San Antonio Railroad Timeline
1850 – San Antonio and Bexar County invest $50,000.00 each in the San Antonio & Mexican Gulf RR
1877 - Galveston Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad arrives in San Antonio from east, heads west
1878 – Mule drawn street car service is introduced
1881 - International & Great Northern Railroad arrives in San Antonio from the north, reaches Laredo
1883 – Southern Pacific begins transcontinental service along the Sunset Route
1884 - San Antonio & Aransas Pass is formed to reach another deep water port
1886 - San Antonio & Aransas Pass reaches Floresville and later Corpus Christi
1887 - San Antonio & Aransas Pass heads north, reaches Boerne
1888 - MK&T breaks free of Jay Gould's Missouri Pacific
1888 - I&GN lease to MK&T is voided and stays under Jay Gould's control
1889 - G.H. & S.A. officially leased to the Southern Pacific
1890 – Electrified street cars replace mule drawn service
1892 – Southern Pacific takes effective control of the S.A. & A.P.
1893 - San Antonio & Gulf Shore Railroad is formed, reaches Sutherland Springs same year
1894 – The “Sunset Limited” train is created by the Southern Pacific
1895 - San Antonio & Gulf railroad acquires the bankrupt San Antonio & Gulf Shore Railroad
1901 - Missouri-Kansas-Texas completed its own line into San Antonio. Still uses the S. P. depot
1903 - Southern Pacific opens its new Sunset depot
1905 - San Antonio & Gulf is acquired by Southern Pacific, folded into G.H. & S.A.
1907 - I.G. & N opens new depot
1908 - Artesian Belt Railroad is completed, serves Jourdanton and Christine
1909 – Crystal City & Uvalde Railroad is created
1912 - San Antonio Uvalde & Gulf Railroad is new name of expanded Crystal City Railroad
1912 – Worst locomotive boiler explosion in US history happens at S.P. round house
1913 - San Antonio Fredericksburg & Northern opens between Comfort and Fredericksburg
1914 - S.A.U. & G. begins service to Corpus Christi
1915 – The I & G.N. “Sunshine Special” is inaugurated
1916 – MK&T opens express freight depot on St. Marys
1917 – MK&T opens its own passenger depot at Durango and Flores
1917 – Fredericksburg & Northern takes over from San Antonio Fredericksburg & Northern
1920 - San Antonio Southern is the new name of the Artesian Belt Railroad
1921 – Uvalde & Northern begins operations as a logging railroad to Camp Wood from Uvalde
1924 - Missouri Pacific acquires I.G. & N.
1925 - S.A.U. & G is acquired by Missouri Pacific, folded into its Gulf Coast Lines division
1925 - S.A. & A.P. is formally acquired by S.P. Tracks downgraded to secondary status
1926 – MOPAC opens Monte Vista depot
1927 - S.A.S. is acquired by Missouri Pacific, folded into its Gulf Coast Lines division
1927 - G.H. & S.A. is folded into the Southern Pacific’s Texas & New Orleans Division
1930 – 25 passenger trains enter and 25 leave San Antonio every day
1933 – San Antonio street railroad is ripped up and replaced by buses. SA is the first city to do this
1934 - S.A. & A.P. operations folded into the S.P.’s Texas & New Orleans division
1939 - Original S.A. & A.P. depot is demolished
1941 – 18 passenger trains a day enter and 18 leave San Antonio every day
1941 – Uvalde & Northern ceases operations
1942 – Fredericksburg & Northern ceases operations
1946 – Old S.A. & A.P line between Shiner and Lockhart removed
1947 - MKT introduces diesel-electric powered “Texas Special” streamliner train
1948 - MOPAC introduces the Texas Eagle streamliner, replacing the steam powered Sunshine Special
1950 - The S.P. begin using diesels to power the Sunset Limited
1952 – Local passenger service on former S.A. & A.P, and S. A. & G.S. lines are terminated by S.P.
1955 - Missouri Pacific folds I.G. & N. & Gulf Coast Lines operations under its own name
1955.- Missouri Pacific retires its last steam locomotive
1955 – Service ends along former S.A. & G.S. line between S.A. & Sutherland Springs
1957 – Southern Pacific donates “Old 794,” 2-8-0 Mikado steam locomotive to City of San Antonio
1958 – Last SP passenger train stops at Hondo
1959 - All local passenger services have been discontinued by MOPAC & Southern Pacific
1959.- Former SAU&G tracks from Pleasanton to Gardendale are pulled up
1961 - Texas & New Orleans division folded into Southern Pacific
1961 – Last MOPAC train stops at Monte Vista depot
1964 - MKT ceases passenger operations to San Antonio
1964 - Texas Transportation Museum opens at Pearl Brewery using Texas Transportation Company line
1965 – Former S.A.S. tracks to Jourdanton pulled up
1965 – S.P. obliged to end service to Corpus Christi due to removal of bascule bridge
1968 – Texas Transportation Museum relocates to Northeast Preserve, now known as McAllister Park
1969 - MKT depot is demolished
1969 - Converse depot escapes demolition and moves to its new home at Texas Transportation Museum
1970 - Last MOPAC passenger train to San Antonio. Depot is abandoned
1970 – S.P. reduces frequency of “Sunset Limited” to three times a week
1971 - AMTRAK begins operations, continues the S.P.’s “Sunset Limited.”
1971 – Former S.A. & A.P. tracks to Boerne and beyond pulled up north of Camp Stanley
1973 – AMTRAK introduces its new “Inter-American” train from Chicago and New York to Laredo
1976 - MOPAC tears down its depot in San Marcos
1982 - Union Pacific merges with Missouri Pacific
1982 - Abandoned San Antonio MOPAC depot acquired and restored by S.A. City Employees FCU
1986 – MKT light freight depot on St Marys demolished
1988 - Union Pacific buys MKT. Sloan yard abandoned
1996 - Union Pacific merges with Southern Pacific
1996 - Burlington Northern Santa Fe gains limited trackage rights through San Antonio
1996 - AMTRAK moved out of Sunset Station into temporary offices as renovation of station begins.
1997.- Missouri Pacific is formally merged into Union Pacific and disappears
1998 – Former S.A. & A.P. line to Floresville pulled up south of Elmendorf
1999 - Fully renovated Sunset Station opens as an entertainment complex
1999 - AMTRAK opens smaller depot adjacent to Sunset Station
2000 – AMTRAK reinstates daily service on its “Texas Eagle” service
2002 - UP causes uproar by refusing BNSF access to proposed new Toyota plant
2003 - BNSF granted trackage rights from San Antonio to new Toyota plant, but not to Corpus Christi
2004 – Six major railroad accidents occur in San Antonio, resulting in five deaths
2005 – U.P. begins $54 million of track improvement in and around San Antonio
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