THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC STARTED IN TEXAS AND WAS FOLLOWED IN LOUISIANA

Most are not aware that the first viable predecessor company of the Southern Pacific in Texas, the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railway Company, was incorporated on February 11, 1850 (with operations commencing on September 7, 1853 between Harrisburg and Stafford). The story of that company and other Southern Pacific predecessor companies in Texas will be explored in detail. Not long after, the New Orleans, Opelousas & Great Western Railway Company was chartered in Louisiana on April 1, 1852 and its first train traveled west from Algiers in 1853. The development of the NO&GWRC and other predecessor companies of Southern Pacific in Louisiana will be examined, too.