Union Station
The most significant railroads serving Fort Worth Union Station were Santa Fe and Rock Island. Both railroads had lines extending north to Oklahoma City, Kansas City and Chicago. The Santa Fe main line extended south to Houston and Galveston, while the Rock Island line continued east via Irving to Dallas. Amtrak continues to operate in both directions on the Santa Fe main line. Although in 2002, Union Station was replaced with the new Intermodal Transportation Center, a short distance north. In addition, Santa Fe's Dublin District diverged from the main line at Birds (Tower 124), extending southwest to Brownwood and San Angelo. Until 1937, the Dublin District was owned by Frisco. For Rock Island trains, a wye existed at Purina Jct. (Tower 192). The Trinity Railway Express commuter line now uses the CRI&P route between Fort Worth and Dallas. Also using Union Station was the Southern Pacific Fort Worth Subdivision extending southeast to Ennis, where it joined the SP line from Dallas to Houston.
Texas & Pacific Station
The Texas & Pacific Station was located along the T&P main line, operating east and west between Texarkana and El Paso, including via Dallas to the east. Amtrak continues to operate east. But trains switch to and from the Santa Fe main line, with a backup move and using the connecting track at the southeast quadrant of Tower 55. T&P also operated the Oklahoma Subdivision northeast to Texarkana via Sherman. Whitesboro is 72 miles northeast of Fort Worth, and Missouri Kansas Texas had trackage rights south of Whitesboro for its access into Fort Worth. South of Fort Worth, the MKT Fort Worth Subdivision extended south towards San Antonio and Houston. Also using the T&P Station was affiliated Missouri Pacific, with its Fort Worth Subdivision extending south to Houston. That line connected with the T&P line east of Tower 55, which is east of the T&P Station and still is the main crossing and junction near downtown Fort Worth. And using the T&P Station was Fort Worth and Denver, with a main line northwest to Denver. That railroad also had trackage rights via CRI&P to Dallas.
Throughout Texas, interlocking towers were assigned numbers, in the order in which they were registered with the Railroad Commission of Texas. Further information is at the Texas Railroad Interlocking Tower Web Site.