In the glory days of the Railroads, Paris was
a center of activity being located at the intersection of two major North-South and
East-West Rail Lines. The Santa Fe and Frisco (St. Louis & San Francisco) Railroads served the Paris area on the
North-South line while the Texas & Pacific Railroad provided East-West service.
A third, southern route served by the Texas & New Orleans Railroad connected Paris to
the city of Cooper and the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad (Cotton Belt Route) main line
through the city of Commerce. This line was originally the Texas Midland
connecting Paris to the city of Ennis. A fourth railroad, the Paris & Mt. Pleasant
Railroad ran on tracks between those two cities. In the early days
of Paris (~1914), maps show a fifth railroad, the Gulf, Colorado, & Santa Fe,
running east-north-east from the city to ???. Any details of this line
would be greatly appreciated. The two sets of tracks extending
eastward, both set of tracks southward, and the old GC&SF tracks have been removed over the past few years
isolating Paris from the benefits afforded to cities on major freight lines.
Fortunately, the existing Northern and Western rail lines have been left intact and rail
traffic is handled on those lines by
RailAmerica's
Kiamichi
Railroad and
Texas Northeastern Railroad respectively.
In recent years, the rail traffic has ceised on the Western line. It's
future is unknown. To the
credit of the railroads and the Paris community, the two large depots which stood along
the two main line routes have been preserved. I'm pleased to have the opportunity
to present a few pictures of these two historic structures and a few other local rail
scenes on these pages.
Enjoy!
| Chaparral #703 on the Chaparral
sub of the
Kiamichi
Railroad. The Chaparral runs between Antlers, OK, Hugo, OK, and Paris, TX. Hugo, OK, is the base of operations for the Kiamichi, whose mainline parallels the Red River and runs from an interconnect with the BNSF at Lakeside, OK, on the west end, to the east end interconnecting with the UP in Hope, AR. The Kiamichi is owned by RailAmerica. This photograph was taken at Gate II Road near Camp Maxey, between Paris and Powderly TX, along US Highway 271. |
 |
You may click on the depots below for additional pictures and info specific to each railroad.
 Santa Fe - Frisco Railroad ...now the Chaparel Branch of the Kiamichi Railroad |
 Texas & Pacific Railroad ...now the Texas Northeastern Railroad (RailTEX) |
Related Links (offsite):
T&NO - Paris Subdivision 1942 timetable - Paris to Ennis
SP - Paris Branch 1962 timetable - Paris to Commerce via former T&NO Paris Sub
Please take advantage of every opportunity to help preserve great pieces of American Railroad history and tradition. Few scenes are as heartbreaking to a railroad enthusiast as the destruction of a depot.
Page/Photographs ©1995-99 Jason Lee Davis
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WebMaster: Jason Lee Davis | Last update: August 2, 1999