Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway, the oldest component of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, dating to 1852, was the first railroad in Texas.
Construction started at Harrisburg, Texas and continued west to the Colorado River. Often this line is misrepresented as starting at Houston rather than Harrisburg, which was at the time a separate town; the towns were then located several miles apart and in were competition with each other. (Harrisburg is now part of Houston.)
The original charter called for the line to run to Austin. After the Civil War and financial problems which led to foreclosure in 1870, the charter was amended and the name changed to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway. At this time the line was extended to and beyond San Antonio. The interests controlling the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway were friendly to those controlling the Southern Pacific.
[edit] References
- A History of the Texas Railroads by S. G. Reed (Houston: St. Clair, 1941; rpt., New York: Arno, 1981).
[edit] External links
- Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway from the Handbook of Texas Online
