Texas Electric Railway

"Texas Traction Company" redirects here; not to be confused with Northern Texas Traction Company.

Not to be confused with Texas Interurban Railway.

Rail line in Dallas, Texas

Texas Electric Railway

Restored rail car at the Interurban Railway Museum

Overview
Status| Defunct
Locale| Dallas, Texas
Service
Type| Interurban
Services| 3
History
Opened| 1908
Closed| 1948
Technical
Track gauge| 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification| Trolley wire

Route map

Legend

|  |  |

|  | Denison

|
|
|
|

|  |

|  | Sherman
|  |

|  | Howe
|  |

|  | Van Alstyne
|  |

|  | Anna
|  |

|  | Melissa
|  |

|  | McKinney
|  |

|  | Allen
|  |

|  | Plano
|  |

|  | Richardson

| Texas Interurban Ry

to Denton

|  | Vickery

| Northern Texas Traction

to Fort Worth

|  | Dallas
|  |

|  |

| Texas Interurban Ry

to Terrell

Lisbon |  |

|  | Hutchins
Lancaster |  |

|  | Wilmer
Red Oak |  |

|  | Ferris
Sterrett |  |

|  | Trumbull
Waxahachie |  |

|  | Palmer
Forreston |  |

|  | Garrett
Italy |  |

|  | Ennis
Milford |  |

|  | Alma
Hillsboro |  |

|  | Rice
Abbott |  |

|  | Corsicana
West |  |

|  |
Elm Mott |  |

|  |
Waco |  |

|  |
|  |  |  |  |  |

This diagram:

* view
* talk
* edit

The Texas Electric Railway was a historic interurban railroad that operated from Dallas, Texas, to Denison, Corsicana, and Waco. It began operation in 1908 and through the merger of several companies became the largest interurban railway operator in the South before its demise in 1948.[1]

## History

[edit]

In 1901, the Denison and Sherman Railway, connecting the towns of Denison and Sherman with 10 miles (16 km) of track, opened as the first interurban rail line in Texas. This line was purchased in 1911 by the Texas Traction Company, which had constructed a 65-mile (105 km) line of their own from Dallas to Sherman and began operation in 1908. While not connected to Sherman yet, shortly after, Dallas and Fort Worth built an interurban connecting the two cities. Seeing a need to expand in other directions, the owners of the Texas Traction Company purchased the Dallas Southern Traction Company, a 28-mile (45 km) line from Dallas to Waxahachie in 1912. The merged company became known as the Southern Traction Company and the rail line was extended to Waco in 1913. A separate 56-mile (90 km) line from Dallas to Corsicana was also completed. In 1917 the Texas Traction Company and the Southern Traction Company merged to form the Texas Electric Railway Company and became the largest interurban railway in the South with more than 200 miles (320 km) of track. The interurban became a vital link for communities until the increasing usage of the automobile caused a decline in revenue. The Dallas-Corsicana branch was discontinued in 1941 and the Dallas-Waco and Dallas-Denison branches closed in 1948.[2]

Throughout these years, interurban was a lifeline shipping farm products and mail as mail was sorted inside the interurban car.

## Today

[edit]

The central train station in Dallas was converted into the Interurban Building Apartments. The former train yard of this station is now the apartment's parking complex.

Today several pieces of infrastructure still remain. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail system utilizes the right-of-way of the Texas Electric Railway for several parts of its lines, including the Red Line.

The wood frame passenger depot in downtown Plano and its attached brick electric transformer section remained in use until December 31, 1948. The Plano Station building now hosts the Interurban Railway Museum where a restored Texas Electric Railway car may be seen, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Monroe Shops (1914), once the maintenance facility for Texas Electric's vehicles, was restored in 2011 and now serves as headquarters to the DART Police Department.[3]

The Dallas Interurban Building (1916), once serving as the main Dallas depot, now houses residents and retail.[4]

The Texas Electric Railway Allen Station still stands at 105 South Butler Drive.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Texas Historical Commission. "Texas Electric Railway Station Historical Marker".
2. ^ Robert A. Rieder. "ELECTRIC INTERURBAN RAILWAYS". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2024-10-21.
3. ^ "DART.org - DART News Release".
4. ^ "Dallas Public Library - Site Map".
5. ^ "Picture of Allen Depot" (JPG). 2.bp.blogspot.com.

## Reading Bibliography

[edit]

* Myers, J.J. and L.O. King. 1982. Texas Electric Railway. Central Electric Railfans Association. Library of Congress Catalog Card #82-71474.
* Varney, R. Texas Electric Album. Interurbans Special #62. ISBN 0-916374-01-7.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Texas Electric Railway at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Topics|

* Architectural style categories
* Contributing property
* Historic district
* History of the National Register of Historic Places
* Keeper of the Register
* National Park Service
* Property types

Lists by state|

* List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state:
* Alabama
* Alaska
* Arizona
* Arkansas
* California
* Colorado
* Connecticut
* Delaware
* Florida
* Georgia
* Hawaii
* Idaho
* Illinois
* Indiana
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Kentucky
* Louisiana
* Maine
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Michigan
* Minnesota
* Mississippi
* Missouri
* Montana
* Nebraska
* Nevada
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New Mexico
* New York
* North Carolina
* North Dakota
* Ohio
* Oklahoma
* Oregon
* Pennsylvania
* Rhode Island
* South Carolina
* South Dakota
* Tennessee
* Texas
* Utah
* Vermont
* Virginia
* Washington
* West Virginia
* Wisconsin
* Wyoming

Lists by insular areas|

* American Samoa
* Guam
* Minor Outlying Islands
* Northern Mariana Islands
* Puerto Rico
* Virgin Islands

Lists by associated state|

* Federated States of Micronesia
* Marshall Islands
* Palau

Other areas|

* District of Columbia
* American Legation, Morocco

Lists of specific structure types|

* Amusement rides
* Jails and prisons
* University and college buildings

Related|

* National Historic Preservation Act
* Historic Preservation Fund

* National Register of Historic Places portal
* Category

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States

Other|

* Yale LUX

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template