McKinney Herald (McKinney, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 4, Ed. 1, October-November 1998 Page: 5 of 36
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36 20
36 33
36 43
36 53
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37 38
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TRAIN NUMBSRS
STATIONS
Lv. Denison...
“ Sbenxum .....
“ Howe __
“ Van Alstyne
“ Anna—— ..
“ Melina
“ McKinney.
“ Allen
" Plano. _. ..
“ Richardson
“ Vickery... .....-------
STATIONS-------
1975 by Interurban Press of Glendale, CA; Mac
Sebree, publisher and Jim Walker, editor
Texas Electric Railway was a system of some 250 miles in
length, ranking it with some of the premier lines of Ohio
and Indiana, and exceeding any of the major systems radiat-
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article contains
text, photos and illustrations taken from the
Texas Electric Album, by Rod Varney and the
Texas Electric Railway Association, published in ing from Chicago.
The Texas Electric (TE) operated some of the most hand-
some cars in the land ... and made Dallas into one of the
busiest interurban centers in the nation; its seven-track
downtown Interurban Terminal bustled day and night with
the arrivals and departures of the cream and crimson trains
to Waco, to Denison, to Corsicana and other north Texas
centers of urban import.
Two other companies sent cars out of Big D in three
other directions; included was the Northern Texas Traction
link to Dallas’ sister city, Fort Worth - a busy line indeed for
many years.
The Texas Electric was a true railroad in all senses of the
word. It had all the sights, sounds and smells of the tradi-
tional line-haul railroad with the added attraction of elec-
tricity. Built rather late in the interurban construction era,
the TE endeavored to be a model of modernity in the realm
of inter-city transport. In the teens and twenties, it was the
last word in inter-city travel.
In the early days of this century, the steam railroads were
unwilling or unable to offer the kind of frequent local pas-
senger service demanded by the growing economy, and the
SOUTHBOUND—DENISON AND SHERMAN TO DALLAS (Read Down)
PASSENGER TRAINS
...............1
CHICAGO
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trie railways. The management firm of Stone & Webster,
operators of the Dallas street railway system and the Fort
Worth-based interurban, were now eyeing the possibilities
south of Dallas. Corsicana was enjoying one of the state’s
early oil booms, while Waco reigned supreme as King
Cotton’s hometown. Things looked ripe for Stone &.
Webster to penetrate these prime transportation markets.
The Strickland interests turned their attention southward
at the same time. At first working independently, the two
companies quickly decided to join forces to open up the
Continued on following page
PACIFIC
COAST
CLEBURNE *
uh
I
Hll
ABBOTT
\ WEST j
ELM motti
\WACOr
V xzz-
ST. LOUIS
%
MEMPHIS
The motorman is backing the car in Denison for its return trip to Dallas; in the background stands the Katy terminal. The
Katy had its own passenger trains and competed for business with TE when this photo was made in August 1948.
3
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.........y
Passenger Motor 319 hauls a freight car on its three-hour, 97-mile run between Dallas and Waco.
4RICHARDS0NK ^<5.
URBAN P
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,ENNIS
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AUSTIN
Dallas to Denison passenger service schedule as published in 1937.
Texas Electric
Railway"
Freight Interchange
MAP
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automobile was still a rich man’s toy. Into this void stepped
the new electric railway technology. Interurban railways, at
first merely rural extensions of city streetcar lines, stretched
out to link important urban centers, offering fast, frequent
and cheap passenger service. When the Texas Electric came
into existence, the Lone Star State already had an electric
interurban system successfully operating the 10 miles be-
tween Denison and Sherman. The Denison & Sherman
Railway Co. was the state’s pioneer line, opened in 1901. A
year later Dallas and Fort worth were linked by an interur-
ban and this new form of transport was entrenched.
Into this picture stepped Col. J.F. Strickland, a Texas en-
trepreneur who formed the Texas Traction Company to
build a 67-mile interurban line between Dallas and
Sherman. It opened for business on July 1, 1908. Strickland
had already purchased a substantial part of the stock of the
Denison &. Sherman, so the next step was to combine the
two end-to-end properties. This was done by April 1911,
when cars began making the through run between Dallas
and Denison.
Now the Texas Traction Co. had 77 miles of main line
with local streetcar operations in Denison, Sherman and
McKinney, with repair shops at Denison.
This was a time of high optimism, as to the future of the
Lone Star State and its economy, and to the future of elec-
DPEHISON
J5HERMAH
SHOWS
J VAN ALSTYNE
'ANNA
MELISSA
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map, published in 1936.
>SAN ANTONIO
4/^
LAREDO
HOUSTON
mo GRANGE VAUEY • ■ ^GALVESTON
Decades before UPS trucks began double-parking and blocking intersections, the TE offerered twice-a-day merchandise deliv-
ery on its own line and could deliver a single package or an entire freight car to or from any of the destinations in the above
Railway Post Office car 360, parked on the shop tracks in McKinney. Mail service between Dallas and Denison was institut-
ed on August 14,1914 and continued until the TE’s demise on December 31,1948.
The Texas Electric Railway, 1900-1948
TEXAS x
electric;
RAILWAY,
.‘’DENISON. SHERMAN.
• DALLAS,WACO. I'/,
CORSICANA -
(yeryftour
Every Day
Regardless of Weather
Interurban
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Suggs, Jack. McKinney Herald (McKinney, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 4, Ed. 1, October-November 1998, newspaper, 1998-10/1998-11; McKinney, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1234405/m1/5/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Heritage Association of Frisco.