The Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway of Texas came into existence on October 7, 1902, originally chartered to build a railroad from Johnson County to the Beaumont area near the

Gulf coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

. It took its name from the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

and Brazos rivers. It was commonly known as the “Boll Weevil," though it referred to itself as the "Valley Road." The first line opened between Hillsboro and Mexia in October 1903. It was extended north to Cleburne in January 1904, making a total of 78 miles of track between Cleburne and Mexia. Financial problems in the system led to its purchase by

Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was ...

(C&S) on August 1, 1905. Benjamin F. Yoakum, a railroad executive who was a director of the C&S, was contracted to build more track in Trinity and Brazos Valley system. As part of the construction deal, C&S sold one-half of the securities issued for the project to Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway (CRIP), making the T&BV half-owned by both CRIP and C&S parent

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

. A southern extension of 224 miles from Mexia to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

was built from 1905-1907. An extension was also completed between Teague and Waxahachie in 1907. T&BV contracted with the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT) between Waxahachie and Dallas, while it used Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (GC&SF) tracks on its northwestern end between Cleburne and

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

and on its southeastern end between Houston and

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. In Houston, T&BV took a one-quarter interest in the Houston Belt and Terminal Railway, which was being built by Yoakum at the time. The Trinity and Brazos Valley was placed into receivership on June 16, 1914, having been unprofitable since 1905. Its trackage rights with MKT and GC&SF were canceled at that time. The receiver appointed was John W. Robins, replaced by L.H. Atwell and then John A. Hulen in 1919. In 1930, the business was reorganized as the

Burlington-Rock Island Railroad The Burlington-Rock Island Railroad was a joint railroad in Texas, United States. It came into existence on July 7, 1930, through the reorganization of its predecessor, the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway Company (T&BV), nicknamed the "Boll W ...

Company with Hulen as the first president. Operating 303 miles of track at that time, BRI was still owned by CRIP and C&S. TBV depot 2010

Today, the trackage from Teague to Houston is still in use as part of

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

. The portion from Teague to Cleburne has been abandoned.

Financial information

The capital stock to begin the railroad was $300,000. In 1916, it reported earnings of over $1 million ($842,000 in

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

and the rest in

passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

). By 1926, it owned 37

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s and freight earnings had climbed to $2.6 million, with passenger earnings down 15 percent from 1916 levels.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway Defunct Texas railroads Former Class I railroads in the United States Predecessors of the Burlington Northern Railroad Predecessors of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Predecessors of the Colorado and Southern Railway Railway companies established in 1902 Railway companies disestablished in 1930