The is a
Class II Railroad (formerly a
Class I Railroad ) that operates as a
Subsidiary of
Kansas City Southern Railway in
Texas .
1 It is often referred to as the '''Tex-Mex, or TexMex, Railway'''.
On
January 1 2005 , Kansas City Southern (KCS) took control of The Texas Mexican Railway Company and the U.S. portion of the
Texas-Mexican Railway International Bridge in
Laredo, Texas . The railroad is a vital link in KCS's rail network, connecting The KCS and TFM, S.A. de C.V. While Tex-Mex remains a separate legal entity, KCS and Tex-Mex are operated as one railroad.
2
Chartered in
March 1875 , the built a 3-
Foot Gauge line from
Corpus Christi, Texas to
Rancho Banquete, Texas between
1875 and
1877 , and then on to
San Diego, Texas by
1879 . This 52-
Mile line's main purpose was to take
Domestic Sheep from Texas
Ranch es to the shores of the
Gulf Of Mexico , and received some funding from
Richard King and
Mifflin Kenedy . In
1881 , the line was sold to a syndicate that included
William J. Palmer and it was given a new
Charter as the '''Texas Mexican Railway Company'''. Under this document, the line was built an additional 110 miles to
Laredo, Texas . While the charter also allowed for other lines which would have made a 1,400 mile network, including one line from San Diego to the
Sabine River with
Branch Line s to
Tyler ,
Galveston ,
San Antonio, Texas , and
Sabine Pass , these expansions were never constructed. The small Galveston, Brazos and Colorado Railroad Company was purchased in 1881 for a connection to Galveston, but a line was never built between the two railroads. In
1883 a bridge was built across the
Rio Grande River to
Nuevo Laredo , making the Tex Mex the first
Mexican -
American rail connection, although it was not until
1889 that the
North America n rail system connected Mexico with
Canada .
The Mexican government controlled the Tex Mex from
1900 to
1982 , when privatization made it part of
Grupo TMM . The railway became
Standard Gauge on
July 17, 1902 . In
1906 it bought the Texas Mexican Northern Railway, and in
1930 , the San Diego and Gulf Railway.
Ordered on
April 22 ,
1938 , seven
Whitcomb Locomotive Works Diesel Locomotive s were delivered between August and November of
1939 . While some steam locomotives were kept until 1946 or 1947, they were almost never used, and the Tex-Mex is considered to be the first railway in the world to
Dieselise .
3
They also began operating a 19 mile
Government Railroad from Corpus Christi to a
Naval Air Station in
1940 . In
1995 , the expanding KCS bought 49
Percent of Tex Mex, and in
1997 , the
Surface Transportation Board granted trackage rights to the Tex Mex to connect to the KCS at
Beaumont, Texas . Responding to increased
International Trade between the US and Mexico, the railroad built a large
Railroad Yard and
Intermodal Freight Transport facility at Laredo in
1998 .
4
In
2002 , however, both companies sold their shares to
Grupo Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana . In
August 2004 , KCS again purchased a controlling interest in Tex Mex, although they were held by a
Trust Company until the
Surface Transportation Board approved the move for
January 1, 2005 .
5
