 1918 map of the railroad | |
 Formerrailway depot inQuanah, Texas | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1902 (1902)–1981 (1981) |
| Predecessor | Acme, Red River and Northern Railway |
| Successor | Burlington Northern Railroad |
Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway (QA&P) was a 117-mile (188 km)freight railroad that operated between theRed River andFloydada, Texas, from 1902 until it was merged into theBurlington Northern Railroad in 1981.[1]
On May 3, 1902, the line was incorporated as the Acme, Red River and Northern Railway. The founders' original, never-realized plans were to extend the line 500 miles (800 km) from the Red River toEl Paso, Texas.[2]
On January 28, 1909, the railroad assumed the name of the Quanah, Acme and Pacific.[3] One of the largest shareholders wasHarry Koch.[4]
In 1911, theSt. Louis–San Francisco Railway assumed control of the QA&P.[2]
On June 8, 1981, the QA&P was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad, which had merged the QA&P's corporate parent, the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, on November 21, 1980.[5]
The Burlington Northern Railroad abandoned the former QA&P line west of Paducah in 1982.[5]
Freight stops on the QA&P were Red River, Carnes,Quanah,Acme, Lazare, Swearingen,Paducah,Narcisso, Summit (Motley County), Russellville, Roaring Springs, MacBain,Dougherty, Boothe Spur, and Floydada. In 1925, QA&P reported 8 million ton-miles of revenue freight on 91 miles of line; in 1944, it had 51 million and in 1967, 130 million, both on 120 route-miles.
However, QA&P's traffic mostly was overhead freight — between the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway at the Red River and theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at Floydada.[2] Starting in the 1960s, the QLA freight train via Floydada was scheduled to arrive inLos Angeles 38½-to-40 hours after leaving Tulsa. The railroad's traffic diminished after 1973 when overhead trade took a shorter route viaAvard, OK.[6]
