Let's Ease on Down to Italy ...... Texas

In a previous installment I was poking around Forreston, TX and found the long concrete bridge over Chambers Creek flood plain.  Interesting stuff.  Moving on south you come into Italy.  As you arrive at the north end on US-77 a large concrete item catches your eye due to it being right next to the highway on the east side and then nothing but an open field on the west.



The concrete is even more obvious in the winter when the trees have dropped their leaves. Hmm, what could this be and why is it here? Something that large right next to the highway can be considered a safety hazard. A close inspection finds that it is the northern most abutment for a bridge that went over the abandoned MKT right of way that I have been following in from Forreston. As a sidebar, the MKT line here had another concrete bridge over a small creek (Houston Creek). This time the bridge was much shorter and a person can easily miss it.



Ok, back to the bridge abutment. I suppose this may have been a bridge for the International and Great Northern (I&GN) line up from Valley Junction (along the Brazos River near Hearne) to Fort Worth. There's not much here to find today so let's scratch around online for some maps. First up is a link to the Abandoned Rails webpage for the line to get some historical background and then on to this topographic map from 1965.



Break out the topo map

Full size map as an image

Now let's look at an aerial from about the same time.

This map shows the IGN line and its interchange with the MKT line. If you zoom in it appears that there are a few cars on the interchange track near the IGN end.

Given the routing from the topomap, the aerial and some review of a current sat map one can put together the old right of way of the I&GN through Italy. This is where the I&GN would have crossed Main St which is State Highway 24. This view looks north back toward the MKT line. You can swing it around and look south toward Waco.



Next thing to find is the old Texas Electric. A scan of the internet finds a blog with some information. I've gleaned this map from it.  The map shows the Texas Electric Railway in Italy, TX.  The TE became the third railroad offering service in town in 1913 coming behind both the Dallas and Waco (MKT) in late 1890 and the International and Great Northern (IGN) in 1901.

The map appears to indicate an interchange of some sort with the IGN in downtown Italy at the IGN small yard between Harpoid and Ridge Streets.  Nothing railroad remains today on and around this piece of ground.  A sharp eye can follow the tree line south of this area where the IGN right of way was.





The Houston at San Jacinto Street area is where the TE's stop was with that spur over to the IGN yard.