Ben Modisett of the Cailloux Foundation tweeted me a moment ago, letting me know they'd found something interesting behind the old Schreiner Company building. I walked right over and saw they'd uncovered two sets of railroad tracks -- tracks that once served the old Schreiner Wool Warehouse building. The tracks have rails 5 feet apart. A railroad enthusiast might be able to tell me if that was the standard width of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway lines.
I went into the trench with the track and touched it -- and imagined the wealth of wool and mohair that once traveled from the warehouse to markets around the world.Click on any image to enlarge
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| The old railroad spur tracks, Kerrville, 700 Block of Water Street. |
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| Another view of the old tracks. 2 sets of rails were found this morning. |
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| The tracks in use. This also explains why 2 sets of rails were found this morning; note the two separate cars lined up for loading. |
For more information about Joe's book, which has over 200 historic photographs
of Kerrville, please click here.
I love this!!! I absolutely love this!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is what gets me excited about history.
Imagine finding the very tracks that we have seen in the photos that Joe posted on his blog.
This is what history is all about.
Thank you Joe, and thank you Ben Modisett!
Great work!!!
I can remember seeing those tracks when I was a kid in the early to mid 60s. I don't think that parking lot was paved at the time and the tracks were visible in places.
ReplyDeleteNeat find!
I couldn't find anything about how far apart the rails were built, but I did find a wonderful website that tells a great deal about the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway.
ReplyDeleteTwo points of interest:
1. If you click on "Historical Railfanning" you will see photos of the Kerrville line.
2. If you click on "Business Cars" you will see a reference to a train car called "Fern Ridge." I don't know if it is the same train car, but at one point in time George Brackenridge of San Antonio owned a private train car that he called "Fern Ridge."
Here's the website: http://saap.tnorr.com/
I sent an e-mail to Mr. Carl Codney, owner of the website: http://saap.tnorr.com/
ReplyDeleteI asked him about the rails that were used by the Kerrville trains (SA&AP).
This is his comment:
"The SA&AP was built as
standard gauge (4’ 8.5”)."