Thursday, May 2, 2024
It was just over 50 years ago — Nov. 14, 1972 — that the Cotton Belt train whistle blew, and the train slowly pulled away from the depot in Gatesville for the last time. This would leave Gatesville without a rail service for the first time since the train had started visiting in 1882.
It was announced that the Interstate Commerce Commission had approved the Cotton Belt’s application to abandon the 19-mile branch line from Lime City to Gatesville. It was reported in The Gatesville Messenger that the local Chamber of Commerce “vigorously opposed” the decision. At that time, rumors were floating around town that some individuals were planning to form a corporation, buy the line, and maintain railroad freight service.
The beginning of the Cotton Belt’s service to Gatesville finally became a reality in the early 1880s. Residents organized tocgether to persuade the Cotton Belt to extend its tracks to Gatesville with a cash offer of $30,000. According to early sources, the money was easily raised, and land was donated to give the town two daily trains, both passenger and freight.
Gatesville became the terminus of the line, making the town the feeder for the entire county. Gatesville began making strides that nearly quadrupled the town’s population in size and business within 10 years.
Many years before the line was abandoned in 1972, passenger service had stopped and only freight cars utilized the Cotton Belt tracks to Gatesville. Farmland was the Cotton Belt’s major customer in Gatesville with traffic of about 300 carloads per year. It became the hardest hit by the ending of the Gatesville route. At the time of the railroad’s closure, J.W. McDonald, head of the Farmland plant, said “We’ll have to wait and see just what the effect will be, but we know our transportation costs will go up.”
After the closure, the depot sat abandoned for many years. On that final day of rail service to Gatesville, a couple of freight cars and a caboose left the depot for the last time and plans were being made for the 75-pound rails to be sold for salvage.
A former employee of The Gatesville Messenger, John Frank Post, reported that the Cotton Belt tracks were cleared in 1973 as the “railroading boys” ripped up 19.33 miles of track from Gatesville to Lime City.
The Cotton Belt depot sat unused and neglected until the early 1980s, when it was purchased by a commercial business. Title for the 21,375 square foot (0.05 acre) of property was subsequently transferred to the Gatesville Chamber of Commerce. Since that time, the Chamber of Commerce has operated from the historic Gatesville location, serving Gatesville and the surrounding communities by promoting commerce and assisting travelers and local citizens.
The closing of the rail service 50 years ago has today become a positive influence in the community as the Gatesville Chamber of Commerce continues to provide travelers with the history of the Cotton Belt Railroad from the historic depot.
