I’m interested in modeling the Mopac in or around Austin, TX. I’m looking at the 1940’s-50’s Names & locations of industries would be nice, as would any additional info.
Just for your information, it would be the MoP in the 1940’s (or maybe the IGN, or Ginnie). MoPac is a creation of the 1970’s.
I’ll see what I can find.
Dave H.
It is not 1940-50, but “somewhere”, I have a Southern Pacific tariff dated 1972 of industries on railroads at points served by SP and at least one other line. Austin fits in that category with SP and MP. By city, the tariff lists the industries, what commodities are handled and which railroad serves it.
The tariff apparently allowed an agent who got a call about an industry to tell whether or not that company was on his line.
I couldn’t find the tariff in a 5 minute search of my railroad library. This gives me an excuse to clean and organize.
Another source might be Sanborn’s Insurance maps. If I am still eligible as a university student (I am between semesters but registered for fall) I can go online to our university library and access Sanborn’s maps for Texas.
Maybe I’d better not try that now. My astrologer said I should not start anything between 7PM tonight and 9AM tomorrow that cannot be finished in that time or it will never get finished. On the other hand, maybe that means I should go ahead and get finished hunting for your stuff…
From Sanborn’s maps, from 1935 base maps updated to ca. 1960…
Two main areas-- one near MoPac Station…
City of Austin material yard just north of small yard at wye, north end of Colorado River bridge
Travis Materials Inc. ready-mixed concrete, southwest of west leg of wye, on its own spur
City of Austin Power and Light plant, southeast of east leg of wye, spur to plant from east end
commercial bakery (name not given), north of track and west of Lamar (at underpass), on spur that CROSSES another spur which goes to unidentified building at west end of block (east side of Baylor Street)
MPRR station south of tracks, west side of Baylor Street
Tips Iron and Steel Co, machine shop, foundry, etc north of tracks, west side of Baylor Street, has own spur that runs THROUGH inside of one building, stub extends out.
unnamed Planing mill, 1419 W. 3rd St. on own spur south side of tracks.
paper warehouse, north of tracks, west of Paul Street, has own spur
contractor’s material yard, just west of paper warehouse (on same spur?)
Austex Foods warehouse, just west of Nueces St and south of east-west tracks (I think the tracks at this point belong to someone other than MP but not sure) has own spur from the east.
Calcasieu Lumber Co., north of (east-west) track, west of Nueces. spurs?? or old removed spur?
Other industrial switching are where Bergstrom AFB branch cuts off from main line, what used to be way south side of Austin…
Ward Body Works, bus body mftg. on spur, SW side of Bergstrom line, 1 block SW of Ben White Blvd., just southeast of South Congress
Texas State Library, along spur, SW side of Bergstrom line, 1 block SW of Ben White Blvd.
Montgomery Ward merchandise warehouse, on spur, SW side of Bergstrom line, 1 block SW of Ben White Blvd.
Hoffman Paint Mfg. Co. on spur, SW side of Bergstrom line,
Austin industries served by MP per Southern Pacific Transportation Co. Freight Tariff 1517-F,
issued June 11, 1973
Austin Statesman newspaper
Austin, City of general storage yard
Austin Paper Co. paper and paper products
Austin Transit Inc. street buses
Bradford Paint Co. paint, wall paper
Calcasieu Lumber Co. lumber
Fulford Appliance appliances
Graybar Electric Co. electric supplies
Kash & Karry Grocery groceries
Midwest Roof Deck & Supply roofing
Miller Hofstetter Co groceries
Milstead Co. wholesale plumbing
Southwestern Ice & Cold Storage ice plant
Tips Company wholesale hardware
Tips Iron and Steel machine shop & foundry
Travis Materials ready mix concrete
To find the locations of these industries, you might look in a 1973 telephone directory or “criss-cross” directory. You might find these at your main downtown Austin city library in their local history research room.
Austin businesses with no spur served by team track
Abel Stationers
Academy Super Surplus Sales
Acme Fence Co.
Acme Roofing
American Moving and Storage Co.
American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Co.
Amstan Supply Co.
Austin Builders Supply Co.
Austin Concrete Works
Austin Lumber Co.
Austin Material & Iron
Austin Plumbing Supply Co
Bland Joe Construction Co.
Bledsoe Furniture Co
Boyer J M contractor
Cabiness Brown (furniture)
Capital Casket Co.
Capitol Aggregates
Capitol Feed & Milling Co
Central Feed Co
Cross Allen Co (auto parts)
East Produce Co.
