San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad

The Sausage was a financial gamble as much as a railroad. The company changed its name from Crystal City and Uvalde in April 1912, finished its San Antonio to Fowlerton line that November, and opened the 117 miles from Pleasanton Junction to Corpus Christi between 1913 and 1914. The extensions did not strengthen it, and it entered receivership in August 1914. The Missouri Pacific bought it in 1925 but ran it separately, it was in receivership again in 1933, and it merged into the Missouri Pacific in 1956.

What the plaque says

San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad The San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad had its beginning as a short line railroad and began in 1909 under the original name of the Crystal City and Uvalde (CC&U) Railroad. With the advent of drilling and discovery of deep artesian water wells in the western portion of the brush country, irrigation farming of fruits and vegetables became very profitable which increased the need for better transportation to ship goods to distant markets. Land promoters soon saw the value of the CC&U Railroad, offering "bonuses" to bring the railroad to new areas of the brush country. In 1912, it expanded into North Pleasanton, created by railroad officials to include a round house, railroad shops and a two-story depot. The train from San Antonio made its first trip to Pleasanton on September 16, 1912. By the time the tracks reached Pleasanton, the railroad became the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf railroad (SAU&G), or "The Sausage." In January 1913, a bridge over the Atascosa River was completed and train service continued to Campbellton and, eventually, to the coast. In the early 1920s, the SAU&G was purchased by the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railroad for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. In 1982, Missouri Pacific merged into the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad was a major factor in transforming the hot, dry, brush and prickly pear area into the vast farming and ranching lands of south Texas. The old SAU&G Railroad tracks from San Antonio to Corpus Christi are the last remaining tracks between the two cities. Union Pacific crews still refer to this stretch of tracks as "The Sausage." (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Longhorn Museum — 0.9 mi
  Atascosa County in one roadside museum: longhorn-and-mustang ranching, a moved railroad depot and caboose, a horse-drawn hearse and the town that calls itself the birthplace of the cowboy.
• Atascosa County Courthouse — 5.3 mi
  The only surviving Mission Revival courthouse in Texas, built in 1912-13 on Jourdanton's town circle after a county seat vote that some residents still call a theft.
• Mission Espada and the Espada Aqueduct — 24 mi
  The southernmost San Antonio mission and the oldest Spanish aqueduct in the United States, still carrying river water over Sixmile Creek to the fields after nearly three centuries.

More markers nearby

• North Pleasanton — steps away
• Capt. Peter F. Tumlinson — 0.2 mi
• Old Rock Schoolhouse — 0.7 mi
• Dr. Ben and Mona Parker and KBOP Radio — 0.7 mi