RAILROADS to RIO GRANDE, TEXAS TRAINS/ RARE 1960 SIGNED

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RAILROADS to RIO GRANDE, TEXAS TRAINS/ RARE 1960 SIGNED BY ALLHANDS/BROWNSVILLE LINE/CATTLE RANCHES/ $110-$1400 RAILROADS TO THE RIO. BY J.L. ALLHANDS. ILLUSTRATED. Salado, TX: The Anson Jones Press, 1960. Edition limited to 1000 copies. Inscribed by author. Rare. A nice Signed First Edition copy of this rare and fascinating book about the early days of Texas railroad-building. This account of early railroad development in Texas was written by a pioneer in railroad construction who helped to open up the lower Rio Grande Valley. The author describes his years working for Johnston and Johnston, who built the C. P. & M. Railroad and constructed over fifteen hundred miles of railroad for Yoakum, in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas alone; and also constructed the Brownsville Line. The author writes about building the Brownsville line and other rail lines in the Valley. The author also describes the huge ranches, the first passenger trains in the valley, major water projects, Colonel Uriah Lott, etc. According to Rader, this book offers "the history of the building of the St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico railway" and it "contains a chapter on Texas ranches and other cattle material." With vintage illustrations. This book has been inscribed by the author; "Lelard. My old crony & compatriat. J.L. Allhands. Christmas 1959." Published more than 50 years ago, this book is now long out of print and rare, and comparable books range in price from $110 to $1400+. Such a nice signed book is not likely to come up for sale again soon on ebay. From the first chapter: "From time immemorial man's strivings have been motivated by a dominant dream of transportation--the key to development and civilization of any country--and so it was with this great Southwest. The history of transportation in this section really divides itself into several parts. First, the Mexican pack train period, when long lines of burros laden with wool, skins and even lead ore were wending their way out of northern Mexico to Corpus Christi, where sailing vessels cleared that shallow harbor bound for Philadelphia, New York and Boston. In 1846 steamboats commenced churning their way at from two to four miles per hour up the muddy Rio Grande with goods for northern Mexico. That transportation would have been available to that immense section north of the river, from which Hildago County was carved in 1852, except that in those days there stretched mile after mile of empty unfenced wilderness, a vast territory known to most Americans only as the "Wild Horse Desert." Also, two years later, for a short while, a wagon route began operating through that desert wasteland. In those days of semi-monthly packet service between New Orleans and Corpus Christi, someone had envisioned how a great portion of the business for the territory of Rio Grande City, Mier, Laredo and other points on the Rio Grande should move through Corpus Christi..." Contents include: How transportation first came to the Southwest; St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Ry. Co.; Sam A. Robertson; Lon C. Hill; John Clossner; Raymondville, Texas; Hidalgo Branch; Townsites carved out of the Wilderness along the Hidalgo Branch; San Antonio, Chapin & Rio Grande Valley Ry. Co.; Southern Pacific Enters the Valley; Builders of the First Railroad to the Rio--Johnston Brothers; etc. Illustrations include: Portraits of Pioneers: R. King, M Kenedy, Col. S.A. Robertson, L.C. Hill, John Closner; Map of Texas-Mexican Railway--Corpus Christi, San Diego & Rio Grande Narrow Gauge Railroad; Uriah Lott; Corpus Christi's First Steam Locomotive--A woodburner of 1876; Uriah Lott's Letters; Map of San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway and connections; Map of St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway and connections; Brownsville Line's Baldwin Locomotive No. 8, Year 1904; Brownsville Line's Baldwin Locomotive No. 26, Year 1905; Brownsville Line's Baldwin Locomotive No. 33, Year 1907; Brownsville Line's American Locomotive No. 1151, Year 1926; Steam Powered Freight Train; Modern Diesel-Electric Powered Tra... read more

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