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Locations are marked with a milepost marker based on Mile 0 at the
Austin Wye at east 5th Street in Austin, where the old Northwestern line
left the Southern Pacific Main line at Mile 0. For your information,
the Austin and Texas Central yard at Cedar Park is at MP 27, and Burnet
is at MP 60, using this mileage plan. Kingsland is located at MP 79 and
Llano at MP 98.
Terry Nathan, former HCRRA Member, provided notes about milepost
points. Special thanks to Charlie Ingram, John Smith, and Vera Honig
for information included in this virtual tour of the scenic railroad in
Llano County, Texas.
>> Historic Courthouse Square at Llano
- The courthouse block was laid off soon after the county was
organized in 1856. The courthouse now in the square was built in 1893
for a cost of $35,000. Llano's courthouse is the 39th oldest in Texas,
with only 66 remaining with construction dates before 1900. Monuments
pay tribute to Confederate veterans, World War I veterans, and the
Vietnam war. The World War I monument was done by Frank Teich, noted
sculptor, who owned the nearby town of Teichville.
>> The Old Red Top Jail is visible across the River.
Built in 1895, its architectural style is such that the old building
seems both graceful and forbidding. Roman arches and skyward-reaching
peaks give it a unique beauty. If your time during the lunch
layover allows you to cross the highway bridge, the old jail is just one
block east of the historical museum. A fund raising campaign is under
way to provide more public access.
>> Llano County Historical Museum.
First used as a drug store owned by the
Bruhl Family, the Historical Museum still retains the old soda
fountain. Located just a block from where your train is boarding,
almost all of the materials on display in the Museum have been donated
by community-minded Llano County citizens. The museum's Saturday hours
are 10-12 am and 1:30-5:30 PM. (LCVG, 1999) Telephone 915 247 3026
>>1935 Bridge across Llano River.
A huge flood took out an earlier bridge at Llano. The present imposing
structure has served the county for more than 65 years. Recent repair
of the structure reduced traffic to one lane and made everyone
appreciate the bridge.
>> Badu House -is an elegant
reminder Llano's boomtown years, located just west of the railyard
across Texas Highway 16. The classic Italian Renaissance building was
built as the First National Bank in 1891. J. J. Badu purchased the
buidling in 1898 and made it his family home for many years. Restored
as a bed and breakfast, restaurant and club, the Badu House bar features
a slab of rare Llanite, a stone found nowehere in the world but Llano
County. ("The Llano Downtown Historic District", 1998) Telephone 915
247 1207
>> Dabbs Railroad Hotel, 1907, was
the "end of track" overnight hotel for the railroaders until 1979. It
is the last of a group of hotels that stood around the old railroad
station. It is a vigorous, quaint, lively bed and breakfast today
hotel. 915 247 7905.
>> New Llano Station and museum is 99% complete.
The Museum area will be operated by HCRA,
while the Llano Chamber of Commerce will operate the town's visitor
center. Have you a railroad item you'd donate?
>> MP 98.8 Llano Wye and spur to
the north crossing Hwy 29 (now closed) Old Llano passenger Station was
located at the wye
>> MP 98 A switch at this
location "provided access to the stockyard loading pens near Teichville."
>> MP 98-89 Llano River valley (to
south of rail line). Anywhere from MP 89 to MP 98, you can view the
magnificent sweep of the Llano River valley, one of the most beautiful
scenes in Texas and the most scenic stretch along any tourist railroad
in the state. Our view from the rail line is far better than that
from parallel Texas Highway 29.
>> MP 97.8 - 98 Stockyards
located here once loaded thousands of head of cattle for shipment to
Fort Worth, Houston and other stockyards.
>> MP 97.4 Town site of Teichville,
where sculptor Frank Teich created a small town around his stone
carving. The World War I monument at Llano is one of Teich’s
creations.
