St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas

The St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas, reporting mark SSW, operated the Texas lines of its parent company, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, known as the Cotton Belt Route. The Texas company traced its roots to the Tyler Tap Railroad, begun in Tyler, Texas in 1875, which grew through a series of reorganizations and mergers, including the Texas and St. Louis Railway and the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway, before its assets were acquired by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway out of foreclosure in 1891. By 1948 the Texas company operated 856.82 miles of track, and its revenues qualified it as a Class I railroad under the Interstate Commerce Commission; it was leased to its corporate parent in 1954 and folded into that parent's operations in 1992 under owner Southern Pacific.