www.CottonBeltRoute.com
Preserving the Legacy of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway
and all railroads throughout Ark-La-Tex-oma's Cotton Belt Region

 

Cotton Belt Depot, Commerce, Texas
Robert McFatridge engineer | Ed Cooper photo 

The 12th Annual
Cotton Belt Regional Railroad Symposium

Sam Rayburn Student Center
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Commerce, Texas

Fri. - Sat.,  October 6-7, 2017.

The Symposium is scheduled annually for the weekend of the first Saturday in October.

Friday evening and Saturday, October 6-7, 2017.
The formal event will be held on Saturday, with an informal "Show-And-Tell"/"Mix-N-Mingle" on Friday evening.  Saturday's program will consist of railroad presentations; a Luncheon; an update on NETEX/Blacklands Railroad operations on the Cotton Belt's former C-branch; and other activities to be announced.  Audience participation is encouraged.

If you have items of railroad interest you would like to display on Friday and/or Saturday, please bring them.  We have arranged for plenty of table and display space.  Please note that this is NOT a swap-meet.

Luncheon

The luncheon will be held at noon on Saturday. 
The meal will feature a deli-style buffet and include sides, desert, and drink, and live musical entertainment by the Roberts Family and Friends.

Luncheon meal tickets are no longer avaialble.  The reservation deadline was noon on Wednesday, October 4, 2017.

If you requested tickets and later learn that will be unable to claim and use your requested ticket(s), please notify Jason so your meal ticket may be reallocated to someone else who may wish to dine at the luncheon.

Presented by

tamuc Department of Engineering & Technology

tamuc College of Science & Engineering

James G. Gee Library Special Collections

Commerce Public Library

2017 Sponsors

Luncheon Sponsor(s):

Opportunities Available
Contact Jason with inquiries.

Keynote Sponsor:

Opportunity Available
Contact Jason with inquiries.

Gold Spike Sponsors:

Stephen & Marinelle Morrow

Greenville Board of Development

tamuc
College of Science & Engineering
Dr. Brent Donham, Dean

Silver Spike Sponsor(s):

Dr. Madeline & James Justice

Bronze Spike Sponsors:

Opportunities Available
Contact Jason with inquiries.

Iron Spike Sponsors:

Opportunities Available
Contact Jason with inquiries.

Sponsorship Opportunities Available...

You or your company can be recognized as a Sympoisum Sponsor for a sympoisum event!  Multiple sponsorship levels are available.  All sponsorship contributions are tax deductable.  For more information on becoming a sponsor, please see our Sponsorship Opportunities page.  Our secure MarketPlace makes it easier than ever!!! Sponsorships are accepted anytime, but must be confirmed by three weeks prior to the symposium to ensure inclusion in our major print materials in order to meet printing deadline for the event.
The Symposium Committee reserves the right to decline any sponsorship application.

Symposium History

• Information and media galleries for Previous Symposium Events
  
  

Everyone Welcome

Please join us for the next free, public event to document and preserve the legacy of the current and "Fallen Flag" railroads and railroad "families" of the Ark-La-Tex-oma region, including, but not limited to, the following railroads:
Atchison, Topika, & Santa Fe (ATSF)
Blacklands (BLR)
Burlington Northern (BN)
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF)
Chaparral
Dallas, Garland, & Northeastern (DGNO)
DeQueen & Eastern (DQ&E)
East Line & Red River Narrow Gauge (EL&RR)
Ft. Worth & Denver (FW&D)
Gulf, Colorado, & Santa Fe (GC&SF)
Houston & Shreveport
Houston & Texas Central (H&TC)
International & Great Northern (IGN)
Kansas City, Mexico, & Orient (KCM&O)
Kansas City, Pittsburg, & Gulf
Kansas City Southern (KCS)
Kiamichi (KRR)
Louisiana & Arkansas (L&A)
Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT, The Katy)
Missouri Pacific (MoPac)
Paris & Mt. Pleasant (P&MP)
Sherman, Shreveport, & Southern (SS&S)
St. Louis, Arkansas, & Texas
St. Louis, Iron Mountain, & Southern
St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco)
St. Louis South-western (SSW, Cotton Belt Route)
St. Louis, Texas, & Arkansas
Southern Pacific (SP)
Texas Interurban
Texas Midland (TM)
Texas & New Orleans (T&NO)
Texas Northeastern (TNER)
Texas & Pacific (T&P)
Texas & St. Louis
Union Pacific (UP)
Vicksburg, Shreveport, & Pacific

St.L.S-W #517 in Commerce, Texas, circa 1953  |  C.W. Standefer photo Commerce Public Library Collection  |  used with permission

A special invitation is extended to all former and current employees and their families to come and share recollections of their railroad days.  Everyone is encouraged to bring and display historical photos depicting people, places, equipment, and rail operations.  We would appreciate the opportunity to make arrangements to scan images or photograph artifacts for historic preservation and inclusion in the Digital Library.

Anyone interested in the history and operations of railroads in the Ark-La-Tex-oma region is welcome.  This is also a reunion opportunity for members of the railroad "family."

Commerce Public Library Collection | used with permission

St.L.S-W #819  |  Tony Wilson photo

Agendas

Friday, October 6, 2017 – Sam Rayburn Student Center, Conference Rm. #213

4:30p    Set-up
5:00      View displays & artifacts, visit with old
             and new friends, enjoy a cup of
             coffee or tea, etc.
8:00p    Adjourn

Saturday, October 7, 2017 – Sam Rayburn Student Center, Conference Rm. #213

  Tentative Schedule, subject to change

8:19a    Registration/Displays Open

9:00a    Welcome and Opening remarks

9:15a    The Story of a Short Line: The KATY's
             Shreveport Division
             -Kevin L. Eades, NCTC.

10:30a  100th year anniversary of the SSW
             Passenger wreck at Pine, Texas
             -Tony Wilson, Winona, TX

11:30a  Group Discussion
             Jason Lee Davis, moderator.

Noon     Luncheon with live musical
              entertainment by the Roberts' Family
              & Friends

KCS 1 leading the Holiday Express in Sulphur Springs, TX, December 3, 2008.
J. L. Davis photo

 Event Participants

East Texas Model Railroad Club

For information on participation,
please contact Jason Davis

 Lodging Accommodations

View Commerce area Lodging information.

 Important Notice

As a significant purpose of this event is historic documentation, the events will be video taped and photographed extensively.  Attendees should be aware that they are subject to appearance in video clips and photographs that may appear in library archives, digital library collections, the symposium media galleries, and other vehicles of media dissemination on the Internet.  Attendance at this event signifies voluntary consent to be included in such documentation.