DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, most railroads out here in West Texas have a certain grandeur to 'em — big companies, big money, big ambitions stretching coast to coast. But the Midland and Northwestern Railroad?
That one was something else entirely. That was a man named David Fasken, Sr., deciding he needed a railroad, and so he went ahead and built one. Sixty-six miles of standard gauge track, laid out to carry cattle, ranch supplies, and passengers, linking the towns of Fasken, Florey, and Seminole with the Texas and Pacific Railway up at Midland.
Now you notice something about those town names? One of 'em ought to ring a bell. But we're not here to speculate — we're here to tell the story.
The Midland and Northwestern ran from 1916 to 1920, which puts it square in the middle of World War I and what the marker calls the world starvation aftermath. Critical era. That's the marker's own words, and they earn every syllable.
This little sixty-six-mile line wasn't just movin' cattle. It was movin' through history. Now here's where the story gets good.
At first — at first — the railroad didn't even have its own locomotive. They borrowed one from the Texas and Pacific. You heard that right.
A whole railroad, runnin' on borrowed equipment. And when the train got out into the ranch country, it had to stop. Had to stop so the crew could open the pasture gates.
Because that's West Texas, friend. The cattle don't care about your timetable. And while they were out there stoppin' and startin' and openin' gates, the crew were shootin' coyotes and rattlesnakes along the way.
Just as a matter of course. Just part of the job. Then one day there's a breakdown.
Train gives up somewhere out on the line. And what happens to the passengers? They get fed.
They get sheltered — at Fasken. Somebody saw to it those people were taken care of. The work crew, though?
The work crew slept on the prairie. Under the stars, out in the West Texas dark, with whatever was howling or rattling in the distance. That detail right there tells you everything about the pecking order on the Midland and Northwestern Railroad.
It all came to an end in 1920. The marker uses a phrase I love — it says the railroad floored out. Floored out in 1920, and the Midland and Northwestern was abandoned.
But here's the thing about somethin' built that solid, even if it only ran four years — it leaves a mark. The roadbed, the marker says, is still visible. Sixty-six miles of ambition, borrowed locomotives, open pasture gates, rattlesnakes, and a crew that slept where they fell.
Still visible. Out there in Midland County, if you know where to look.
What the marker says
Standard gauge 66-mile line built by David Fasken, Sr., to carry cattle, ranch supplies, passengers. Operated 1916 to 1920 -- critical era of World War I and world starvation aftermath. Linked towns of Fasken, Florey, and Seminole with Texas & Pacific Railway at Midland. At first, operated with locomotive borrowed from T. & P. Train had to stop for pasture gates to be opened. Crew shot coyotes and rattlesnakes. In a breakdown, the passengers were fed, sheltered at Fasken. Work crew slept on the prairie. Floored out in 1920, M. & N. R. was abandoned. Roadbed still is visible.