>> MP 96.9 "Abandoned Boxcar"
An old wooden boxcar is crumbling after 80 years of neglect
>> MP 94.7 Sandstone Mountain
(across the river to the south) Sandstone Mountain is a standalone
hill composed of red rotten granite providing one of the first landmarks
south of the river as we leave Llano.
>> MP 94.2 Wright's Creek Bridge -
double span bridge just east of Llano.
>> MP 93.9 Granite outcrop. You
are provided with an "up close and personal" look at an outcrop of
granite along the track. The railroad construction gangs had to blast
their way through the very hard stone in order to find a safe roadbed
for the railroad over 100 years ago. You can see the pink color of the
rock's major component - feldspar - flecks of quartz, and dark
metallics such as mica.
>> MP 93.65 Iron Spur Station (abandoned Mine).
This may be the missing town of
"Bessemer". In the July 29, 1993 edition of the Llano News,
Wilburn Oatman, Jr., wrote " ...the land upon which the the town of
Bessemer was laid out comprised about 130 acres...which fronted on the
Llano River on the north side about eight miles from Llano...(with) 420
lots ...on each side of the Austin and Northwestern Railroad". Oatman
says there were no buildings built on the land and that "Bessemer
disappeared legally in 1904...(and) there is no evidence that any
improvements were built...with the exception of a depot." Charlie
Ingram noted that the right of way for the siding was only 40 feet wide,
and the spur extended more than a mile and a half. But the iron ore
played out. John Smith observed that the rail spur was taken up about
1907, long before Highway 29 was built.
>> MP 92 Geology of Llano County
Ancient Pre-Cambrian era rocks in Llano County - 1.1 billion years old
- have been exposed in what is called "The Central Mineral Region" by
geologists. Massive formations of granite in thirteen different
varieties can be found, and a number of quarries still produce building
stone, building materials and monuments. Enchanted Rock, south of
Llano, is a huge granite uplift. Talc, graphite, iron ore and
feldspar were also produced over the years. (Handbook of Texas)
The county is a "geologist's dream", and local legend abounds with
mysterious stories about gold and silver mines in the 17th and 18th
century.
>> MP 91.4 Little Llano River (two span truss bridge).
This bridge is the most imposing bridge
in Llano County and the longest span of any bridge along the line today
(other than the Colorado River Bridge at Kingsland). It, like the
other truss bridges, was moved to Llano County in the 1930s to replace
older timber structures as construction of Buchanan Dam caused a
considerable increase in freight traffic on the line.
>> MP 90.5 Stolz Station - abandoned granite quarry -
Stone used for Galveston Jetties. The only remaining siding along the
line west of Kingsland once served a quarry north of Highway 29. You
can see the rails curving away across the highway. In the 1980s, a
private rail car was stored on this spur. Last freight train of the
old era ran from Stolz into Austin in 1992.
>> MP 90 Eagle's nest.
American Bald Eagles have nested along the Llano River since the 1960s,
according to long-time county resident Charlie Ingram. The reason they
moved to the tree near the highway several years ago, is that the old
nest tree - about a half mile downstream- fell down. They had to pick a
new nest tree. Each spring a nesting pair of eagles and a juvenile
collaborate to raise one or two chicks. They leave the nest by summer.
>> MP 89.3 Miller Creek Bridge - truss bridge
>> MP 87.7 Graphite spur . Abandoned mine is across the river
near Packsaddle Mountain
>> MP 86 Granite Hills Ranch
A lonely milepost marker at MP 86 signals that we are at beautiful
Granite Hills Ranch, just across Highway 29 to the north of the track.
The large tract of land has been ranched since the 19th century and
modern improvements made the ranch a showplace in the 1950s.
>> MP 85.7 Pennington Creek Truss Bridge.
Historic Pennington Creek cemetery is visible
>> Near MP 85. Packsaddle Mountain (to south across River) .
