Железная дорога Форт-Уэрт и Денвер: История и развитие

American railroad company

The Fort Worth and Denver Railway , nicknamed "the Denver Road," was a class I American railroad company that operated in the northern part of Texas from 1881 to 1982, and had a profound influence on the early settlement and economic development of the region. The Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company (FW&DC) was chartered by the Texas Legislature on May 26, 1873. On August 7, 1951, the company changed its name to the Fort Worth and Denver Railway Company (FW&D). The main line of the railroad ran from Fort Worth through Wichita Falls, Childress, Amarillo, and Dalhart, to Texline, where it connected with the rails of parent company Colorado and Southern Railway, both of which became subsidiaries of the Burlington Route in 1908. At the end of 1970, FW&D operated 1201 mile (1933 km) of road on 1577 mile (2538 km) of track; that year it reported 1493 million ton miles of revenue freight. (Those totals may or may not include the former Burlington Rock Island Railroad.) In 1980, operated mileage had dropped to 1181, but freight was 7732 million ton miles.

The Panic of 1873 delayed the start of construction until 1881, when Grenville M. Dodge became interested in the project. As chief engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad, Dodge had played a large part in the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. Dodge organized the Texas and Colorado Railway Improvement Company in 1881 to build and equip the FW&DC in return for $20,000 in stock and $20,000 in bonds for each mile of track laid. In the same year, the FW&DC and the Denver and New Orleans Railroad Company, organized in Colorado, agreed to connect their systems at the Texas New Mexico border. The FW&DC received no state subsidy other than the right of way easements to cross state owned lands totaling by 1886, Chillicothe; by 1887, Clarendon and Amarillo; and by 1888, Texline on the New Mexico border. Continuing into the New Mexico Territory, the FW&DC finally linked with the D&NO where the railheads met at Union Park, near present day Folsom, New Mexico, 528 mile (850 km) from Fort Worth, on March 14, 1888.

In 1899, the FW&DC was acquired by the Colorado and Southern Railway, successor to the D&NO. The C&S itself was bought by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1908, but the three companies continued to operate as separate legal entities. In part, this separation was due to Texas law, which required all railroads operating in the state to have their headquarters in Texas. This had the effect of requiring all operating railroads in Texas to be wholly owned, even if independent companies of the regional or national roads. The FW&DC was the first rail line to penetrate the northwest part of Texas, which contributed greatly to the growth of Texas cities such as Wichita Falls, Childress, Amarillo, and Dalhart. In addition, the railroad actively promoted settlement of the rural areas it served, providing free seeds, trees, and tree seedlings to farmers and ranchers to promote cotton and wheat growing, as well as erosion prevention. The Fort Worth and Denver City leased the Fort Worth and Denver South Plains (completed in 1928, 206 mile (332 km) from Estelline to Plainview and Lubbock; the Fort Worth and Denver Northern (completed in 1932, 110 mile (177 km) from Childress to Pampa); and the Fort Worth and Denver Terminal (providing access to railyards and terminals in Fort Worth).

At the railroad's peak in 1944, during the World War II economic boom, the Texas Railroad Commission reported that the FW&DC earned $12,132,515 in freight revenue, $5,839,399 in passenger revenue, and $1,488,095 in other revenue. However, by 1972, in the face of competition from interstate highway traffic and airlines, the Fort Worth and Denver owned 20 locomotives and 1,520 freight cars, but operated at a loss of $1,743,551. Additionally, the Union Pacific Railroad has track rights on this line from Fort Worth to Dalhart. No passenger trains have operated in scheduled revenue service on this route, though, since the FW&D ended all passenger service in 1967, before the creation of Amtrak in 1971.

In 1989, BN abandoned the former Fort Worth and Denver South Plains track between Estelline and Lubbock. In 1993, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department acquired 64 mile (103 km) of the abandoned right of way between Estelline and the town of South Plains to create the Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway's hike and bike trail. The Saints' Roost Museum in Clarendon houses a restored Fort Worth and Denver Railway depot.