Tomball Centennial: Tomball Train Depot
Site of Historic Centennial
“Train Day”
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Tomball's Train Depot:
Restored and ready for the next 100 years. |
The Tomball Train Depot represents an important
part of the city’s history. Built in 1906 and
finished in early 1907, the Depot welcomed visitors
as well as new residents. Restoration of the Depot,
which began this year, is in preparation for the
Tomball Centennial festivities, which will be
celebrated throughout 2007. The Depot will be center
stage on January 27, 2007, when the Centennial
Commission will orchestrate Train Day, a public
celebration which will be both entertaining and
educational for local citizens. During the remainder
of the Centennial year it will function as a
visitors’ center.
History Tied to the Tracks One hundred years ago,
the railroad brought soon-to-be residents to Peck,
Texas. The town’s original name was in honor of
Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad’s top civil
engineer, but it was to last less than a year.
Tomball Townsite Company changed the name in
December 1907, when the moniker was dedicated to
Thomas Henry Ball, II. Ball, a lawyer for T&BVR, was
so honored after using his influence as a State
Senator to bring the railway through the city. The
name "Thomas Ball" was eventually shortened to the
single word that we use today, "Tomball."
Trains passing southbound through the city from
points north were generally headed to Galveston.
Railroad engineers coming from North Texas faced the
challenge of a hilly landscape. It took the steam
power of two engines to pull the trains this
distance. Wanting to head further south to
Galveston, they needed a pit stop, and Tomball was
the perfect place. Tomball is located right around
the point that the landscape changes from hills to
flat land, and it stays that way on a route straight
to Galveston. Stopping in Tomball would allow the
train to drop off one of the two engines and
continue to the coast.
Thus, a roundhouse was built to enable the switch
from two steam locomotives to one for southbound
trains, and to add a locomotive to trains heading
north. Along with the establishment of this element,
other service facilities for the railway were
developed, including a telegraph office and the
celebrated Depot. Many of the other 40 train
stations on the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad’s
route between Fort Worth and Galveston had no such
foundation for growing service to the railway.
Thus, Thomas Ball enabled the city’s railway
facilities, which in turn enabled the area’s
economic progress. Residents didn’t come on the
trains, as much as they came for the trains.
Railroad construction became a huge labor source for
settlers in the area. Previously a prairie home to a
farming community, the Tomball labor orientation
changed when the trains came.
Railway service was to be but a single chapter in
Tomball’s growth, following agriculture and
preceding 1933’s oil and gas discovery. Newell
Brisco (N.B.) Anderson, who had moved to Tomball in
1908 to work as the railroad’s telegraph operator,
was one of many railroad workers shocked to hear
that the railway service facilities of Tomball were
shutting down, as locomotives no longer needed to
stop here for service. He was one of only a handful
of employees who survived the cut in staff, as he
was assigned to run the train depot. In this
position he saw thousands of passengers come and go
for ten years, through 1924.
N.B. Anderson is one of many prominent residents
of Tomball’s past whose portrait has been rendered
by artist Ken Walden. A Tomball resident for almost
40 years, Walden’s first local job was as as
Supervisor of David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport in
1967, which Ken’s aunt Irma and her husband Charlie
owned. Prior to that time Walden held a job as
illustrator for the Tampa Tribune Times, and he
later worked as an illustrator and layout artist for
several different clients including Sam Houston
State University. He then began a 30-year stint
delivering construction materials to local sites,
which he still does today, but he continues to
sketch and paint, favoring local historical figures
and railroading subjects.
What better person to head up the Centennial’s
Train Day? Ken is Chairman of the event, during
which several history-rich displays will be
presented. The Depot’s recent 21st Century history
includes being relocated from its original site –
north of Main Street and west of the railroad tracks
– to Burroughs Park, a Harris County park located in
the city limits. As the Centennial year drew closer,
the city chose to reclaim the Depot. In 2002 it was
placed one block south of Main Street on Elm Street,
next to the tracks.
100 Years to the Day Train Day will be the
kick-off celebration for the Centennial Commission’s
year of events. It will be held on January 27, 2007,
one-hundred years to the day that the first freight
train, came through the town then known as Peck. (It
wasn’t until March 3 of that year that the first
passenger train came through.) The date and the
location are both fitting, and the City of Tomball’s
restoration is nearing completion. After the event,
and in the years that follow, the Train Depot will
be a sightseeing spot of interest for the curious
and history buffs alike.
The Depot has a new coat of yellow-gold paint,
which closely matches the original hue. It has a
surrounding deck, and is wheelchair accessible. An
authentic, restored caboose of the same
turn-of-the-century era will sit alongside the
Depot, open to visitors to view during special
events like Train Day. A raised-stone plaza and a
lighted walking trail leading to Main Street will be
added to complete the Depot grounds.
The interior of the Depot has been beautifully
refurbished. The ticket office and waiting room that
housed legions of travelers over the years, and the
large room of unfinished dark wood that served
baggage and cargo handling needs, surely have many
stories to tell. It is possible that these rooms
will eventually house a museum of railroad history.
This is an idea Ken Walden proposed to the city, as
the railroad buff would like to be involved in
making it happen.
But Ken’s immediate attention will be on Train
Day. Activities begin at 10:00 am on January 27,
when the doors will open on an art display from
local school kids, historical items, and various
activities for children including a hobo contest,
all to the old-time sounds of bluegrass music and
the percussive dancing rhythm of a clogging
demonstration. Vendors will sell handcrafted goods
and souvenirs. Admission to the event is free.
There will also be a fine art exhibit, which will
remain on display for two weeks after the event.
Walden, best known for his pencil sketches of
historical Tomball citizens, will also display his
paintings of local landmarks and railroad subjects.
Howie Doyle will exhibit oil painting portraits of
contemporary Tomball-area residents, many of them
influential in the city’s development. Between the
two artists there will be approximately 40 pieces
shown.
Train Day is just the first of a host of
activities either produced by the Centennial
Commission, or which will have a Centennial theme,
concluding with a spectacular New Year’s Eve party,
"At the Ball," which will be held on December 31,
2007, looking forward to the city’s next 100 years.
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