Dallas, Pacific & Southeastern Railway

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Dallas, Pacific and Southeastern Railway, and friend, this one's a story about what almost was. Back in the 1880s, railroads were threading themselves across Texas like somebody was stitching the state together from the inside out. And somebody had a real grand idea: a line called the Dallas, Pacific and Southeastern Railway, planned to stretch all the way from Dallas to Albuquerque.

You let that sink in. Dallas to Albuquerque. That is an ambitious piece of dreaming right there.

They started gradin' the road northwest out of Dallas, pushing it through southern Wise County, crossing near Draco and Boonsville. And the towns along the way? They were beside themselves with excitement.

The Wise County Messenger was practically hollerin' from the rooftops. One dispatch reported that a railroad outfit was camped at the mouth of Oates Branch, resting up for a job. Another line in that same paper declared, and I'm going to quote this directly, because it deserves it, that Draco will surely be the coming R.

R. city, as the R. R. company will look to their own interests and will place the depot to the best advantage. Draco.

The coming railroad city. People were making plans. On May 15, 1889, former county sheriff W.

J. Mann signed a deed granting the railway rights to establish a station near the Draco-Cottondale road, what is now County Road 3555, on the west line of his property. And W.

J. Mann wasn't alone. Wise County deeds record dozens of land transactions by the railway company, running from March all the way through December of 1889.

Dozens. Folks were buying in, selling parcels, making arrangements. The machinery of progress was humming.

And then it stopped. For lack of funds, and competition, the rail line simply stopped in Wise County. No trains ran.

Not one. All that gradin', all those deeds, all that ink in the Wise County Messenger about the coming railroad city, and the trains never came. The raised bed just sat there, going nowhere, growing quiet.

But here's where the story takes a turn that's almost poetic. That old bed didn't just disappear. By 1926, a delegation of North Texans made their way down to Austin with a proposal: use the old rail bed for a highway.

The argument was hard to argue with, the bed was already built, and it was ideal for a road. The Texas Highway Department granted their request. And today, Highway 114 from Dallas to Rhome follows that old railroad grade.

Out near the Draco-Cottondale road, one particular stretch of that original bed survives better than almost anywhere else. It was never farmed. It's been used for grazin' livestock, and it's still owned by descendants of W.

J. Mann, the very man who signed that deed back on May 15, 1889. That ground has been in the same family across all those years.

The marker calls it a reminder of the impact a railroad almost had on the area. Almost. That word does a lot of work.

Because you can still see the raised bed in several places, still showing up on historic maps as old railroad grade, and somewhere underneath Highway 114, the ghost of a line to Albuquerque is still out there, still running northwest, still going nowhere, and carrying everything with it.

What the marker says

As railroads expanded across Texas in the 1880s, the Dallas, Pacific & Southeastern Railway was planned to link Dallas and Albuquerque. The road, which was graded northwest from Dallas to near this site, traversed southern Wise County, including crossings near Draco and Boonsville. Former county sheriff W. J. Mann signed a deed on May 15, 1889 for the railway to establish a station near the Draco-Cottondale road, now County Road 3555, on the west line of his property. The Wise County Messenger reported the railroad's progress, stating "a railroad outfit is camped at the mouth of Oates Branch resting up for a job," and "Draco will surely be the coming R. R. city, as the R. R. company will look to their own interests and will place the depot to the best advantage." Wise County deeds show dozens of land transactions by the railway company from March to December 1889. However, for lack of funds and competition, the rail line stopped in Wise County and no trains ran. The raised bed is still visible in several places and appears as "old railroad grade" on historic maps. In 1926 a delegation of North Texans went to Austin to request that the old rail bed be used for a highway, since the bed was ideal for a road and was already built. The Texas Highway Department granted their request. Highway 114 from Dallas to Rhome follows the old road. A portion of the road bed near Draco-Cottondale road is one of the best remnants of the rail bed, having never been farmed but used for grazing livestock, and still owned by descendants of W. J. Mann. It is a reminder of the impact a railroad almost had on the area. (2013)