The Dallas, Garland and Northeastern Railroad

In total, the Dallas, Garland and Northeastern Railroad operates roughly 180 miles of trackage with 129 leased from Union Pacific and the other 51 from Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which is ex-Katy trackage.

To give a brief history of both systems, the Union Pacific has been in operation since 1862 when it began building west to meet the Central Pacific and thus opening the country's first transcontinental railroad.

The Union Pacific we know today began to take shape in 1982 when it purchased rival Western Pacific, which granted it access to northern California and soon after this it would take over the Missouri Pacific to reach Chicago, St. Louis, and Texas. In 1988 the company grew even larger when it purchased the Katy (the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad) and in 1995 did the same with the Chicago & North Western. Finally, just a year later in 1996 the UP purchased the gigantic Southern Pacific, a one-time powerhouse railroad that by the time of its takeover was a floundering company (so much so that it had been purchased earlier by the much smaller Denver & Rio Grande Western).

The future of the Union Pacific is as wide open as the great Western plains. However, if the company’s past is any measure of what may happen in the years ahead, I think one can safely say that when the merger movement picks up again the Union Pacific and famous shield logo will continue to flank locomotives during their daily task of moving goods across the country.

The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, better known as simply The Katy (for the Houston, Texas suburb of Katy where the MKT operated), was a large granger system that, like the Illinois Central and ran, unconventionally, north-south (instead of the more common, east-west).

As its name implies, the Katy connected all of its namesake states with connections to cities such as Omaha and St. Louis in the north and Galveston and San Antonio, Texas in the south. The railroad was somewhat successful over the years but it ran into financial trouble a number of times throughout its life. As finances again became an issue in the 1980s the MKT sought a merger with the Union Pacific in 1986 and in 1989 the Katy became yet another part of the UP empire.

The DG&N’s own roster currently consists of Geeps and a few six-axle SDs although it does use several leased units and those from sister roads. Below is a current roster of the railroad courtesy of The Diesel Shop:

#2000 - EMD SD20: Ex- Missouri Northern & Arkansas, ex-Illinois Central, ex-Union Pacific

#2001 - EMD SD20: Ex- Missouri Northern & Arkansas, ex-Illinois Central, ex-Union Pacific

#3800 - EMD GP38

#3833 - EMD GP38-2

#3863 - EMD GP38

#4018 - EMD GP40: Ex-Central Oregon and Pacific, ex-Norfolk Southern, ex-Norfolk & Western

#4025 - EMD GP40: Ex- Missouri Northern & Arkansas, ex-Union Pacific, ex-Katy

#6352 - EMD GP38-3: Ex-Southern Pacific

Today the railroad has a traffic base in a number of commodities ranging from lumber and paper to food products and auto parts. For being such a small railroad it has a diverse number of connections with Class Is including the Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern, and BNSF Railway (it also has a connection with the Texas Northeastern Railroad).

For more reading on shortlines like the Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad consider the book American Shortline Railway Guide from author Ed Lewis. The book has gone through several updated editions to keep up with the ever-changing world of the shortline industry. Today, the publication highlights almost 600 shortlines across the country with general background information about each (such as roster information, rail line history, radio frequencies, etc.). If you have any interest in shortlines you will very likely enjoy this book.