Driving north on Hwy 59 from Victoria to Rosenberg, Texas, we saw a lot of railroad updating activity. First we saw all new ballast having been recently laid. Then we saw ribbon rail, some concrete ties, and new concrete bridges. Yet the grade crossings had only crossbucks with no gates or signals. How to make sense of this?
Then we came to a section where materials lay for a long siding with new wood ties. Further north was a section where trees and brush were being cut back. And roadbed being groomed but no track or materials yet. And a place where huge trestle timbers had been thrown aside, replaced by a row of culverts.
We couldn’t keep from guessing what was happening here. Our best guesses were commuter rail into Houston or a freight line from Laredo to compete with the new tollway from Mexico.
Then we came to another place where the prep work had already been done and there were a bunch of wheel sets that made me think of logging disconnects holding ribbon rail in place on the roadbed. As we traveled further north the new rail along the old right-of-way became more and more finished. So, they are working from both ends and at some point there will be a golden spike type event?
When we stopped for the night, one of the first things Dave did was get onto the computer to find out what’s really happening here. This is the Kansas City Southern railroad’s new Victoria to Rosenberg Route. When all the sections are done this railroad will run from Mexico to Canada. They didn’t say to compete with that new tollway but, still, it’s nice to be right.
TTYL,
Linda