The Blacklands Railroad ( reporting mark BLR ) is a class III short-line railroad headquartered in Sulphur Springs, Texas .
39-526: The Blacklands Railroad began operations in 1999 on an abandoned Southern Pacific rail line that stretched from Mt. Pleasant, Texas to Greenville, Texas . In 2010, Blacklands Railroad expanded to operate another shortline , The Henderson-Overton Branch (HOB), that stretched from Overton, Texas to Henderson, Texas . Blacklands Railroad further diversified in 2014 by creating a subsidiary, Black Gold Terminals , that specializes in transloading , contract switching, and industrial rail parks. Blacklands Railroad
78-460: A package delivery service or by mail : it may change shipping mode several times along the trip, but since it is (from an external point of view) conveyed as a single shipment regardless of how it is conveyed or what else travels with it on the legs of its journey, it is not considered to be transshipped. Conversely, a load on a truck can be taken in one (legal) shipment to an intermediate point and then to its ultimate destination without ever leaving
117-406: A ship at a port . Transloading is also required at railroad break-of-gauge points, since the equipment can not pass from one track to another unless bogies are exchanged . Since transloading requires handling of the goods, it causes a higher risk of damage. Therefore, transloading facilities are designed with the intent of minimizing handling. Due to differing capacities of the different modes,
156-461: A train , and transloading may be accomplished by no more elaborate means than teamsters and stevedores . In the interests of speed and efficiency, however, a variety of specialized equipment is used to handle the goods. Thus, intermodal facilities have specialized cranes for handling the containers , and coal piers have car dumpers , loaders , conveyors , and other equipment for unloading and loading railroad cars and ships quickly and with
195-906: A transload site in Henderson under its Black Gold Terminals subsidiary to help customers in the area gain access to the rail network even if they were not located on the railroad. HOB commodities include asphalt, steel, lumber, and chemicals. Black Gold Terminals was created in 2017 as a subsidiary of Blacklands Railroad. Blacklands Railroad leveraged its knowledge and experience in the rail industry to provide an additional service to shippers looking to move goods by rail, regardless of whether they have direct rail access. Specializing in transloading, contract switching, and industrial rail parks, Black Gold Terminals operates transload facilities in Henderson, Texas; Longview, TX, and Shreveport, LA. Southern Pacific Transportation Company The Southern Pacific ( reporting mark SP ) (or Espee from
234-456: A brand new EMD SD70ACe locomotive, Union Pacific 1996 , as part of a new heritage program. It was the final unit in UP's Heritage Series of locomotives, and was painted in a color scheme inspired by the "Daylight" and "Black Widow" schemes. Transloading Transloading , also known as cross-docking , is the process of transferring a shipment from one mode of transportation to another. It
273-518: A minimum of personnel. Transloading facilities may also make use of a Bulk Transloading System to provide visibility of a transloading operation including rail, storage, over the road drivers, dray drivers, bookings, and the master load plan. Often the equipment used to ship the goods is optimized for rapid transfer. For instance, the shipment of automobiles is expedited by autorack rail cars and roll-on/roll-off ships, which can be loaded without cranes or other equipment. Standardized containers allow
312-473: A passenger train and send scores and hundreds to instant death. There are many Southern Pacific locomotives still in revenue service with railroads such as the Union Pacific Railroad , and many older and special locomotives have been donated to parks and museums, or continue operating on scenic or tourist railroads. Most of the engines now in use with Union Pacific have been "patched", where
351-593: A rail connection between San Francisco and San Diego, California . The company was purchased in September 1868 by a group of businessmen known as the Big Four : Charles Crocker , Leland Stanford , Mark Hopkins, Jr. and C. P. Huntington . The Big Four had, in 1861, created the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) It later acquired the Central Pacific Railroad in 1885 through leasing. By 1900,
390-468: A telecommunications network with a state-of-the-art microwave and fiber optic backbone. This telecommunications network became part of Sprint , a company whose name came from the acronym for Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony. The original Southern Pacific Railroad was founded in San Francisco in 1865, by a group of businessmen led by Timothy Phelps with the aim of building
429-405: Is most commonly employed when one mode cannot be used for the entire trip, such as when goods must be shipped internationally from one inland point to another. Such a trip might require transport by truck to an airport , then by airplane overseas, and then by another truck to its destination; or it might involve bulk material (such as coal ) loaded to rail at the mine and then transferred to
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#1732790074144468-831: The Constitution of the United States . The Southern Pacific Railroad was replaced by the Southern Pacific Company and assumed the railroad operations of the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1929, Southern Pacific/Texas and New Orleans operated 13,848 route-miles not including Cotton Belt, whose purchase of the Golden State Route circa 1980 nearly doubled its size to 3,085 miles (4,965 km), bringing total SP/SSW mileage to around 13,508 miles (21,739 km). The T&NO
