Texas Transportation Museum
11731 Wetmore Road, San Antonio, TX 78247
(210)490-3554
The Longhorn Chapter of the N.R.H.S. presents . . .
Part Two of
The Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad,
The Southern Pacific and the Sunset Depot
Perhaps one of the least recognized elements of the impact the rail roads had on the localities they served was just how much effort they put in, at their own expense,
to developing business and agriculture. Many of the small towns we know today sprang up where early steam trains had to stop and draw water. Early steam engines were
very, very thirsty and frequent stops were required. As these communities grew, obviously some more than others, they might acquire a depot and, hopefully, an agent.
The railroad agent was far more than someone who sold tickets or who sorted out deliveries of goods to individual customers, although these duties contributed a great
deal in and of themselves to the development of thriving communities. In the earliest days of railroads and the development of such towns, one could buy an entire house from
the Sears and Roebuck catalog, and of course it would be shipped by train. Farming equipment, building materials, stoves, most everything the local stores offered for
sale came in by rail. But the big income earner for the railroads was bulk freight, and it was the agent's job to develop as much business as he could.
The first thing the railroads were very adept at was encouraging immigration into the relatively undeveloped areas it was trying to serve. Many of the people who came to
Texas had either come from back east or from Europe and, even if they had farming backgrounds, they would find the hardships imposed by Texas, in terms of climate, soil
and huge distances, to be challenging to say the least. English might not be their first language and literacy rates were low. The Texas & New Orleans Railroad company,
like other parts of the S.P. system, created special demonstration trains to suit the areas they served. The agricultural demonstration trains were enormously popular,
and effective. Different parts of Texas required different agricultural approaches, and the trains set out to give farmers the information they needed to prosper. Whole
new ideas for appropriate crops were promulgated, for free. What we now refer to as the Valley, the Del Rio area, began to reap enormous benefits from the rich farmland
there. One town might become known for strawberries, or watermelons, or even peanuts. Cotton, timber and, of course, livestock production grew exponentially throughout
this time.
Of course there was method in the railroad's madness. All these crops needed transportation to the
rapidly growing industrial cities. The more an area was developed, the
more business there would be for the railroads to perform. In places like Converse, the depot and the railroads became the
indispensable life line to the outside world.
The first depot there - click •The Depot• to see the individual page on this site created for the
depot now located at the museum which came from Converse - was built to
accommodate migrant workers to perform the heavy work of harvesting as well as ship out the produce being harvested.
The depot could also handle the loading and unloading of livestock. The agent was a German immigrant who would go on to learn English and Spanish and who was pivotal
in the decision to locate several other businesses in the town, such as a large mill and a steel working operation. These businesses were given their own spur line,
to accommodate the transportation of goods and materials into and out of the facilities.
A good agent on a good line in a good location meant good prospects for your town. Local government, even state government was in its infancy, and the railroads
played a pivotal role in the development of Texas. With its reach and scope, having the Texas & New Orleans in your area was definitely a good thing. If you drive
along the railroads in any small town, say Seguin, you will see any number of spur lines leading off from the main line, each one going to a specific company. Of course,
today, many of those spurs are no longer connected, and, perhaps even sadder, just about all the old small town depots are long gone as well, but Texas which received
railroading so much later than other parts of the country, became the powerhouse it now is in large part because of the railroads that served it.
Another industry that was created almost single handedly by the railroads was tourism. As well as encouraging immigration to Texas, the railroads set about encouraging
people from all over the country to visit. (If some of them were so delighted that they decided to move here, why, then, so much the better.) Long before local governments
developed plans and organizations to encourage tourism, the railroads were heavily involved in promoting San Antonio as a great place to spend your vacation. Local resorts
grew up, such as Hot Wells Springs, which also became the headquarters of a booming movie industry. In fact the first ever Oscar winning movie, "Wings," about World War
One air warfare, was shot in San Antonio.
The railroads were heavily involved in the war effort for both world wars. The government nationalized all railroads in 12/28/1917 in an attempt to bring some
order to a heavily independent system but huge rail traffic jams persisted right through 1918. The railroads were not returned to private control until March of
1920. The roaring '20's of the 20th century saw a huge growth in the USA's economy, particularly California which was the heart of Southern Pacific operations. To
emphasize these good times, the S.P. ran a special train consisting of twenty brand new Baldwin locomotives from Philadelphia to California and called it the "Prosperity
Special." The population of California grew by about 65% during the decade and the S.P. grew right along with it. Not only did their total
mileage in California and
Oregon double during this time, the company diversified into Mexico. A 1,370 mile operation, the Southern Pacific de Mexico, opened in 1927, running all the way to Guadalajara.
In addition, the company created a trucking subsidiary to utilize the bulk carrying capacity of trains and the
flexibility of trucks to final destinations.
The Great Depression had a huge negative impact on all railroads. Many went under or into
receivership, but not the S.P. Profits fell from $48.4 million in 1929 to
$29.8 million in 1930. In 1932, the worst year of the depression, the company posted its first ever loss, of $9.5 million. It would take until 1936 for the company
to make a profit again. Tough choices and cutbacks were made during this time, but the company emerged leaner and stronger at the end of it. The "Cotton Belt" Line,
officially known as the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad, was acquired in 1932, giving the company access to the
Midwest from Houston. The Cotton Belt remained an independent
element of the S.P. rail network, but the twelve other companies operating in Texas and Louisiana, including the venerable Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio, were
consolidated into one system under the Texas & New Orleans Railroad name.
