Espee's Rosenberg Line

I've heard that BNSF is helping pay for the rebuilding of this line. Anybody know anything about that?

 

Driving to Rosenberg yesteray, I noticed rail ties stacked on the rail bed from the West side of the West Bernard Creek bridge. just out of Hungerford, all the way into Kendleton. Anyone know if they are going to replace the
West Bernard Creek bridge? Don't see any activity as of yet that they plan to replace it.

 

Construction Northeast of Victoria

Hi all,
I found this forum when googling for news about the railroad construction going on in my area.
I live in the small community of Telferner, a few miles north-east of Victoria, TX) and I can tell you that work on the revived line has seen steady progress.

They're laying tracks outbound alongside the US Highway 59 Bus, and are at the moment near the overpass of the Victoria Loop.

If you want I can go take some pictures and post them in this forum.

 

some additional info on the Victoria-Rosenberg line

For my job I often have to travel as far as El Campo...
I've seen that the old rail bed has been cleared of brushes .. Old wooden bridges spanning creeks have been replaced by concrete-timber constructions alongside Hwy 59 ...

Here in Telferner the same thing's been going on for the past month. The fence on a lot next to our only convenience store annex gas station had to be moved to make way for the line.

 

Thanks Boxcab:thumbs_up:, I'll keep an eye on things going on around here

 

Hello,

I live in Premont, Texas...but have been a railfan for years.

I am also a member of the Civil Air Patrol and often have dealings at the Victoria Regional Airport. I often exit on that Telferner exit to get to the Airport.

I assume then that they will be using that right-of-way that "skits" the airport (old Foster A.F.B.). I also noticed that there were once spur lines that used to go into the airport.

Take care.

 

The new tracks are approaching Telferner, where they closed off access from FM1686 to Hwy59 in order to construct a crossing. We won't be blocked as there's a way to bypass this railroad crossing.

Between the loop (463) and the airport tracks run 3 wide. From 463 overpassing 59bus you can have a nice view

 

Revisited Victoria/Rosenberg

I just revisited the various construction sites along the Victoria/Rosenberg line and have posted new pictures. I tried to get comparable shots from my visit last April. There were two major bridges in need of rebuilding. The bridge at Wharton across the Colorado River is not yet touched. The bridge across the Lavaca River is complete. Similarly, one of the two long timber trestles has been completed (Kendleton) whereas, the long trestle at Hungerford is not yet started.

Other than these two "original" bridge/trestle almost all others are either completed or under construction. I found only one other untouched trestle at Ganado and 3 or 4 small timber trestles which will probably be replaced by culverts.

The current construction on the Rosenberg end is focused on the Kendleton intermodal yard. The construction based in Victoria is moving massive amounts of sub ballast, ballast, and clearing of westbound ROW.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/10433

beagle

 

Great pictures and thanks for posting.

I think that everyone of the newly constructed bridges is a ballasted type bridge. It has a sense of permanence.

Does this mean that Victoria, Texas is going to become a railfan hot spot?

 

Yes, great pictures. Thank you. I've been seeing lots of KCS ballast trains rolling thru Houston. Now that the weather is nice and gas is under $2 a gallon, I may make a trip down the whole line. I'll be sure to bring my camera.

 

According to the October 8, 2008 edition of the Wharton Journal-Spectator, KCS spokesman Mike Sizemore said that the historic bridge crossing the Colorado River at Wharton will be the last to be completed. He said the historic look will be maintained.

 

This was posted on the Trains Newswire.....


KCS, Texas DOT to examine relocating line

Published: Thursday, November 06, 2008
VICTORIA, Texas - Kansas City Southern and the Texas Department of Transportation will investigate relocating the former Southern Pacific alignment through El Campo and Victoria. The possible relocations are taking place as KCS continues to reopen the SP line was part of its link to Mexico.

Kansas City Southern Executive Vice President-Corporate Affairs Warren Erdman told the Victoria Advocate that the agreement would help select the actual bypass routes and give the railroad a better idea of the exact cost, which will be financed by KCS. "Currently, we are doing engineering work in El Campo," Erdman said. "We hope to have some of that wrapped up in the next couple of weeks, and then we're going to move down to Victoria to begin the engineering work."

That should be completed next year and discussions will then begin with the landowners in the path of the bypass. "We will probably start doing property acquisition next year," Erdman said. "Once the entire right-of-way is assembled, then we could begin construction."

Erdman said he's hopeful the right-of-way matters can be wrapped up in a year. "Once we have the right-of-way ready to go, the construction is the easier part of it because we already have construction crews deployed in South Texas," he said.