Back on track: Train town
Jason Deckman/Telegram file
Long, parallel trains of flatbed cars carrying wind turbine blades, left, and tank cars await shipment in July 2020 in the BNSF rail yard in Temple.
Temple’s history runs on railroad tracks BY DAVID STONE
SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM
Temple is a railroad town in every sense of the word — the town itself was founded as a railway work camp and quickly evolved into a major train center. In Temple’s early years, crossing gates and signals were not needed, Justin Lambrecht of the National Railroad Museum said.
Trains moved through at a slow pace, and there were no cars competing for junction bragging rights. Trains were loud, and wagon drivers probably weren’t jamming to Van Halen or talking to friends on cellular devices. Within a few years, however, the number of tracks cutting through Temple became more numerous and trains began to run faster. Horse-drawn wagons started to give way to a new kind
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of chariot, and these engine-powered beasts came with blaring music machines. The age of road distractions had arrived. It wasn’t long before speeding cars and fast trains collided, and the results were often catastrophic. “It became obvious that safety warning signs and signals should be set up to protect those wanting to cross the tracks,” Lambrecht said.
In Temple, signs were posted at crossings, and at busier junctions at busy times a watchman stood guard to warn drivers and pedestrians of approaching trains. Craig Ordner, a railroad archivist with Temple’s Railroad & Heritage Museum, said the watchmen served roles similar to today’s school crossing guards. “Basically they held signs that warned motorists and pedestrians that a train was coming,” he said. June 27, 2021
