San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf No. 1002.
(Internet photo, Fair Use, Title 17, Section 107)
SAN ANTONIO, UVALDE AND GULF RAILROAD
The San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad Company (SAU&G) was chartered on April 19, 1909, as the Crystal City and Uvalde Railroad Company; the name was changed on April 4, 1912. Between 1909 and 1911 the Crystal City and Uvalde had completed 120 miles of line between Uvalde and Carrizo Springs and from Crystal City to Fowlerton in LaSalle County.
As the SAU&G, the railroad planned to extend its lines to San Antonio and Corpus Christi. The railroad had a capital stock of $230,000, and the principal office was in Crystal City. Members of the first board of directors were J. E. Franklin, M. E. Leming, A. R. Byrd, E. J. Buckingham, A. R. Ponder, E. R. Byrd, and William Byrd, Jr. On November 19, 1912, the company completed a line from San Antonio through Pleasanton to Fowlerton, a distance of seventy-eight miles. The 117 miles between Pleasanton Junction and Corpus Christi opened at various dates between January 30, 1913, and February 28, 1914. However, the extensions did not strengthen the railroad, and it went into receivership on August 14, 1914. In 1916 the SAU&G reported passenger earnings of $247,000 and freight earnings of $434,000, and owned eighteen locomotives and 184 cars.
The New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway Company purchased the SAU&G for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company on December 1, 1925, and the receivership was terminated on December 31. The SAU&G, however, continued to be operated separately and, along with other Missouri Pacific properties, again entered receivership on May 3, 1933. This receivership lasted until the company was merged into the Missouri Pacific on March 1, 1956. In 1934 twenty-six miles of track was abandoned between Gardendale and Fowlerton.
The SAU&G reported passenger earnings of $50,000 and freight earnings of $3,489,000 in 1952. Most of the equipment used by the company was provided by other Missouri Pacific subsidiaries in Texas. Due to its initials the railroad was commonly called the "Sausage." On October 15, 1990, the Crystal City Railroad began operating the fifty-five miles between Gardendale, Crystal City, and Carrizo Springs. The company offices were at Crystal City.
The SAU&G's original depot in Corpus Christi still stands and is now the offices of the Union Pacific (formerly Missouri Pacific).
The "Sausage" line still remains an integral part of the Union Pacific's operations in South Texas.
Source: Nancy Young, “San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed January 22, 2024, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/san-antonio-uvalde-and-gulf-railroad.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