One landmark of Llano County is
Packsaddle Mountain. It was the scene of a fight between eight
cowboys and twenty-one Apache Indians in 1873. After the first
Indian raid, the cowboys attacked the Indian camp on the slopes of the
mountain, killing the Indian leader and two others. The Indians fled,
leaving their horses, equipment, saddles, rifles and camp equipment. It
was the last Indian raid into the county. (Llano News, April
17, 1986)
>> MP 85-99 Trees and flowers, wildlife and livestock in Llano
County @ MP 85. Depending on the time
of year, you will be richly rewarded by wildflowers, prickly pear
cactus, groves of Live Oaks, herds of fat cattle, clusters of goats, and
the occasional raccoon, opossum and whitetail deer. Llano County's
wildflower season, from March to June, is magnificent, with bluebonnets,
Indian Blanket, coreopsis, verbena, Indian Paint Brush - in profusion.
>> MP 84.1 "Hobart Station". A
tiny little wooden building stood here in the 1890s
>> MP 83.6 French John Creek and
the last of the "railroad bridges of Llano County"
>> MP 83.3 Construction of Buchanan Dam and the wye at Beverly
. In 1931, the Hamilton Dam project
began at Lake Buchanan. After the creation of the Lower Colorado River
Authority, the dam was completed in 1937. A railroad spur ran from
Beverly through Long Valley to near the dam site. You can see some of
the railroad roadbed if you drive on Texas 29 toward the dam, and the
graded roadbed of the wye can still be detected near the railroad
crossing of Texas Hwy 1431 west of Kingsland. There was a triangle of
track (wye) at Beverly which allowed for turning around of locomotives
bringing trains of materials for the dam. (See Journal of Texas
Short-Line Railroads, Aug-October, 1998, pp. 53-57)
>> MP 81.5 Long Mountain. Long
Mountain, to the north of the tracks, dominates the Kingsland
landscape. Towering above the track just east of Beverly, it is a major
landmark along the line west of the Colorado River.
>> MP 79-81. The town of Kingsland,
located at the junction of the Llano and
Colorado Rivers, was founded in 1885. Impressive Lookout Mountain at
the end of Backbone Ridge, just to the east, provides a magnificent view
of the lake. Don't miss "Aqua BOOM!" , the popular summer festival,
in August! Kingsland Chamber of Commerce 915 388 6211
>> MP 79.1 Antlers Hotel complex, built by Austin &
Northwestern Railroad in 1901.
Hotel , Railroad Crew House (west of Hotel) , passing siding, old
Muldoon Station, Old I & GN 1800s combine car (both moved on site in
1999), and three cabooses used as overnight accommodations are found on
the property . The amazing rehabilitation of the Antlers Hotel complex
stands as a wonderful gift to the Hill Country. 915 388 4411, 800
383 0007.
>> Milepost 78.8 Kingsland Bridge over Colorado River, rebuilt
in 1963. The modern bridge, built in
1963, was put in place by the Southern Pacific Railroad in one of the
last major building campaigns by the railroad. The modern structure
replaced one built in 1892. Old granite piers of the original bridge
are still part of the present structure. (You can see the railroad
bridge from FM 1431 just east of Kingsland.)
>> MP 78.8 to 77.9 Around the base of Backbone Mountain.
The line curves along the base of a major
terrain feature, Lookout Mountain. A variety of soil and mineral
wonders are found on the road cut of the highway high above us. Many
lakeside properties line the edge of Lake Lyndon B. Johnson.
>> MP 77.9 FM 1431 Crossing - Warning -
curves of the highway in both directions
>> MP 77.9 - MP 69.9 The line runs through Backbone valley as
straight as an arrow. When you stand at
Fairland, you can draw a bead on Sandstone Mountain, 13 miles to the
west. The eroded granite soil, called gruss is extensively mined to
provide gravel for running tracks. Most of the trackside ditches are
from small gravel operations over the last 100 years.
>> MP 69.9 Fairland wye, west leg.
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