|
Texas & Pacific History |
The Texas and Pacific (TP) moved freight mail and passengers east and west over the vast expanses of the West Texas plains from its major interchange with the Southern Pacific in El Paso, to its eastern partner the Missouri Pacific in Texarkana. With a multitude of other interchange points with other Class I carriers and numerous short lines throughout its system, the TP was the primary link in the east/west movement of the nations commerce through the southwest and western states. Much of the TP's traffic could be classified as bridge or through movements, but the railroad's survival was by no means limited to the work provided by its competitors. There was ample need for a class I carrier west of Ft. Worth for Express, Mail, Passenger and general freight service to meet the Lone Star State's internal requirements.
The TP did not have a monopoly on the rail traffic west of Ft. Worth and as a result the line interchanged with subsidiaries and other Class I roads. Interchanges physically modeled on the layout are at Abilene, the Wichita Valley (Ft. Worth and Denver) and the Abilene and Southern (TP); at Sweetwater, the Panhandle and Santa Fe and the Gulf Coast and Santa Fe; the last modeled interchange being at Roscoe Texas with the Roscoe Snider and Pacific (RS&P). Other interchanges throughout the TP system included the following:
It becomes obvious that a lot of freight was moved over the TP between El Paso and Ft. Worth.
Passenger and Express/Mail operations were not overlooked out west. The TP had four named trains on the time table that regularly operated west of Ft. Worth. In addition to mail service, these trains provided West Coast - East Coast Pullman service via interchange with the Southern Pacific in El Paso and the Missouri Pacific in Texarkana. Passenger equipment was also interchanged with Santa Fe subsidiaries at Sweetwater for Pullman service from Dallas to Lubbock; at Abilene express and mail with the Wichita Valley (FW&D) and the Abilene and Southern; and at Monahans, interchange with the Texas & New Mexico provided Coach, express and mail all the way to Lovington New Mexico.
TP operations also included special car movements for the US Military to its Operational and Training Air Force Bases that were located west of Ft. Worth.
The volume of traffic and the variety of operations coupled with the uniqueness of the West Texas landscape met all my objectives for a model railroad that would provide outlets for my modeling and operations interests.