T&NO (SP) Depot - Comfort, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 29° 58.157 W 098° 54.699
14R E 508523 N 3315385
Wood combination passenger/freight depot. Sitting next to the depot is the hull of a caboose.
Waymark Code: WMV45B
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/20/2017
Views: 5
Texas Transportation Museum
The original depot built in 1892 was large, very typical of the type built by the San Antonio & Aransas Pass. In 1916, the depot was destroyed in a fire and was rebuilt much smaller.
In 1925, the San Antonio & Aransas Pass was fully taken over by the Southern Pacific and became part of the S.P.'s Texas & New Orleans division.
The railroad announced their decision to abandon the line February 4, 1971. Pretty soon after railroad work trains came up into the hill country one last time, this time to remove the tracks. Comfort claimed the now abandoned right of way within the eastern part of town and converted it into a better road, HWY 473, under IH 10, towards Sisterdale. The line west of the depot, towards Sisterdale, over Cypress creek is even harder to find. Essentially, it is gone without a trace.
The old railroad depot, however, is still in its original location on HWY 27, at the top of High Street. With no tracks and continued development all around, it is would be easy to think the depot had been relocated. A public road has taken over the old right of way to its south and the land to its north has been so significantly changed, it is almost impossible to see where the tracks went.
The freight doors at the east end and on the side facing the road have been removed and replaced with a window and an entrance door respectively. A failed attempt was made in the early 1990s to convert the depot into a museum and heritage center. It could be that its small size did not make it practical.
For a while the depot was occupied by a store called "Cowgirl Corral Collectibles" but this closed in 2006. A porch has now been added to its frontage while it awaits, as of mid 2006, a new occupant.