Railroads in Fort Bend County
Mount Savage Shops in Alleganey County, Maryland made the first rails produced in the United States. Between 1846 and 1866 they produced rails for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co, one of the oldest railroads in the united states. Used rails were purchased from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co by the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad Co.
The Brazos & Colorado Railroad Co. was the first to use 4' 8 1/2" gauge [distance between the rails or the width between the wheels] which is 'standard' gauge.
The first operating railroad in Texas was the
Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado
Railroad Rail Sizes
The rail that weighed 45 pounds per yard would weigh 300 pounds per 20 foot rail.
The rail that weighed 80 pounds per yard would weigh 800 pounds per 30 foot rail.
The rail that weighed 120 pounds per yard would weigh 1,200 pounds per 30 foot rail.
The rail that weighed 120 pounds per yard would weigh 315,600 pounds per 1/2 mile of rail.
Today the modern 'continuous' rail weighs 200 pounds per yard.
Used on the Arcola Sugar Mills 1908, this small steam engine ran on light narrow gauge rails that were moved from field to field as the sugar cane crop was harvested.
Texas Western Narrow Gauge Railroad
was the only narrow gauge railroad attempted in Fort Bend County
San Antonio And Aransas Pass Railroad
International and Great Northern Railroad
Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad
1904
The Growth of Texas Railroads 1905
Railroads Not In Fort Bend County