Bartlett Western

Company History: The Bartlett Western was established in 1911 to take over the assets of the Bartlett-Florence Railway. At the time of the takeover, it ran 11 miles from a connection with M-K-T in Bartlett, Texas to Jarrell. The following year, the Jarrell end was extended another 12 miles to Florence. Four new stations were established along the route which were named by the railroad St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John. Locals began referring to the BW as the Four Gospels Railroad. It was also called by locals The Bullfrog Line due to the frequent derailments. Traffic was primarily cotton along with assorted cargo and passengers. Operations began with a single 4-4-0 which was later replaced with a single 2-6-0 built new by Baldwin. The BW also owned a fleet of 18 freight cars and 2 passenger cars. In an attempt to save money, a tractor was modified with flanged wheels to pull short trains of cotton bales and a Ford truck was equipped with flanged wheels to haul the mail. In 1926, the cotton market softened and with it, the fortunes of the Bartlett Western. The line was abandoned in 1935.

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