Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railroad Company

The line earned its keep as a shortcut. The Handbook of Texas calls the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific one of the most profitable short lines in the nation, a bridge between the Santa Fe and the Texas and Pacific that moved California produce to Memphis and New Orleans in five days. It was chartered October 1, 1906, and opened to Snyder on June 12, 1908. A bridge washout in April 1926 caused its only wreck. After 1980 deregulation it could not compete, and in 1984 all but about a mile and a half at Roscoe was abandoned.

What the plaque says

Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railroad Company Established through efforts of Gen. F. W. James, Abilene banker and developer. Winfield S. James, a son, directed construction. While the James' were founders, H.O. Wooten, originally a Vice President and for decades owner of controlling interest, is credited with making the road a success. Daily services started in 1908 from Roscoe to Snyder and to Fluvanna in 1909. This 50-mile railroad contributed much to the economy and settling of area; later was a connecting link with the Santa Fe and Texas & Pacific Railroads. For several decades it had a flourishing passenger, mail, express and freight business. It played major role in the Scurry County oil boom of 1920's and 1940's, transporting much essential oil field equipment. Its steam locomotives required from 10 to 12 tons of coal daily for the round trip, with water stops at Roscoe, Snyder and Fluvanna. Oil replaced coal by 1929, and all engines converted to diesel power by 1956. Service to Fluvanna was discontinued in 1941, and passenger service to Snyder in 1953. Today this short-lived railroad (31 miles) has a remarkable growth story as a connection and gateway for transcontinental traffic. It moves more than 20,000 cars yearly. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Scurry County Museum — 2.6 mi
  Snyder's county museum on the Western Texas College campus, with the rifle used to shoot the white buffalo, an 1878 chuckwagon and the millionth barrel of the Canyon Reef oil boom.
• Heart of West Texas Museum — 23 mi
  Colorado City's museum in a restored downtown house, from a mammoth dug up at Lake Champion in 2001 to an Ice Age bison and the wartime telegrams sent to a local family.
• National WASP WWII Museum — 32 mi
  Hangar 1 at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, where the women of the WASP trained to fly every aircraft in the Army's arsenal in World War II, then waited thirty-three years to be called veterans.

More markers nearby

• Snyder National Bank — steps away
• Scurry County Courthouse Site and Building — steps away
• Scurry County — steps away
• Site of Sanitarium of Alonzo Orrin Scarborough (1860-1952) Pioneer Doctor — steps away