. This one mile section will apparently remain for the time being, although there is no business and no workable spurs. The line used to continue into downtown Houston, but was abandoned years ago. This section used to be continuous with the section being abandoned on the west side of the UP main, but has been split for several years at the UP main. The only traffic seen on this section recently has been the Barnum and Bailey Circus train once per year. Photo by Jason Rose, 6/1/2001.

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Southern Pacific Railroad
Docket: 22584	4/29/1963	Section: 1(18)
Applic. and Ret. to Quest. for auth. to aband. that part of its Eagle Lake-Sheridan Branch, Glidden Subdivision, from Altair and Sheridan, a distance of 11.5 mi., all in Colorado County, Texas.
Length: 11.5 miles	244

Southern Pacific Railroad
Docket: 22834	10/30/1963	Section: 1(18)
Applic for auth. to aband. a portion of its Yoakum Br., Victoria Subdivision, near River Junction, in DeWitt County, to a point near Kenedy, Karnes County, a distance of 37.09 mi., all in the state of Texas.
Length: 37.09 miles	246

Southern Pacific Railroad
Docket: 25897	10/24/1969	Section: 1(18)
Application for authority to abandon part of its Yoakum Branch, Victoria Subdivision extending from Milepost 119.50 near Yoakum to Milepost 134.66 at Cuero and from Milepost 137.59 at River Junction to Milepost 151.63, the end of the branch at Yorktown, in the County of DeWitt State of Texas. In addition, the abandonment of operations of the Yoakum Branch train over the said segments of trackage and over that trackage of the Cuero Branch, Victoria Subdivision, between Milepost 55.48 near Cuero and Milepost 58.00 at River Junction, which is common to the two branches is proposed.
Length: 29.2 miles	261

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