Texas State Railroad

Wikipedia's roster shows where this line's steam locomotives came from. Number 400 is a 1917 Baldwin 2-8-2 that earlier worked for the Tremont and Gulf and the Magma Arizona Railroad. Number 300 is a 1917 Baldwin 2-8-0 once used by the U.S. Army and later by a Southern Pine lumber company. Number 500 is a 1911 Baldwin from the Santa Fe. In 2007 Senate Bill 1659 created the Texas State Railroad Authority to own the real estate and rolling stock, and the operator has changed several times since.

What the plaque says

Texas State Railroad The Texas Prison System built a short rail line from the Rusk State Penitentiary to hardwood timber stands where charcoal was made for firing the prison's iron ore furnaces. The rail line became the foundation of the Texas State Railway, organized in 1896 to make the prison self-supporting and to develop the region's economy. Built by prisoners and supervised by the State Penitentiary System, the line was completed in 1909 to Palestine (30 mi.W) where it connected with existing routes. Financial woes and the closing of the furnaces led to the line being leased to the Texas & New Orleans Railroad, and later the Texas & Southeastern Railroad, which operated the line until 1969. Control of the line was transferred to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department in 1972 for development as a state park. Restoration of the tracks between Rusk and Palestine was accomplished by Texas Department of Corrections inmates. New depots and parks were built at each terminus. Vintage steam locomotives and rail cars were purchased to provide tourist passenger service from Palestine to rusk. The park has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state. (1997) Incise on back: Marker donated by Correctional Employees Council, AFSCME/AFL-CIO, Local 3806

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — steps away
  A round trip of about 25 miles of track between the Palestine and Rusk depots through the Piney Woods, on a line built by prison labor and reopened as a tourist railroad in 1976.
• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 27 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.

More markers nearby

• Mary Kate Hunter — 2.3 mi
• Captain William Kimbro — 3.5 mi
• Judge William Alexander — 3.5 mi
• John Byler Mallard, Judge — 3.5 mi