The Motley County Railroad

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Motley County Railroad, out there in Motley County, Texas. Now settle in, because this one's got cattle, cash, and a little railroad that punched above its weight. On June 20, 1913, ninety-two people from Motley and the nearby counties got together and chartered themselves a railroad.

Ninety-two. Not a corporation with a boardroom full of suits; ninety-two people, neighbors, ranchers, folks who needed a way to move cattle and farm goods across this wide open stretch of West Texas. And they meant business.

One man alone is said to have put in fifty thousand dollars. Just one man. The Matador Land and Cattle Company threw in bonus funds on top of that.

The original directors read like a roll call of the county itself: J. C. Burleson, A.

B. Echols, J. N.

Gaines, T. E. Leckie, I.

E. Martin, R. P.

Moore, J. D. Morriss, J.

E. Russell, and A. C.

Traweek. Nine names. Nine men who looked out at eight miles of unfenced ranch land and said, we're layin' track through it.

And they did. Now, when you're runnin' a train through open range, the cattle don't exactly yield the right of way. So the trains out here ran with cattle sweepers, nudging longhorns off the rails as they went.

The line connected up with the Quanah, Acme and Pacific tracks near Roaring Springs, stitching this little county into something bigger. For over two decades, the Motley County Railroad did what it was built to do: movin' livestock, movin' goods, movin' life. Then 1936 came, and the Motley County Railroad ceased to operate.

Ninety-two people built it. The open range slowed it down. And time, eventually, stopped it.

But for a stretch of West Texas history, eight miles of track did a whole lot of heavy liftin'.

What the marker says

Pioneer carrier for cattle and farm goods. Chartered June 20, 1913 by 92 people of Motley and nearby counties. One man is said to have invested $50,000. Matador Land & Cattle Company also provided bonus funds. Original directors were J. C. Burleson, A. B. Echols, J. N. Gaines, T. E. Leckie, I. E. Martin, R. P. Moore, J. D. Morriss, J. E. Russell, and A. C. Traweek. Trains used cattle sweepers, as 8-mile track ran through unfenced ranches. Line joined Quanah, Acme & Pacific tracks near Roaring Springs. The Motley County Railroad ceased to operate in 1936. (1970)