I am working on a track plan for the San Antonio, Tx area and would like to diagram the rail lines runnning through the city. Does anyone know where I could find a map of the rail lines and yards in relation to the major streets and landmarks? A map or good book on the area would be great. What I’ve found online doesn’t include much detail or many reference points. Thank you in advance for pointing me in the right direction.
Last week I did a Google map and satellite search for the San Angelo, Odessa, Midland area. I found way more views, above and street, then I know what to do with. This was for UP and BNSF. I’m trying to possibly fit my layout as a fictional UP branch line between San Angelo and Midland. Or as a class II between them. Or maybe not. I have the layout up and running but, not the operations area part.
A good place to look is Sanborn Fire insurance maps. This is a link I found for sources with texas maps.
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/library/pubs/bus/env/haz_mat/fire_insurance.pdf
Another option is USGS Topo maps. The map locator is here.
A final option is looking for land use maps.
Hope this helps.
SFB
A couple of weeks ago I used Bing Maps “Bird’s Eye” view to follow the UP from Austin to San Antonio while looking for rail-served industries. It is a good supplement to the Google maps as it provides you with an actual photo with much more detail than ordinary satellite views.
John Timm
What time period are you modeling or researching?
I have SP employee timetable from several periods which identify yard points and siding lengths, etc.
I have an SP tariff for about 1971 with several pages of railroad-located industries for San Antonio with what railroad served the industry and what commodity was rail handled.
I also have old street maps from 1950s, 60s, 70s showing rail lines.
Sanborn’s Fire Insurance maps are mostly interested in buildings and fire protection infrastructure, I have seen a number of maps with rather sketchy railroad drawing, partially corrected, incompletely updated, pieces that do not connect…
Let me know what interests you. I hope I will be able to reply again. I have had a problem recently on this forum where the “reply” function is cut off. I don’t mean controversial subjects that are tagged as “locked.” I don’t know wheher my replies are too long, clog up the system or what. I will try to help as I have time between classes.
Send me a PM with your e-mail address.
"I am working on a track plan for the San Antonio, Tx area and would like to diagram the rail lines runnning through the city. Does anyone know where I could find a map of the rail lines and yards in relation to the major streets and landmarks? "
rail sites by street location
Part 1. Union Pacific/ Former Southern Pacific Sunset Route
Seguin Road/Farm-to-market 78 at entering the corporate limits of Kirby from the east curves to run alongside KIRBY YARD.
Alongside Kirby Yard approximate 1 ½ mile.
West end of yard ends as & rail line cross under Interstate connector 410.
drops below grade level as railroad crosses frontage road at I35/I410 interchange.
Wow! Thank you for the information. Yes, I would like descriptions for the MP/IGN line and branches.
I have not settled on a specific time period yet but the transition era around 1950 is my first choice. Definitely no later than the 1970s. I would like to create a switching layout focused on the rail served industries in the San Antonio area. I was thinking of covering the area from the former Alamo Cement plant (Cementville on the former MoPac line) to the Union Stock Yards and I&GN station. Nothing is set in stone at this point as I am trying to assemble a list of industries and locations to pick from and narrow it down from there.
I fiound some san antonio city maps from the 1980s and a Rand McNally street atlas (1989) which has quite a bit of detail. Google maps and Bing ‘birds eye’ view have been helpful in identifying current rail lines. I have noticed quite a few abandoned right of ways in this process.
The Texas Transportation Museum website has also been invaluable in supplying historical information on the area’s railroads.
I ran through Google Earth and did not find ANY existing industrial spurs on the former MoPac between Cementville and the IGN station!
I located lots of industries on the line from Sanborn’s maps updated to about 1950. Here is my rundown on the UP, ex-MoPac line from where it enters the city of San Antonio on the northeast, to the IGN station. The Street names and expressway locations are the 2010 ones. The industries listed are from 1950 EXCEPT for the Focus center.
San Antonio Rail Routes
Part 2. Union Pacific/ ex-MoPac/ ex-IGN
enters from Northeast, crossing Anderson Loop 1604 just nw of
crosses , , , suburbs
Here is that gorgeous IGN depot in San Antonio.
Lots and lots of industrial spurs in the few blocks south of the depot. I got this information from a Sanborn’s map. If you live in a fairly large city in Texas, your public library may have a link to Texas Digital Sanborn’s Maps-- I got a password from my public library where I could access it my my home computer. I also can get to Sanborn’s Texas from my University library as a graduate student.
I don’t have permission to copy the maps, but here is some of the information about the crowded MoPac lineside scene around 1950.
