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Since 1893, trains have rolled alone the tracks of the Texas
State Railroad, passing through the beautiful pineywoods and hardwood creek bottoms of
East Texas. Today, the historic state railroad is still maintained as fully self-contained
railroad system. Its train crews maintain and operate 4 steam engines, 4 antique diesel
locomotives and a complete steam engine restoration shop; while its track crew maintains
over 25 miles of track and 24 bridges.
In the late 1880s, the Texas prison system built a short rail
line from the state penitentiary facility in North Rusk southwestward to hardwood timber
stands, where charcoal was made for use in firing the prison's iron ore smelting furnaces.
The line served as the foundation of the Texas State Railroad, which was organized in 1894
in an effort to make the prison more self-sufficient by providing new markets for prison
products. Two Texas governors, James Stephen Hogg and Thomas M. Campbell, both natives of
Cherokee County, were instrumental in the railroad's development.
Built by prisoners and supervised by the state prison system, the line was
completed in 1909 to Palestine (30 mi. W), where it connected with existing routes.
Setbacks, including the closing of the furnaces and the prison unit, limited the
railroad's success, however, under a board of managers appointed by the legislature, the
line was later leased to the Texas & New Orleans Railroad and the Texas &
Southeastern Railroad. In 1972, control was transferred to the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Commission for development as a state park. It now symbolizes the significant role the
railroad industry played in Texas history.
