Two Early Railroads

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say, straight from the record. Now, four hundred yards east of where you're rolling, there used to be a railroad crossing. Two lines, actually.

And if you've got a few miles of road ahead of you, settle in, because the story of these two railroads is the story of a particular kind of Texas ambition. The first one goes by the Marshall and East Texas Railroad. Chartered in 1908, though the line it was part of had actually been built back in 1882.

That's a road with some history baked in before it even got its name on the charter. Now, this line ran a passenger train, and somebody, somewhere along the way, gave that train a nickname. They called it the Misery and Eternal Torment.

Not exactly the kind of branding you'd put on a travel poster. But there it is. The Marshall and East Texas also ran a logging train, hauling timber out of these East Texas woods, and it kept doing that until 1917.

The second line is the Port Bolivar and Iron Ore. Founded in 1911, and the ambition behind it was something. The plan was to haul ore right out of Upshur County and carry it all the way down to the Texas Coast.

Now that is a vision. Ore from these piney woods rolling south to tidewater. The only trouble is, the line never got built farther than Longview, thirty miles south.

Thirty miles. The coast might as well have been a rumor. The Port Bolivar and Iron Ore kept operating anyway, until 1929, and then it ceased.

The marker calls these special interest railroads, and that phrase carries a certain weight. They came up during the early days of Texas industry, built to serve a purpose, a particular timber stand, a particular ore deposit, a particular dream of reaching the coast. They thrived when the need was there.

And then, when that need faded or the money ran out or the destination never quite arrived, well. They were abandoned, or they got folded into something larger. The Misery and Eternal Torment.

Somebody knew what they were naming.

What the marker says

(Crossing, 400 yards east) The Marshall & East Texas Railroad, chartered 1908 was part of a line built 1882. Operated a passenger train nicknamed the "Misery & Eternal Torment," and ran a logging train until 1917. The Port Bolivar & Iron Ore Line was founded 1911 to haul ore from Upshur County to the Texas Coast, but never built farther than Longview, 30 miles south. It ceased operations in 1929. The history of these lines is that of many "special interest" railroads. They thrived during the early days of Texas industry, but today have been abandoned or incorporated into larger lines. (1968)