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Many years ago while attending college at SFASU, on our off time we would find solitude on Press Road that starts about ten miles South of Nacogdoches on US Hwy 59 and travels North on a old dirt road to Lone Star Feed in Nacogdoches. Most of this distance Press Road follows an old railroad Northward that passes Lone Star Feed, and links up with the old Nacogdoches Depot that is now a museum. (With no passenger trains for a long time the Depot was no longer needed.) I had my reasons to think that Press Road was built to service that old Railroad. Decades after my college years Press Road had made some changes including paving a section to the Nacogdoches Loop 224 where it ended...or did it?
I went to the East Texas Research Center at the library at Stephen F Austin State University (SFASU) and on their second floor they had old Texas archives. They did not have many maps, but they told me that the Houston East West Railroad was the first railroad to make it to Nacogdoches (in 1883) and most likely to be the railroad by Press Road; to continue to Shreveport, Louisiana. They
told me that the old Texas maps were at The History Center in Diboll; and they gave me the Center's phone number. I called that phone and a nice lady researcher told me that she could help me find the old maps of Nacogdoches County and possibly the maps of Press Road and the nearby railroad. We agreed to meet at the History Center the next day.
The next morning I gulped down my coffee and then was driving to Diboll. I arrived at The History Center and found that their main researcher lady had spent hours organizing lots of big folders holding blue-print sized old maps of Nacogdoches County (with the City of Nacogdoches included). That nice lady researcher then spent several hours pulling out a number of old maps to find the maps of my interest. She invited me into The History Center Library where maps were out on some of the large tables. This included maps made by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Texas Land Office, US Department of Transportation, and the Texas Highway Department. On a 1963 map I found Press road and the railroad on the same map. I also found out that
the first train reached Nacogdoches on what then was a narrow guage tracts.
Then the lady invited me to have a self tour of their inside museum. I found good replicas of maps dating back to 1570. Interesting but many old maps were as accurate as possible from centuries ago. Also they had old photos of the old trains hauling pine logs to the lumber mills including Engine # 13. Trains and lumber mills greatly helped build much of the East Texas area.
I was happy with the museum but my biggest enjoyment came when the lady invited me to self tour the outside back fenced area with a vintage train. This train featured Engine # 13; photos found in the museum and in the caboose of the train. The Engine's bell was very loud. My next "toy" was much louder. Engine # 13 had a cold steam boiler. They included an industrial air pump and pressure tank, making the train's air horn functional. It was great sport for me blasting the air horn for a while. Then I remembered that I was near downtown Diboll and could be "disturbing the peace", so I ended the horn and
explored the rest of the short train. The caboose was open to the public also so I entered to find simple heater and water sink for the back engineer.
Before I left the back area I found some historical statues. Arthur Temple founded the Temple Industries in Diboll for making lumber; later making plywood and other pine products. (Temple Industries are the largest lumber mill in East Texas.) Temple also invited Forestry students (From SFASU School of Forestry labs) for interesting field trips to his lumber and plywood plants...including me who graduated from the SFASU School of Forestry, long ago. Now in his honor, it is now the Arthur Temple School of Forestry at SFASU.
Finally I drove home taking Press Road, but there were changes to Press Road exact route that I had to explore later.
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