507-535: The St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt, reporting marks SSW), El Paso and Southwestern Railroad , the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at 328 miles (528 km), the 1,331-mile (2,142 km) Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico , and a variety of 3 ft ( 914 mm ) narrow-gauge routes. The SP was known for its mammoth back shops at Sacramento, California , which was one of
546-551: The 65.6 mile line from 1999 until 2020, from Greenville where it interchanged with Kansas City Southern to Sulphur Springs (another KCS interchange) and finally Mount Vernon, Texas near the Franklin / Titus county line; from this point Blacklands Railroad operates via Union Pacific trackage rights to Mount Pleasant, Texas where it interchanges with Union Pacific. Presently the Blacklands Railroad operates only on
585-697: The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad to the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, allowing the combined Rio Grande Industries railroad system to use the Southern Pacific name due to its brand recognition in the railroad industry and with customers of both the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. A long time Southern Pacific subsidiary, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway
624-504: The SP logo on the front is replaced by a Union Pacific shield, and new numbers are applied over the old numbers with a Union Pacific sticker, however some engines remain in Southern Pacific "bloody nose" paint. Over the past couple years, most of the patched units were repainted into the full Union Pacific scheme and as of January 2019, less than ten units remain in their old paint. Among the more notable equipment is: On August 19, 2006, UP unveiled
663-577: The SP shops there, new shops and yards were built six miles south of the city at Bayshore. The Alhambra Shops in Los Angeles consisted of 10 buildings and employed 1,500 but declined in importance when the Taylor Yard was built in 1930. The SP was the defendant in the landmark 1886 United States Supreme Court case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad , which is often interpreted as having established certain corporate rights under
702-641: The Southern Pacific Transportation Company to be taken over by the Union Pacific Corporation ; the parent Southern Pacific Rail Corporation (formerly Rio Grande Industries), the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the SPCSL Corporation were also taken over by the Union Pacific Corporation. The Union Pacific Corporation merged the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad,
741-588: The Southern Pacific system was a major railroad system incorporating many smaller companies, such as the Texas and New Orleans Railroad and Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad . It extended from New Orleans through Texas to El Paso , across New Mexico and through Tucson , to Los Angeles , through most of California , including San Francisco and Sacramento . Central Pacific lines extended east across Nevada to Ogden, Utah , and reached north through Oregon to Portland . Other subsidiaries eventually included
780-409: The Southern Pacific, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, was founded in 1969 and assumed control of the Southern Pacific system. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company was acquired in 1996 by the Union Pacific Corporation and merged with their Union Pacific Railroad . The Southern Pacific legacy founded hospitals in San Francisco , Tucson , and Houston . In the 1970s, it also founded
819-490: The St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the SPCSL Corporation into their Union Pacific Railroad but did not merge the Southern Pacific Transportation Company into the Union Pacific Railroad. Instead, the Union Pacific Corporation merged the Union Pacific Railroad into the Southern Pacific Transportation Company on February 1, 1998; the Southern Pacific Transportation Company became the surviving railroad and at
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#1732790074144858-465: The Sunset Limited. Well known were the Southern Pacific's unique " cab-forward " steam locomotives. These were 4-8-8-2 , 2-8-8-2 , and 4-6-6-2 (rebuilt from 2-6-6-2 ) locomotives set up to run in reverse, with the tender attached to the smokebox end of the locomotive. Southern Pacific had a number of snow sheds in mountain terrain, and locomotive crews nearly asphyxiated from smoke in
897-718: The UP trackage rights and interchanges with UP in Mt. Pleasant. Over the years, Blacklands Railroad traffic has included a host of commodities including forest products, scrap materials, plastic, grain, chemicals, and steel. Originally chartered in 1874, the Henderson-Overton Branch was completed in 1877. The line ran 15 miles from a connection with the International and Great Northern Railway in Overton, Texas to Henderson, Texas , with various industries along
936-480: The basis of Blacklands Railroad, but not before portions of it were owned by Southern Pacific and Union Pacific. The Northeast Texas Rural Rail Transportation District (NETEX) purchased the segment between Greenville, Texas and Sulphur Springs in 1995 (from the Southern Pacific ), and the remainder of the line in 2000 (from Union Pacific ). In 1999, Blacklands Railroad was awarded the contract to operate
975-556: The cab. After a number of engineers began running their engines in reverse (pushing the tender), Southern Pacific asked Baldwin Locomotive Works to produce cab-forward designs. No other North American railroad ordered cab-forward locomotives. Narrow Gauge Locomotives Until May 1, 1971 (when Amtrak took over long-distance passenger operations in the United States), the Southern Pacific at various times operated
1014-493: The facilities typically require some storage facility, such as warehouses or rail yards . For bulk goods, specialized material handling and storage are typically provided (as, for example, in grain elevators ). Intermodal transport limits handling by using standardized containers , which are handled as units and which also serve for storage if needed. Transloading may be confused with transshipment , but in modern usage they represent different concepts. Transloading concerns