Eli Witt Cigar Co.
Fairey, Tom (farm implements)
G&D Produce Co
Hillcrest Dairies
Howard S. Montopolis nurseries
International Harvester Co.
Janes Bar Nothing Ranch
K&M Supply Co (plu
Wow. This is amazing. Thank you. All more that I can ask is how did you retrieve this information? Also, would you happen to have a map of these areas with the track plans? If I have to I might be able to go into Austin to find them, but a map would be very nice.
What I got was far better than what you usually think of as a map. I got Sanburn’s Insurance Fire Credit Ratings maps, which generally show the insured/ built-up areas of a city at 10 to 15 years intervals from 1890 to 1950 or thereabouts, at 1" on the drawing equal to 50 feet prototype. In other words, the map of YOUR HOUSE would be about an inch across showing the outline of the building, type of wall and roof construction, roofline, height of the building. For about 75 percent of a city. For about 100 too 500 cities in Texas, from my quick look at the pull-down menu.
A little bit less than a construction drawing. A lot more than most maps.
I was able to look at the Sanborn’s collection online from my home computer because I am a registered student at a public Texas university. I am able to get ONLY the maps for Texas cities, and only up to about 1950. The physical books were about a foot and a half square. I got to see and handle one for Corpus Christi at the local history room of my local public library 30 years ago when a model group built a model of the Texas Mexican Rwy as it was in 1926, about 8 blocks long and a block or so on each sides of the tracks.
The local history room also had 1926 City criss-cross directories, as used by bill collectors, sales agents, private detectives etc which list street addresses, number by number and give the occupant. Then you can go to the “name” part of the directory and see how many people lived there, names of occupants over 18, number of children under 18 and where people were employed. Look up a business name and see names of the owners and managers, etc.
(For a history research project I did involving Corpus Christi in the 1930s, the city criss-cross directory even gave an ethnic characterization for each family, with the no-longer politically-correct indicators “C” for “colored”, “M” for “Mexican” and “EM” for “English-speaking Mexican.” But that is another issue…)
In calling up Sanborn
Please explain what the above means. Aren’t MoP and MoPac both shorthand for Missouri Pacific? I certainly head the MoPac phrase earlier than the 1970s.
Ed
MoPac wasn’t used as an official designation by the railroad until the 70’s.
It was called the “Mop” because the steam engines that belonged to the Missouri Pacific (as opposed to the IGN or MI or StLBM) were stenciled “MoP” on the sandbox.
Dave H.
I’m not sure about the Steam engines but I worked for the Missouri pacific Railroad from 1956 to 1966 mostly it was calledm the MPL or MOP or MoPac. Much of the tools ,oilcans etc were marked MoPac Lines. I was wondering were you got your information? Also in Texas it was known as the (T&P)Texas and Pacific.
For anybody that hasn’t seen it (has been posted before various places) , here is a room-sized N scale layout plan for the Missouri Pacific in Austin ca. 1950…
Missouri Pacific actually was started in the latter half of the 1800s. And, unlike it’s rival, and now owner- Union Pacific, it was privately funded. The rails started out in St. Louis, and ran out to the Pacific coast- hence the name. Union Pacific was governemt funded, and it and Mopac merged in 1974.
Actually most of the railroads in the midwest took advantage of the “land grant” opportunity. The first railroad to use it was actually the Illinois Central.
The Missouri Pacific never went to the Pacific. The furthest west it went was to Avondale, CO (and then over the ATSF into Pueblo).
Dave H.
I agree about the land grant, but these railroads still needed money for the manpower and materials, and this was something Mopac had trouble acquiring. They almost gave up a couple of times, and probably gave up in Avondale.
Over the years Mopac became huge, snapping up company, after company. They say that Mopac was actually larger equipment wise than UP when they merged.
Now it seems that UP owns darn near everything west of the Mississippi river. Where I live here in Texas, both UP and BNSF rumble down the same tracks that run by my house, and it makes you wonder if they aren’t a conglomerate as well. Earlier today I saw a UP dragging a KCS MU behind it with about 20 cars mixed freight.
It will be sad when yellow jackets and pumpkins are the only trains we see.
I don’t recall going through Avondale it must have been after the UP took over and MP tracks were abandoned. Boone was the last station before Pueblo and from Pueblo the “Colorado Eagles” ran through Colorado Springs to Denver on the D&RGW tracks. Went there several times on weekends. Worked there in late 50’s. Mp got to Pueblo in 1887 and had a terminal there