Learn about the railroad industry through this 360° tour. This image can be navigated by click or touch and is embedded with information related to the content you are seeing. You'll be able to see the original train depot in downtown Mesquite and learn how a local business is utilizing rail to conduct business.Be sure to read the expert information below about Texas's rail industry.
about
Growing up in Mesquite I remember hearing the sound of a distant locomotive horn as it proceeded through town. I didn't live close enough to see the train in person every day, but that sound became a reality at every Friday night football game I attended at Hanby Stadium. The horn was so loud, it was almost as if the engineer was cheering our team on as he passed by.
Of the 6,300+ miles of Union Pacific railroad in the state of Texas, there are just over eight miles track that run through the city of Mesquite with five railway crossings - Gross Road, Ebrite Street, Galloway Avenue, Florence Street and City Service Center Drive. Since 2015, the downtown area of Mesquite has been deemed a quiet zone where engineers are not required to sound their horns. But occasionally, some sounds of my childhood can still be heard around town.
Of the 6,300+ miles of Union Pacific railroad in the state of Texas, there are just over eight miles track that run through the city of Mesquite with five railway crossings - Gross Road, Ebrite Street, Galloway Avenue, Florence Street and City Service Center Drive. Since 2015, the downtown area of Mesquite has been deemed a quiet zone where engineers are not required to sound their horns. But occasionally, some sounds of my childhood can still be heard around town.
past
The first charter for a Texas railroad was granted in 1841, a time in our country where Manifest Destiny was the goal. The first operating train in Texas happened a dozen years later. Rail transportation continued to grow in popularity in our country. This was especially true when the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 in which old wagon trains were replaced with with a more efficient mode of transportation. Business increased as goods could now make it faster to market. For example, manufactured goods from the Northern part of the country could make it all the way to the western coast in a matter of days.
impact
As the economy boomed and goods traveled west so did people. The railroad meant new opportunities for frontiersmen looking for new land to settle on. Cities like Houston and Dallas became major hubs for business. More cities popped up along Texas and Pacific rail lines, like Mesquite which was founded in 1878. Mesquite grew as a farming community and was able to use the railroad to ship raw goods such as cotton, hay and food crops.
Less than a month after Mesquite, Texas was founded, a train robber names Sam Bass held up a Texas and Pacific train just northwest of the modern day square downtown. There's a historical marker located there in remembrance of the event.
Less than a month after Mesquite, Texas was founded, a train robber names Sam Bass held up a Texas and Pacific train just northwest of the modern day square downtown. There's a historical marker located there in remembrance of the event.
present
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Texas' robust industries rely on Union Pacific to support its economic development. If it weren't for these shipping options, Texas wouldn't be the leader of growth and development in our country.
Watch the Dallas to Dock video to see an example of how Texan plastic products make the journey from the Gulf Coast to be packaged in Dallas, loaded back onto train cars and shipped back to Gulf or ocean ports. Those goods are then ready for export to global markets like China. 
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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS1. How technological innovations brought about economic growth - such as how the factory system contributed to rapid industrialization and the Transcontinental Railroad leading to the opening of the west? (8.27D)
2. What role did the railroad industry play in the development of Mesquite, Texas? 3. What types of goods did Texas transport in the late 1800s? |
Curiosity QuestionS1.Why do you suppose trains were somewhat an easy target for robberies?
2. Do you think trains are an efficient mode of transportation? Why or why not? 3. Why have the types of transported goods in Mesquite (and Texas) changed in the past 200 years? |