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The
KATY no longer exists, but artifacts can still be found on rolling stock.
TE
photo, May 2010 |
It’s
fair to say that Smithville
might well be one of the more insignificant towns between Austin
and Houston if it wasn’t for the railroad.
After the Missouri, Kansas and Texas (KATY) railroad acquired the old Taylor,
Bastrop and Houston line in the early 1890s, the Katy built significant yards
in Smithville, as well as
a huge passenger depot and a two-story Railroad YMCA.
The railroad even
dictated the layout of the town.
Hotels and the YMCA were located conveniently near the tracks while the railroad’s
engineers clustered together in two story homes near the river – as far as they
could get from the noise and grime of the roundhouse and yards.
Smithville
was the scene of the 1911 boiler explosion
- perhaps the largest railroad disaster outside of collisions or derailments. |
Memorial
Service for C. W. Phelps,
one of the men killed in the 1911 roundhouse accident. |
| Railroad
Yard Workers
Eight out of nine railroad workers prefered the clean-shaven
look around 1910. The third man from left (bottom row) appears to be considering
sending a chisel into the kneecap of his co-worker. |
Locomotives
too big to fit into a single photo No. 23
Engine # 4402 lets off steam in the
Smithville Yards
No Date |
| Arrival
and Departures c. 1930s |
| A
tinted postcard of the Katy Roundhouse and turntable |
A
"gallows" type turntable - the first of three used in the yards.
Note
smokestack in previous postcard. |
The
railroading history of the town is preserved today in Smithville’s
Railroad Museum (which shares space with the Smithville Chamber) in James Long
Park at the southern end of Main Street.
Beside the museum, which houses
photos, and artifacts, an outdoor section includes an old depot (moved in from
West Point, Texas)
and several cabooses as well as a vintage section car.
June
3, 2010
©John Troesser
See Smithville's
1911 Locomotive Boiler Explosion |
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