| | Runaway Fright Train | Hits 12 | | | | |
| | | | Site Information | | | Come ride the authentic steam train through the dark East Texas woods. Catch a glimpse of the Boggy Creek monster, and witness bloody justice French revolution style. This year promises more blood, more gore, and more scares.
| The Historic Jefferson Railway Company recreates the Golden Era of Steam Railroading. The Jefferson and Cypress Bayou is a live steam, narrow gauge railway.
Steam hissing, whistle blowing and pistons chugging, Old Engine #7 will take you on a scenic trip along the Big Cypress Bayou. As you roll through the history laden Piney Woods, you'll view a Confederate Powder Magazine and traverse the site of one of the oldest, historical towns in Texas.
All of this, nestled among the most beautiful stand of dogwood, cypress and pine trees in the area. You'll enjoy a profusion of wildlife that feed and play along the banks of the Big Cypress.
To complete your trip back to the 'Golden Era', stroll the streets of Jefferson just as those early travelers did.
Built at the navigable end of the Big Cypress Bayou, Jefferson offers its visitors tours of restored homes, antique shopping, renowned eateries and a variety of overnight accommodations.
History of the Jefferson & Cypress Bayou Railway
The Jefferson & Cypress Bayou has been a fixture in the community for more than 15 years. In the early 1980’s, a committee was formed by the city to purchase the train from a defunct amusement park in Florida. In addition to moving the train itself from it’s location, the committee were faced with the task of clearing the right-of-way for the track, finding a supply of rail, ties, spikes, and ties, and moving the original T&P depot to the railway’s property. Eventually the rail was laid, the train was moved, and operations commenced in 1987. The city of Jefferson operated the train for about ten years before the railway encountered financial problems and was put up for sale. A series of individuals owned the railway for the next few years and the train ran sporadically during this period. In the late ‘90’s, maintaining the locomotive and track became too great a task for the owner and the train was shut down, seemingly for good.
Fortunately, the story doesn’t end there. In the spring of 2002, Destry and Karen Brown were looking to re-locate from Oregon to Texas. Destry’s mother and stepfather, Don Rainey and Francene DePrez, were driving through Jefferson and happened to notice an old depot and steam train for sale. After a family discussion, they decided to jump in and become railroaders! Taking a computer programmer, a general contractor, and a title examiner and educating them in the ways of running a railroad was quite a task. The track had fallen into a state of disrepair and the locomotive needed serious work for safe operation. After replacing countless pieces of plumbing, driver bearings, crown sheet, and a few hundred railroad ties the Jefferson & Cypress Bayou was ready to run again. On Labor Day weekend 2002 the Railway celebrated it’s inaugural weekend by carrying more than 350 passengers.
History of the train
Our train was built in 1964 for the Six Gun Territory amusement park in Ocala, FL and moved to Jefferson in 1986. It is a Crown Metal Products reproduction of the 1870’s American class 4-4-0 steam locomotive christened the Robert E. Lee and known as Engine #7. The open car coach seats still carry the custom medallions cast into them designed especially for the Six Gun amusement park. Our locomotive was built to burn wood but was converted to propane shortly thereafter. Currently we burn roughly 58 gallons of propane per day and consume about 100 gallons of water per run. The designation 4-4-0 refers to the wheel arrangement of our locomotive. It means that we have 4 leading (or “pilot”) wheels, 4 driving wheels, and 0 trailing wheels. The American class locomotive was the most popular and widespread steam locomotive produced. Monroe Boiler of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania supplied the ASME code-welded steel boiler for the locomotive. The boiler has 32 fire tubes and the first safety valve pops at 190 psi.
Crown also built the locomotive’s tender and all the open-air coaches. The coaches, in theory, can hold up to 80 passengers. Practically though, the coaches seat about 65 people comfortably. Our enclosed car is actually built from one of the open-air coaches. Someone in the early days of the J&CB took the metal seats out of the car and wrapped the outsides with wood paneling. By the time the present owners of the railway came along, the enclosed car had been totally vandalized and exposed to the elements for several years. Don Rainey, one of the owners, completely restored the car. He found an original set of seats and curtains in the attic of an antique store in Jefferson: The River City Mercantile Co. They had been there since 1986! David Sinclair and Bob Haynes graciously donated the seats and curtains to the train.
Today the Jefferson & Cypress Bayou is a thriving railway committed to the entertainment and education of people from all over the world. Each tour features live narration and most passengers are fortunate enough to view some of the native wildlife found in the piney woods region. For now, the future of the J&CB RW looks very bright indeed.
History of Jefferson:
Jefferson is the 5th oldest town in the state of Texas and was incorporated under the Texas legislature March 20, 1848. Pioneers first settled on the river landing on the Big Cypress bayou in 1836. In 1845 when obstructions were removed from Big Cypress bayou, steamboats were able to navigate through the bayou and Caddo Lake into the Red River and on to the Mississippi. The “great raft”, a 150 mile long natural log jam on the Red River, raised the water level in Big Cypress and Caddo Lake enough for steamboats to make it all the way to Jefferson. At that time, Jefferson was the furthest inland port in the state and the second largest (behind Galveston). The area that is presently a public boat ramp is known as the “turning basin”. This area of the bayou was enlarged so that it could easily accommodate multiple steamboats. The steamboats could go no further upriver and would turn around for their return trips to New Orleans and other destinations.
Contrary to popular lore, it is questionable that Jay Gould ever set foot in Jefferson. The oft-repeated story goes that the townspeople refused Gould’s railway passage through town, prompting him to curse the town and write the infamous words “the end of Jefferson” in the guestbook of a local hotel. However, Jefferson did start it’s own rail line in 1860 to enhance cotton shipments from regions just to the north. The vast majority of cotton from North Texas, Southern Arkansas and Oklahoma arrived by rail in Jefferson to be shipped to ports far and wide. The Texas & Pacific entered Jefferson in 1873, at a time when Jefferson was still a major port.
The downfall of Jefferson came in 1885 when the US Army Corps of Engineers dynamited the “great raft” on the Red River. This caused the water level in the bayou and Caddo Lake to drop to a point where navigation by steamboat was no longer possible. The population steadily decreased, and Jefferson eventually became an almost forgotten relic; a mere shadow of its former glory. Jefferson’s saving grace turned out to be tourism, and the town is presently one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state. An abundance of Bed and Breakfasts, antique shopping, and fine dining attract tens of thousands of visitors to Jefferson each year.
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| | | Contact Information | | | Runaway Fright Train P.O. Box 1033 Jefferson, Texas, Tel: 903-665-6400 Fax: 903-665-6464 http://jeffersonrailway.com/ E-mail Runaway Fright Train | | | | If you're the owner or webmaster of this site then please Claim this Link Once you claim this link and we approve it you will be the only one who can modify the listing in the future. |
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| | Date Added: Thu Sep 08 2005 | | Last Updated: Thu Sep 08 2005 | | | | |