Block just south of
on spur east side of MoPac mainline yard:
Missouri Pacific freight station (N end of block)
Wholesale Grocery warehouse S end of MoPac frt sta bldg.
on separate pair of spurs one-half block east of yard:
Armour and Co. Cold Storage warehouse, with ammonia tank inside (N end of bldg)
If you’d like to include street running and traction, keep an eye out for information on the Texas Transportation Co., which ran an electric shortline to the Pearl Brewery there in San Antonio. Great stuff. I don’t know when it all shut down, but it was definitely still running in 1970, when I was there on Uncle Sam’s dime.
leighant - please see my PM. If you don’t receive post in the forum to let me know…I’m not sure if I’m using the PM function correctly.
Definitely of interest. Thank you very much. [:)]
Let me check google earth tonight and come up with some specific questions…
Some of my initial ones are:
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where was the MKT “Sloan yard”?
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It looks like there is an abandoned yard south of Blue Star rd, any idea what that was?
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I need to use google earth to get street names, but it looks like there is an abandoned industrial spur running in the area where the former MKT depot was (now a hotel of some sort). No tracks now but it looks like abandoned ROW.
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On the MoPac line across from TTM there is the Longhorn Quarry spur connecting Mopac line with the MKT line along I-35. Do you know when this was abandoned?
Thank you again!
The site of that yard is a roughly triangular area east of I-10/35, northeast of Lachappelle, west of Nogalitos St., and a little south of Cevallos St.
In case you model the 1968-and-later period, the station tracks at the former site of the beautiful old MKT depot served as a small, low-budget intermodal terminal, at least during the 1970s.
- where was the MKT “Sloan yard”?
The site of that yard is a roughly triangular area east of I-10/35, northeast of Lachappelle, west of , and a little south of Cevallos St.
My 1983 MKT system timetable shows SLOAN at milepost 1037.5, one mile short of “” ie the downtown station area (don’t believe the depot building existing at this date.) The timetable shows facilities as YTWDPOB: wye, water, diesel fuel, track scales, train order office, radio base station. Abandoned 1988 per website
http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/TIMELINE.htm
- I need to use google earth to get street names, but it looks like there is an abandoned industrial spur running in the area where the former MKT depot was (now a hotel of some sort). No tracks now but it looks like abandoned ROW.
MKT depot demolished 1969
Garyla: “In case you model the 1968-and-later period, the station tracks at the former site of the beautiful old MKT depot served as a small, low-budget intermodal termin
Looking at google maps I see a big open field east of I-10/35 and north of W. Lachappelle, so I assume that’s where Sloan was. It also looks like there is some abandoned ROW heading north from that area, so I assume this is heading to where the MKT depot was at Flores & Durango?
A little bit confused by a picture at the Texas Transportation Museum of the MKT depot.
http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/MKTB.htm
Click on bird’s eye view of MKT station and yard. Did MKT have more than one yard in San Antonio?
Thanks for the pictures.
That’s what I get for going by memory. The old yard I meant to ask about is at what bing maps calls East Kelly USA located east of Offutt St. (Near Quintana rd and Kelly AFB). Nearby at S. Tayman St and Lawrence Ave it looks like a transfer table and possible intermodal yard. Is this the site of a former RR yard?
Can you describe the original route c. 1950? I assume it just ran along the east side of Comal street and connected back up at Martin street?
Re: MKT spur @ TTM
- Do your maps indicate approximately when the Longhorn cement quarry (MKT wye) opened? Prior to 1970? 1960?
This is all very interesting. Please give me some time to digest all this information.
some questions and attempted answers:
quote: “A little bit confused by a picture at the of the MKT depot. Click on bird’s eye view of MKT station and yard. http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/MKTB.htm
Did MKT have more than one yard in ?”
Depends on what you call a yard. Sloan Yard, about a mile south of the passenger station was the main freight yard for through trains. It was the end points of freight trains in the 1983 employee timetable. The TTM picture of the MKT depot area shows an array of freight track about two blocks long. This is NOT a classification yard as such. It has freight station tracks for LCL and apparently some team tracks for carload shipments to be pickup by customers in trucks.
Excellent website. Recommended quick reference for anything Texas.
The last time I was out that way the tracks had been pulled up north of the quarry located at Loop1604 and I-10. Now there is a shopping center sitting on the former ROW. There was some discussion of “quiet zones” along that route a few years back. During those discussions UP stated that it was already planning on abandoning that entire line within a few years.
Sorry, jumping around a bit there, but yes. As you mentioned the ex-SP line had been rerouted and I was curious about the original route. Q. answered.
&n