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Fort Worth and Western Railroad

Overview
Headquarters	Fort Worth, Texas
Reporting mark	FWWR
Locale	West Central Texas
Dates of operation	1988–Present
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Fort Worth and Western Railroad (reporting mark FWWR) is a Class III short-line railroad headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Operating only within the state of Texas, its main freight service route is between Carrollton, Fort Worth and Brownwood.

History

Much of the company's route originally belonged to the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, which began construction from Fort Worth in 1886 and reached Brownwood in 1891. In 1901, the FW&RG was bought by the Frisco Railway, which sold it to the Santa Fe Railway in 1937. The Santa Fe sold the line to an affiliate of the South Orient Railroad in 1994.

The FWWR began operations in 1988, with 6.25 miles (10.06 km) of track that it had bought from the Burlington Northern. By the mid-1990s, the railroad operated 10.75 miles (17.30 km) of track, the result of numerous minor acquisitions. In 1996, the FWWR more than doubled its total trackage with the lease of a 28.5 miles (45.9 km) route from Dallas Area Rapid Transit, and in 1998 purchased 134 miles (216 km) of track from South Orient Railroad, now Texas Pacifico Transportation. The FWWR leased two Union Pacific Railroad properties, a yard and branch line, in 2002 and 2003 respectively.

Route

The FWWR operates 276 miles (444 km) of track between Carro and Ricker, Texas, with branch lines from Dublin to Gorman and from Cresson to Cleburne, as well as trackage rights in the Fort Worth area and between Ricker and San Angelo Junction, Texas. Since 2007, the railroad has been in the process of resurfacing its trackage, as well as installing new sidings and upgrading the route, eventually to allow 40 mph (64 km/h) speeds over the entire line.

The company also operates the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, a tourist train that runs between downtown Grapevine, Texas and the Fort Worth Stockyards

Company

On December 27, 2010, Fort Worth and Western named Thomas Schlosser as president and CEO. He took over from Steven George, who had held the position since 2000. On August 19, 2015, Kevin Erasmus became president and CEO. The company's vice president and COO is Richard Green. The company employs around 85 people.

Fleet

As of July 2023, the Fort Worth and Western's locomotive fleet (past and present) consists of the following:

References

1. "System Map, Fort Worth and Western Railroad" (PDF). January 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 10, 2016.
2. ^ "Fort Worth & Western Railroad FWWR #277". Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
3. ^ Kube, Kathi (January 2011). "Thinkin' Big in Texas". Trains Magazine. Kalmbach Publishing: 48–53.
4. "FWWR News". FWWR News. FWWR. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
5. "Fort Worth & Western names new president". Trains Magazine. December 27, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
6. "Fort Worth & Western". The Diesel Shop. Retrieved December 4, 2010.

External links

• Fort Worth and Western Railroad

• Texas railroads
• Switching and terminal railroads
• Spin-offs of the Burlington Northern Railroad
• Railway companies established in 1988