History

In the late 1980's while riding for Austin County EMS, where both of my parents grew up, I read the railroad stories by Ray L. Head (aka Doug Ratchford) telling stories about working on the Santa Fe during college. The names and places were changed not to protect the innocent, but to keep those involved from finding this past employee and stop him from telling anymore "war stories" from his days on the railroad.For example, Houston was renamed Hotsun, since Houston can feel as hot as the sun with 100+ temperatures and 100% humidity. The Cane Belt with it's numerous Mesquite trees was renamed the Mesquite Belt in the articles. I still have that issue I read over lunch one day that has Mesquite Belt circled. That was to be the name for my railroad. With the Cotton Belt being in the heart of cotton country, and Mesquite trees being everywhere you looked, Mesquite Belt it was! The rest is history, or as it might be said one day "Now you know the rest of the story."

The Mesquite Belt or MB, was formed in 1988 shortly before the UP-MKT merger. The newly formed railroad beat Union Pacific out of the Katy line from the Katy's North Yard in Fort Worth south through Tower 55 through Waco to Houston's Eureka Yard. Also included in the sale was the Katy's former Rock Island OKT line between Fort Worth and Wichita, Kansas. Trackage rights over the GHH (Galveston-Houston-Henderson) line to Galveston Island were obtained giving the Mesquite Belt access to the port of Galveston. The Mesquite Belt also negotiated trackage rights over the Burlington Northern from the OKT line at Bowie to Wichita Falls, for an interchange with the Texas, Oklahoma & Kansas Railroad. In the early 1990's, the MB purchased the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe's Dublin sub between Ft. Worth to San Angelo. The resulting regional system connects the grain country of Oklahoma and Kansas with the mills and ports of Texas and serves a broad range of industrial customers throughout a dynamic and growing portion of the Southwest.

The MB also formed a quick alliance with the Texas, Oklahoma & Kansas and the Teague, Mexia, Rock Island & Gulf. This coalition had the capability to compete with other Class 1's, with their overall traffic capabilities within the state of Texas, and points beyond. Improvements were made to the existing route by connecting passing sidings, thereby creating a double track mainline. These improvements, along with CTC signaling produced a traffic pattern maximizing the route's potential for revenue.