Abilene and Southern Railway

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The Abilene and Southern Railway was a Texas railroad that operated from 1909 to 1978 and later became part of Missouri Pacific. It was founded on January 13, 1909, in Abilene by Morgan Jones, who planned about 150 miles of track. The first official train ran on April 23, 1909, from Abilene to Iberis, and by September the line reached Ballinger, with a connection to the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe system. In October 1910, a new link from Anson to Hamlin opened. The company also used existing tracks between Abilene and Anson. Total trackage eventually reached about 97 miles.

In 1927 the Texas and Pacific Railway was authorized to buy the Abilene & Southern, but the line continued to operate under its own name. In 1937, Abilene–Anson trackage rights ended and operations north of Abilene stopped. The Winters–Ballinger stretch lost rail traffic in 1972 and was torn up. In 1976 the Texas & Pacific merged into Missouri Pacific, and on November 1, 1978, the Abilene & Southern ceased to exist as a separate company and was merged into Missouri Pacific. The Abilene–Winters segment was abandoned later.

Passenger service declined over the years. Before the Hamlin connection, there was one daily train from Abilene to Ballinger. A second daily Hamlin–Ballinger train was added, then later operated as a mix of passenger and freight service. Regular passenger service ended in December 1941, and the mixed trains ran irregularly until May 1957, when the line became freight-only.