Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine Railroad

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Waco, Beaumont, Trinity and Sabine Railroad. Now, every railroad's got a name, and most names mean something. But every so often, you get a name that's more of a wish list than a description.

The Waco, Beaumont, Trinity and Sabine Railway never reached Waco. Never reached Beaumont. Never reached the Sabine River.

Three out of four, folks. The only place in its own name it ever actually touched was Trinity. Its point of origin.

You have to tip your hat to that kind of ambition. Let's back up, though, because this story's got layers. It starts on September 28, 1881, when the Trinity and Sabine Railway Company was chartered as a logging tram, meant to connect with the International and Great Northern Railroad and run all the way east to the Sabine River.

It didn't get there. It made it as far as Colmesneil and called it done. Then in 1882, before it could make another attempt at anything, the Trinity and Sabine was folded into the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company of Texas.

The MKT. That's one chapter closed. Chapter two opens in 1905, when a lumber magnate by the name of William Carlisle chartered something new: the Beaumont and Great Northern Railroad.

The plan was to run southeast all the way to Beaumont, connecting again with the International and Great Northern. It got to Livingston. Thirty-three miles east of Trinity.

Beaumont, for the record, was still a long way off. In 1911, that line too was sold to the MKT, and two years later the MKT merged the two railroads into a single system. A railroad built from the pieces of two other railroads that never quite got where they were going.

And then comes Colonel R. C. Duff.

On April 8, 1924, Colonel Duff's newly founded Waco, Beaumont, Trinity and Sabine Railway Company purchased that combined line, set up its hub in Trinity, put its corporate offices there, and went to work. The name suggested grand ambitions in four directions. The reality was a railroad threading through the east Texas piney woods, through Trinity, Polk, Tyler and Houston counties, on 115.2 miles of standard gauge, ballast-free track.

Ballast-free. That detail is going to matter in a moment. At its high point, the W.B.T. and S. was doing real work.

Every day, passengers, freight and mail moved along those tracks. Timber came through. Pulpwood.

Tomatoes. Vehicles. And later, oil from the nearby Kittrell Oil Field made its way to market on those same rails.

For a railroad that never reached three of the four places in its name, it was doing genuine, necessary work for the people of east Texas. But those tracks. Quickly laid, ballast-free, through piney woods terrain.

The loggers along the route, who knew this railroad about as well as anyone, had a name for it. They called it Wobbly, Bobbly, Turnover and Stop. That nickname came courtesy of the frequent derailments.

When you're riding a railroad nicknamed Wobbly, Bobbly, Turnover and Stop, you know what you're in for. Now, one piece of this story rolls away on its own. Engine Number One.

An oil-burning Prairie type locomotive, built in 1920 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, ran on those W.B.T. and S. tracks. When the railroad was done, that engine didn't just rust away. Galveston philanthropist Mary Moody Northen funded its restoration, and today it stands on display at the Galveston Railroad Museum.

The locomotive outlasted the line. Because the line did end. The W.B.T. and S.

Railroad was abandoned in 1961. The offices and the depot in Trinity were torn down in 1968 and 1969. The track is gone.

The buildings are gone. What's left is the story. A railroad that started as a logging tram in 1881, got absorbed, reborn, re-chartered, renamed, and ran for decades through the piney woods hauling timber and tomatoes and oil and people, all while carrying a name that was more aspiration than geography.

The marker calls it one of Texas' most interesting yet obscure railroads. Wobbly, Bobbly, Turnover and Stop. I'd say that earns it.

What the marker says

On September 28, 1881, the Trinity & Sabine Railway Co. was chartered as a logging tram connecting with the International & Great Northern (I&GN) Railroad. The line was intended to run east to the Sabine River but only extended as far as Colmesneil. In 1882, the Trinity & Sabine became part of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas (MKT) Railway Company of Texas. In 1905, lumber magnate William Carlisle chartered the Beaumont & Great Northern Railroad to connect with I&GN. It was planned to run southeast to Beaumont, but only reached Livingston, 33 miles east of Trinity. In 1911, this line was sold to the MKT, who two years later merged the two railroads into single system. The Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine (W.B.T. & S.) Railway Co., founded by Col. R.C. Duff, purchased the line on April 8, 1924, with Trinity as its hub and corporate offices. W.B.T. & S. never reached any of the locations in its title except Trinity, its point of origin. At its peak, W.B.T. & S. operated 115.2 miles of standard gauge, ballast-free track through east Texas piney woods in Trinity, Polk, Tyler and Houston counties. During its high point, W.B.T. & S. daily transported passengers, freight and mail. Timber, pulpwood, tomatoes, vehicles, and later oil from nearby Kittrell Oil Field, were also brought to market. Loggers along the route christened the W.B.T. & S. "Wobbly, Bobbly, Turnover and Stop" for its frequent derailments due to quickly-laid tracks. W.B.T. & S. Railroad was abandoned in 1961. Offices and the depot in Trinity were torn down in 1968-69. Engine #1, and oil-burning Prairie type locomotive built in 1920 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, operated on the W.B.T. & S. tracks. Galveston philanthropist Mary Moody Northen funded restoration of the engine for display at the Galveston Railroad Museum. The W.B.T. & S. was a major transportation link in the area and was one of Texas' most interesting yet obscure railroads. (2018)