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My little webpage about the railroad in=
Chireno |
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Chireno’s Railroa=
d Way Back Then |
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=
&nb=
sp; The Angelina and Neches River Railroad Company w=
as born when J. H. Kurth, Sr. bought the J. A. Ewing and Company sawmill at=
Keltys, Angelina County, Texas, on March 10, 1888. Although the short line=
was not chartered as a common carrier until 1900, the railroad existed and=
operated before that time. There is no record of how many miles of road wer=
e constructed when J. H. Kurth, Sr. bought the mill., But its estimated that it ran approximately 12 miles. The A&NR reached its full length in 1912, the year it built into Chire=
no, Nacogdoches County, Texas. This particular fete was accomplished with t=
he aid of the Citizens of Chireno who paid the A&NR $100,000.00 as an i=
ncentive to build into their town. The A&NR also contracted with the US=
Postal Service to carry mail and also with Wells-Fargo to carry express to=
all points along its 30.63 miles of line. In 1911, the railroad began oper=
ating into Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas by track age agreement with the H=
ouston, East, and West Texas Railroad (later Southern Pacific). The railroad was=
located on Depot Street. Which is the street between the west El Camino Ap=
artments and Chireno grocery.=
The train had a <=
/span>new engine. It was a 2-6-0 Mogul type manufactured by the Grant Locomotive=
Company. It had 40" diameter driving wheels, and 13X18 cylinders. The=
locomotive's date of construction and serial number are unknown. The Grant=
engine was purchased from the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad (Cotton Belt=
) on September 13, 1890, and was delivered to the mill at Keltys. The Chireno=
railroad stopped running because the line had to be taken up when The McGe=
e Bend Lake was being built. The McGee Lake is known today as the Rayburn L=
ake. &=
nbsp; &=
nbsp; |
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Loading logs onto A&NR flatcars near Chireno, Nacogdoches Coun=
ty, Texas (A&NR Photograph Collection, A&NR Offic=
es, Lufkin, Texas). |
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This webpage was made by =
Steven Lewis of Chireno, Texas on December 5, 2006 |
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My information was gather=
ed from the book Memories of Chireno compiled by the Chireno Historical society and with special thanks to Mrs.=
Willie Atkinson Thorp. |
![](3D"shzlsaddsjfchdasvksvkjhsdvjksdvj_files/image013.gif")
![](3D"shzlsaddsjfchdasvksvkjhsdvjksdvj_files/image018.gif")
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This is an actual picture=
of the train in Chireno (Lance Metteauer and son Jimmy Lance.) |
![](3D"shzlsaddsjfchdasvksvkjhsdvjksdvj_files/image021.gif")
![](3D"shzlsaddsjfchdasvksvkjhsdvjksdvj_files/image022.gif")
![](3D"shzlsaddsjfchdasvksvkjhsdvjksdvj_files/image023.gif")
![](3D"shzlsaddsjfchdasvksvkjhsdvjksdvj_files/image024.gif")
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J. H. K=
urth, Sr. founded the A&NR when he bought the J. A. Ewing and Company m=
ill at Keltys, Angelina County, Texas, in 1888. In this formal portrait he =
is shown with his trademark cigar (A&NR Photograph Collection, A&NR Offices, Lufkin, Texas).<=
span
style=3D'language:EN;mso-ansi-language:EN'> |