Photo of an I&GN train in Anderson County, 1940.

Photo of an I&GN train in Anderson County, Texas, 1940.

([International and Great Northern Train], photograph, 1940~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth26408/m1/1/: accessed December 26, 2023),

University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Palestine Public Library.)

INTERNATIONAL-GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD

The International – Great Northern Railroad (I&GN) was a railroad that operated in the U.S. state of Texas. It was created on September 30, 1873, when the International Railroad and the Houston and Great Northern Railroad merged. The railroad was officially incorporated as the International & Great Northern Railroad Company.

The Williamson County International and Great Northern Railroad in 1904. The depot is on the upper left side of the photograph. The track crossed Brushy Creek about two miles below the town of Round Rock, then located on the north side of Brushy, and terminated in 1876 just short of the proposed Lake Bridge site, where a depot and freight station were built. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth402927/m1/1/?q=International%20and%20Great%20Northern%20Train: accessed December 26, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Williamson Museum.)

Beginnings

At its start, the I&GN operated 177 miles (285 km) of track from Hearne to Longview, but at its peak it owned 1,106 miles (1,780 km) of track. As the railroad expanded southwestward from Hearne, it reached Rockdale in 1874 and Austin on December 28, 1876. The line extended to San Antonio in 1880 and finally to the US-Mexican border town of Laredo on December 1, 1881.

Postcard depicting the I.&G.N. Repair Shops at Taylor, Texas, 1917.

(https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145895/m1/1/?q=International%20and%20Great%20Northern%20Train: accessed December 26, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Taylor Public Library.)

Financial Difficulties

The I&GN, like other railroads of its time, had many financial troubles and went into receivership on several occasions. Industrialist Jay Gould acquired control of the I&GN in December 1880. Due to his control of the Missouri Pacific (Mopac) and the Texas and Pacific Railroad, the three were operated as one system, although they retained their separate corporate identities and seniority districts for union workers.

An I&GN Train at the Palestine Depot, 1930.

([International and Great Northern Train], photograph, 1930~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth26409/m1/1/?q=International%20and%20Great%20Northern%20Train: accessed December 26, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Palestine Public Library.)

Receivership and Sale

Due to financial difficulties, stemming in part from the Panic of 1907, the I-GN entered receivership in 1908 and was sold at foreclosure to a reorganized company, the International & Great Northern Railway Company on August 31, 1911. Less than four years later, the company entered receivership again, which lasted until it was sold at foreclosure in July 1922.

The International & Great Northern railroad crossing in Round Rock on U.S. Highway 81 in September of 1936. Location of January 22, 1927 accident – A bus carrying the Baylor University basketball team to a game at the University of Texas at Austin takes a grade crossing just as an International-Great Northern train approaches. Evasive action is taken, but the bus skids on the rain-soaked road surface directly into the path of the train. 10 players are killed, 12 injured. To this day Baylor honors them as the "Immortal Ten." The overpass constructed there was dedicated to the ten students. (Texas. Department of Transportation. [I.G.N. Overpass at Round Rock], photograph, 1936; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth167468/m1/1/?q=International%20and%20Great%20Northern%20Train: accessed December 26, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Department of Transportation.)

The International-Great Northern Railroad Underpass Federal Plaque in Austin, TX.

(Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.)

International–Great Northern Railroad

The International–Great Northern Railroad was incorporated by the state of Texas on August 17, 1922, and fully took over operation of the International & Great Northern Railway on December 31, 1922. In a bit of planned corporate maneuvering to keep the I-GN within the Mopac fold, the Gulf Coast Lines subsidiary, New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway, bought the I-GN on June 30, 1924; subsequently, the Gulf Coast Lines were bought by the Missouri Pacific on January 1, 1925. Finally, on March 1, 1956, all of the GCL subsidiaries were merged into the parent Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, and the I-GN ceased its corporate existence.

International and Great Northern Railroad Map.

(Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.)

International-Great Northern 4-6-2 No. 1153 was built by Alco in 1926. Shown here at Austin, Texas in 1946.

It was part of the Southbound Sunshine Special consist at the time.

(Everett L. DeGolyer Jr., SMU Central University Libraries, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons)

1960s and on

In the 1960s, many of the redundant out-of-the-way lines were abandoned, including Waco to Marlin and Bryan to Navasota. The latter route was subsequently traversed via trackage rights over the Southern Pacific Railroad between the same two points. The Missouri Pacific was merged in 1997 into the Union Pacific Railroad.

I-GN station in San Antonio, Texas, built in 1908. It was bought in 1988 and restored by the San Antonio City Employees Federal Credit Union. In 2015 it was adapted for use as the headquarters of VIA Metropolitan Transit. It is now known as The Grand at VIA Villa. (Nic Tengg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)