R. C. Allen of Hearne, Texas recalls when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad first came to Hearne 150 years ago, in 1874

 The Texas Quote of the Day:

"I was between Hearne and Bryan when I saw my first railroad train. We were all watching the laying of tracks. I was riding my pony the day I saw the train. I heard the terrible puffing and blowing noise and it frightened me and my horse. He squatted as if to make a wild jump and run away. I put the quirt on him and got him away from the scene as fast as I could. The train burned wood in the engine and traveled about twenty miles per hour. One engine did not pull over 20 cars. I can remember when the passenger trains did not run on Sunday as people in those days did not believe in desecrating the Sabbath by riding on a train."

------- R. C. Allen of Hearne, Texas recalls when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad first came to Hearne 150 years ago, in 1874.  I sometimes think about things like this, the first time Texans witnessed what turned out to be a transformative technology like cars or trains and what its impact was on them and if they grasped in that exact moment that they were standing on the cusp, a dividing line of sorts, from which things would never go back to being what they were. 

Shown here:  men outside a Houston and Texas Central Railroad Caboose sometime later than 1874. My guess is 1895 or so, judging strictly from the clothing. Courtesy the Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.