20 yrs ago today the Katy was merged, by name, into Union Pacific. The rr operations though themselves were not combined until 1989. I began watching the Katy @ Wichita after the company obtained former Rock Island trkage from Salina, KS to FTW/Dallas in 1980. Cline yd in north Wichita had a daytime yd job that worked daily and did lots of industry switching around town. The biggest shipper was the Cargill soybean plant that was switched twice a day. This was my top Katy spot, I got to know the yd crews quite well, I was invited for many cab rides @ the mill. Rd service was provided by trains 503/504 that ran from Herington, KS to FTW. All this came to an end on Nov 1, 1989 when operations were combined w/UP and the good ole days thus came to an end. Any othr forum members who have thrir own Katy memories at about merger time, please share.
I remember when the MKT worked their industies and did a good job,I knew a clerk at Hillsboro and he kept up with all of the local shippers between Waco,and FTW…When UP took over the local shippers all closed down except one I think…I dont know where all the grain is shipped from now that is grown in the area…I started shooting video of that operation and everyday I would shoot Katy trains if they were running…Right up to when they stopped…It didnt take UP long to repaint , sell,or give the cabooses and engines away…
Long live the KATY
I remember watching Katy trains running on the line out west of Hosuton along I-10 towards the town of Katy. They also ran the line thru Clear Lake City ( the old Houston, Galveston Henderson) I like their colorful engines and coboose (Cabeese)
The line that ran along I-10 is no more ripped up not to many years after the UP merger/meltdown.
How is that pronounced…Cat- y or C ate- y?
Kay-Tee…
I was in La Grange, Texas on that day. A loaded coal train headed for the Fayette Power Plant was running down the street past the MKT depot; it had a UP unit on the point and 2 or 3 green & yellow Katy units behind it. I didn’t know that was the day of the merger until later, but I thought it was unusual to see UP power in Texas at that time.
One of the reasons that I always got excited about going to see grandma in Jacinto City was taking 10 into town exactly where you are talking about.
I grew up with the Katy in New Braunfels, TX. Not only did I live on Katy St for a period, but the Katy ROW was on the other side of the fence from my backyard, and also ran by the “daycare” that I stayed at after school.
As I got older, I started hanging out at the MoPac/Katy diamond. There was a nice pile of gravel that overlooked the diamond, so it was a great vantage point. I will never forget the first time I got a close up of a train pounding the diamond. It was also really cool that the ROW ran along Landa Park. Made for a great summer day to ride my bike down to the park, swim, and watch trains all day.
Unfortunately this was all after the depot was torn down, and the interlocking tower burned. I never got to see those structures first hand. Oh well. The foundation of the depot was still there, and the yard was for the most part still intact. There were even some old Adlake locks to be found buried (although they were pretty rusty). There were also usually some locomotives tied down there, I guess since local industry at the time justified the need to keep locomotives in NB (especially the ADM mill).
But then things suddenly changed. Trains stopped running on the Katy, the diamond was eventually removed, and the track gone in some places. The UP was really slow to remove the signal plant, so the dark target signals stood vigil for years after. Of course a small portion of the line was kept open to
What ed said Kay-Tee
hmm I happened to have found some old footage posted on you tube of the Line running out I-10 in Houston. The place was near the newly plotted “Park 10” industrial park. can remeber exactly what cross road that was near, Dairy -ashford?, Bengal ?
It was Fry Road thats it.
Between Bingle and Sibeler.
TDot bought the old Katy I10 line long ago…but UP had use of the line as long at the cement plant out in Katy shipped by rail…the plant closed, Uncle Pete ripped up the connection to Eureka yard at the SP/Katy diamond at Tower 13, and TDot got the ROW for the I 10 expansion…which should be done by next year.
Eureka yard is now simply a storage yard for UP, the line through the Houston Heights went the same time as the I10 row, Texas Crushed stone has the run of the yard.
Ed,
The cement plant at Katy still ships by rail- TXI ships outbound unit cement to the west now- on Sunday the UP 7500 and 2252 were the outbound power for the cement train. In addition to that Cemex receives a unit rock train a couple times a week on the west side of Katy, and the UP runs a local from the west into Katy as well. The line between Katy and just east of the I-10/610 interchange is completely obliterated by the new I-10- Eureka Yard on the other hand has been reconditioned in the last couple years- while most of the tracks were removed- they rebuilt what was left to receive rock trains from Kerr, TX and they also host a pair of locals that use a new connection the UP built so the trains don’t have to back into Eureka anymore. As an aside- the UP was mainly able to abandon the MKT into Houston after they got trackage rights on the BNSF (a ATSF/BN merger condition) from Sealy to Rosenberg to accomodate the trains coming into Houston off the old MKT from Smithville. The UP had been pressured by the TXDOT got get trains out of the Katy-Houston I-10 corridor and the BNSF rights afforded that.
As for my own MKT memories- I can recall when the MKT got rights from KC to Omaha on the UP’s ex-Mopac main as a condition of the UP/MP merger. I thought the green and yellow MKT units were quite the sight to see coming into Omaha- too bad it didn’t last that long.