1053-483: The few in the country equipped to design and build locomotives on a large scale. Sacramento was among the top ten largest shops in the US, occupying 200 acres of land with dozens of buildings and an average employment of 3,000, peaking at 7,000 during World War II. Other major shop sites were located at Ogden, Utah ; Houston, Texas ; and Algiers, New Orleans . After the 1906 earthquake destroyed much of San Francisco, including
1092-429: The following named passenger trains . Trains with names in italicized bold text still operate under Amtrak: The man or men who committed this horrible deed near Glendale may not be anarchists, technically speaking. But if they are sane men, moved by motive, they are such stuff as anarchists are made of. If the typical anarchist conceived that a railroad corporation should be terrorized, he would not scruple to wreck
1131-422: The line in 2008, citing lack of traffic on the branch. The Henderson-Overton Branch was subsequently purchased by Rusk County Rail District in 2010. Blacklands Railroad was chosen by Rusk County Rail District to operate the line for the benefit of existing customers, primarily a lumber mill in Henderson, and new businesses which may be interested in locating along the line. In 2017, Blacklands Railroad established
1170-577: The locomotive's smokebox silver (almost white in appearance), with graphite colored sides, for visibility. Some passenger steam locomotives bore the Daylight scheme, named after the trains they hauled, most of which had the word Daylight in the train name. The most famous "Daylight" locomotives were the GS-4 steam locomotives . The most famous Daylight-hauled trains were the Coast Daylight and
1209-408: The mechanics of transport, while transshipment is essentially a legal term addressing how the shipment originates and is destined. Consider a load of grain that is transloaded at an elevator, where it is combined with grain from other farms and thus leaves on the train as a distinct shipment from that in which it arrived. It thus cannot be said to be transshipped. Or consider a package shipped through
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1248-529: The pruning of branch lines. On October 13, 1988, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company (including its subsidiary, St. Louis Southwestern Railway) was taken over by Rio Grande Industries , the parent company that controlled the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (reporting marks D&RGW). Rio Grande Industries did not merge the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad together, but transferred direct ownership of
1287-484: The railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States . The system was operated by various companies under the names Southern Pacific Railroad , Southern Pacific Company and Southern Pacific Transportation Company . The original Southern Pacific began in 1865 as a land holding company. The last incarnation of
1326-402: The same time the Union Pacific Corporation renamed the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to Union Pacific Railroad. Thus, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company became, and is still operating as, the current incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad. Like most railroads, the SP painted most of its steam locomotives black during the 20th century, but after 1945 SP painted the front of
1365-531: The truck. If this is specified as two shipments, then the goods are transshipped, but no transloading has taken place. The modern distinction between transloading and transshipment was not well codified in the period of the mid-19th through mid-20th centuries, when discussions of break of gauge often used the word transshipment for what today's careful usage would call transloading, or for any combination of transloading and transshipment. Transloading can occur at any place. A truck can pull up to another truck or
1404-633: The way. The Henderson-Overton Branch was acquired by the International and Great Northern on September 27, 1880, and was operated by the latter company until it was consolidated with the newly reorganized International and Great Northern Railway Company on August 31, 1911. Through mergers and acquisitions, the branch was owned by a number of railroads, including the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad , before finally landing with Union Pacific Railroad. Union Pacific provided notice to abandon
1443-715: Was also marketed under the Southern Pacific name. Along with the addition of the SPCSL Corporation route from Chicago to St. Louis, the former mainline of the Chicago, Missouri and Western Railroad that once belonged to the Alton Railroad , the total length of the D&;RGW/SP/SSW system was 15,959 miles (25,684 km). Rio Grande Industries was later renamed Southern Pacific Rail Corporation . By 1996, years of financial problems had dropped Southern Pacific's mileage to 13,715 miles (22,072 km). The financial problems caused
1482-612: Was awarded the Short Line Railroad of the Year in 2011 by Railway Age . The St. Louis, Arkansas, & Texas Railroad was built through Sulphur Springs, Texas , in 1887 on its way to Commerce and Sherman . The next year the line was completed to Fort Worth . In 1891, the bankrupt railroad was sold to Jay Gould Interests and renamed the St. Louis Southwestern Railway , also known as the Cotton Belt. This line became
1521-428: Was fully merged into the SP in 1961. In 1969, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company was established and took over the Southern Pacific Company; this Southern Pacific railroad is the last incarnation and was at times called "Southern Pacific Industries", though "Southern Pacific Industries" is not the official name of the company. By the 1980s, route mileage had dropped to 10,423 miles (16,774 km), mainly due to
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