By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
In late 2020, the Blacklands Railroad learned it would receive an $8.4 million federal grant for a major upgrade to the Henderson Overton Branch (HOB) in east Texas.
But fast forward more than three years, and the project still hasn’t started. The reasons? A lot of paperwork that had to be completed and approved, and various environmental issues that needed to be cleared.
Now, the $15 million project — which involves rebuilding nearly 14 miles of track in Rusk County — is poised to start by year’s end.
The Rusk County Rural Rail District is overseeing the project in conjunction with Blacklands Railroad, which won the grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program.
The short line operates the HOB between Overton and Henderson, Texas, for the district, which purchased the branch line in 2010. The line is used to move shipments of lumber, asphalt, scrap metal, frac sand, aggregates, chemicals and other freight.
Based in Sulphur Springs, Texas, Blacklands Railroad operates two lines in east Texas — including an eight-mile route from Mount Pleasant to Winfield — and several transload facilities across the state. The short line was launched in 1999 on an abandoned Southern Pacific Railroad line between Mount Pleasant and Greenville, and then expanded in 2010 by becoming the HOB’s operator.
The railroad operates two lines in east Texas, manages several transload facilities across the state and interchanges with Union Pacific Railroad. Blacklands RailroadBlacklands Railroad also provides rail-car storage, contract switching, and locomotive and car repair services. In 2021, the railroad was acquired by Public Werks Inc., a corporate entity that privately funds and operates transportation, water, wastewater and power generation/transmission facilities.
The CRISI grant-funded project calls for rehabilitating about 13.7 miles of rail between Overton and Henderson, constructing three interchange sidings with Union Pacific Railroad in Overton and constructing one unit-train siding in Henderson. The railroad also will use grant dollars to purchase locomotives and track maintenance equipment for ongoing branch maintenance.
The work will enable the short line to increase train speed on the HOB from 10 mph to 25 mph and increase the number of interchanges with UP. In addition, the bolstered infrastructure will help improve customer service and boost service reliability, Blacklands Railroad officials say.
The project will instill more confidence in shippers and manufacturers to invest in facilities along the HOB, Blacklands Railroad President and CEO Wayne Defebaugh — who founded the short line — believes.
The cities of Henderson, Overton and New London offer enticing industrial sites because of their central location, diverse workforces, quality of life and economic development commitment, he says.
Various project partners — which include the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority — will provide matching funds for the project in addition to the CRISI grant.
The HOB dates back to 1874, when the Henderson and Overton Branch Railroad Co. was chartered to construct a rail line between Overton and Henderson. The line opened in 1877.
In 2008, UP announced plans to abandon the line. The Rusk County Rural Rail District then was formed to attempt to acquire the HOB.
Now, traffic growth opportunities continue to abound on the branch. Last year, Tyler Pipe Co. opened a transload facility along the HOB in the Henderson Industrial Park that handles raw materials for manufacturing pipe and fittings. Tyler Pipe operates an iron foundry in Tyler and a coupling/gasket manufacturing facility in Marshfield, Missouri.
The facility is used to transload raw materials by rail that are distributed all over the United States. Finished products are railed via Blacklands Railroad and UP to Tyler Pipe’s three distribution centers.
Tyler Pipe officials chose Henderson as the site for the facility because it’s one of only a few east Texas locations along the Interstate-20 corridor that have rail access.