I remember the Katy mostly from the OKT around Herington, KS. The daily Small manifest freights running from Herington to Abilene, ks, then via UP to Salina, KS. Larger, heavier unit grain trains always seemed to get off the OKT at Lost Springs, KS onto the AT&SF to run to Abilene, then UP to Salina, KS. Much better track for heavier trains, plus not having to snake through the SSW yard at Herington, KS to reach OKT’s Salina branch. Power was mostly 4 axle green and yellow, Conrail blue, Kennecott Copper yellow, ICG mixed, just about anything they could dig up for the OKT. Local MKT-OKT power plus cabooses would layover on the main line next to a hotel south of Herington, KS, and it was always something different each time.
ok I knew it was that away somewhere. Darn they tore the line thru the Heights out. I have some pictures from Eureaka from about 1990. they tore the I-10 line out after I moved. I noticed on the google sat picture that the line “starts” again at Katy and goes west towards Sealy. I miss railfanning Houston just not teh neighborhoods you had to go to to do so.
Does UP still run the former SP yard Englewood ( was that the name?)
I was born & raised in Durant, Oklahoma on the Katy main between KC & the Gulf. Watched many trains there and in the headquarters town of Denison, Texas. Spent countless hours with the three shift operators in Durant, 1st & 2nd were Katy the 3rd trick operator was provided by the MP - TP ( KO&G ).
When the UP started to acquire the Katy I was living in Denison and working for one of the Katy’s bigger customers - Conway Oil - an edible oil plant. We got assorted documents from the UP & Katy that gave an address with the ICC to write to. I wrote and voiced my objection, along with about 50 other Denison residents, to the UP buying the Katy. I was still getting legal notifications from that one letter some 4 years later in 1991. I ended up with two banker’s boxes full of paperwork from Railroads, Shippers, Cities, States and Community groups.
Reading it all there was more than enough facts to prove that the UP acquisition was not in the best interest of the Katy’s Employees, the Businesses or Communities served by the Katy. A reasonable person would have said No to the application. Politics prevailed and the sale was approved.
I won’t forget the Katy, you can count on it.
Mark Gosdin
I really missed the Katy along IH10. I was through there a couple of times in the 2001-2003 timeframe, and it was the first time I had been back since it was ripped out.
The Katy owed the MP/UP millions of dollars in car hire and horsepower hours. The MP and the MKT shared mainlines for a huge amount of mileage. Most of the “improved” mainline of the MKT (CTC, etc) was where the MP had trackage rights over the MKT and paid to have the signals installed. The MKT was a very cool railroad and a very nice property, but it was on a downward spiral. The UP merger kept the majority of its rail lines intact. Otherwise it was headed on the same path as the Rock. The UP merger kept the majority of the MKT employees employed. Several of the MKT mainlines pre-UP merger are now bike paths, most of the MKT mainlines post merger are still main lines.
I respect the Katy for being a real scapper in the railroad fight, but it was better to go out intact in a merger than be split up in dozen directions in a fire sale like the Rock.
Dave H.
Speaking of the Katy, I don’t know if they trackage rights into El Paso, but in the early '80’s you could often see them in the Dallas st. yard. You always knew when a Katy unit was in the lead by their distinctive horn blowing at the grade crossings.
Everything that was MoPac, Katy and SP in Houston is now UP property.
Englewood, Settagast, Basin and Booth yards are UP, as is what is left of Eureka, and the MoPac portion of the old Houston Belt and Terminal.
Dave,
I can’t speak as to what was owed to who on the Katy’s books. However, the Katy used USRA loans ( Part of the Conrail deal offered to “Connecting” railroads, Katy connected at St. Louis. ) to finance the rehab of their KC - Gulf mainline. Those loans were all repaid by the early 80’s. The Katy’s ex-RI OKKT main was rehabbed using money from the Shipper’s Associations in Texas & Kansas and direct grant money from the State of Oklahoma. The MP / UP as far as I know did not pay for any renovations of the Katy’s property.
I remember the MP dispatchers complaining long and loud about the time it took to move from Whitesboro, Texas - wher
WHAT! KATY WAS MERGED INTO UP? Next thing you know somebody is going to say that Conrail doesn’t exist anymore!
The building Katy used as its yd office @ Herington was one or two rooms rented in the Sleep In Motel on the south side of town next to the trks. Power & caboose would be tied up there when not in use. Hey, whatever works. I was working @ Cargill Flour Milling in Newton, KS @ the time of the merger. Even though we were switched by SF, we shipped large volumes of export flour on the UP which interchanged traffic w/ SF in town. This was in standard UP/MP boxcars. Not too long after the merger when the Katy fleet was combined into the UP fleet, OKKT boxcars began to show up @ the mill which made a change to the freight car scene. Never did receive any MKT airlsides for bulk loading but some wheat did arrive in MKT hoppers. The Katy was truly a unique rr, perhaps the last "Ma & Pa’ class 1 we’ll ever see. I’m glad I had the chance to observe it for the last fews yrs before it was merged. This interest inspired me to explore parts of the Katy Trail in MO and in 1990, join the Katy Historical Society. Haven’t made it to a yrly convention since 2000 but hope to do so within the next few yrs.