By 1937, the country had largely recovered from the Great Depression. The Southern Pacific emerged as the nation's third largest industrial corporation, behind only
A.T. & T. and the vast Pennsylvania Railroad. Passenger revenue reached an all time high of $24.5 million but it was only 12% of the company's total revenue. Freight haulage
dominated the bottom line, but the company had diversified into many other areas. It's
telecommunications section was already vast and still expanding, and it operated
on the largest truck fleets in the nation. Add to this land management, shipping and a host of other activities and you get the picture of a massive, forward looking company.
One of the things that took no one by surprise was World War II. In 1940, the S.P. took part with the army in joint exercises
involving 119 trains, in preparation for the
coming hostilities. Lessons had been learned from the chaos of WW I, and there were now far larger yards and sidings to
accommodate the military when the need arose. Within
seven weeks of Pearl Harbor, the S.P. had run some 670 military trains. By war's end this would rise to 28,349. Stretching as it did, from Portland to New Orleans, no other
railroad had more military installations and embarkation points. Military bases in San Antonio were able to grow because of the ability of the railroads to move men and equipment so efficiently.
Lackland was transformed from a desert-like bombing training area to the one of the largest military training facilities in the nation. The population of the city grew enormously
during the war. Working for the railroad could excuse you from being conscripted during WW II, so important was the role of transportation to the war effort.
Some other historical changes were brought about or hastened during the war. The first diesels, yard switchers, a 1944 example of which we have at the museum, were introduced in 1939.
The rickety looking bridge across the Pecos river, near which the S.P. had completed its own transcontinental line, was replaced and the line strengthened and given a straighter route. Even
the famous Promontory Point tracks in Utah, where the original transcontinental line, built jointly by the S.P. and the Central Pacific, had met were ripped up and its steel rail donated to the war effort,
when it was made surplus to requirements by a more direct line. It was not a time for sentimentality. In 1944, the company took delivery of its last ever new steam locomotive. Things would never
be the same again.
Post war developments came thick and fast. Most noticeably, massive diesel electrics rendered steam power redundant. The S.P. introduced main line diesels in 1947.
The Sunset Limited service began using diesel power in 1950. The S.P. ran its last scheduled steam train in 1957. It was hoped the new light weight streamliners would help to stem the flow of passengers
away from the railroads but depots across the land became emptier while airports and freeways mushroomed across the country. S.P. passenger services began to make a loss as early as 1953.
However, on the freight side, the S.P. introduced innovation after innovation. In 1953, "Piggy Back" freight service, where truck trailers were placed on flat cars, was inaugurated.
"Hydra-cushion" suspension, developed by the S.P. and the Stanford Research Institute, was developed, giving superior protection to fragile cargo. Multi-level automobile hauling freight cars were
introduced in 1960. Container service began in 1962, and is a major advance in freight handling. The S.P. was an industry leader in not only these developments but also in centralized
traffic control,
which was introduced in World War Two. By 1968, with the introduction of computers, the system became
known as 'TOPS' or Total Operations Processing System, which allowed every car, locomotive,
crew, load, yard and industry spot to be monitored in real time. The system, created by the S.P., became the industry standard not only in the USA but Canada and the U.K. as well.
The monopoly the railroads enjoyed in providing the bulk of inland transportation eroded rapidly in the 20th century. What is true is that railroads have always had one
unfair disadvantage imposed upon them. Whereas roads are funded by taxation and air transportation is heavily subsidized, the railroads have been left to fend for themselves
in this unfair environment. As far back as 1930, during the height of the Great Depression, when railroads were under severe strain to stay afloat, it was noted by
many railroad managers that the playing field was tilted in favor of the competition. Following WW II, during which time the railroads were the life blood of the "Arsenal
Of Democracy," competition from air carriers and road haulage continued to intensify. One by one, railroads got out of the passenger business, except in commuter areas.
Southern Pacific stayed in the passenger business right up to when AMTRAK was formed by the federal government in 1970 to take over long distance rail travel.
The surviving railroads became exclusively freight carriers.
Consolidation became the order of the day and once proudly independent companies merged into huge conglomerates. The Union Pacific absorbed the Missouri Pacific in December of 1982
and then the Missouri Kansas Texas railroad in 1988. The S.P., despite its success was under pressure from all sides now. Competition from road haulage continued to intensify, and the
new mega railroads systems had further decreased the companies competitive edge. In 1983, the S.P. merged with the A.T.S.F. - the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe - but the merger was
ruled illegal by the Interstate Commerce Commission and the union had to be dissolved. The S.P., including the Cotton Belt was then sold to Rio Grande Industries, parent company of the
Denver & Rio Grand Western Railroad in 1988. By 1992, the whole system was renamed as
Southern Pacific Lines.
In September of 1996, the unthinkable happened. Despite it size and its attempts to create economies of scale, Southern Pacific Lines was merged with the Union Pacific.
It has not proven to be a marriage of equals and the once proud name of Southern Pacific has all but disappeared. In a move many would have thought unthinkable only a few
years before, Union Pacific now owns all the tracks in and around San Antonio and most of south Texas. The once colorful landscape of competing regional carriers is now a part of history that we will never see again.
National carriers with intercontinental reach have emerged to carry on the nation's railroading business. Enormous amounts of goods and materials are carried by these
super-systems every day, in modern bulk container trains pulled by engines of enormous size and power. It is hard to imagine that much further rationalization is possible,
but who knows what the next few years will bring?
Click here for more thought on the downfall of Southern Pacific • How The Mighty Did Fall•
Meanwhile, what of the once glorious, bustling, Sunset Station?
Click here for Part 3 of • Southern Pacific•
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