Austin Area Terminal Railroad Explained

Railroad Name:Austin Area Terminal Railroad
Marks:AUAR
Locale:Texas
Hq City:Round Rock
Start Year:2000
End Year:2007

The Austin Area Terminal Railroad was a short-line terminal railroad headquartered in Round Rock, Texas.

Overview

AUAR operated a 154.8miles line from Llano, Texas, to an interchange with Union Pacific at Giddings, Texas, with a 6.4miles branch from Fairland to Marble Falls. The line, which was originally a Southern Pacific branch that had been operated by Longhorn Railway until AUAR assumed control, is owned by Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, with whom AUAR had a contract to operate the railroad from April 2000 to September 2007. AUAR traffic included aggregates, crushed limestone, calcium bicarbonate, lumber, beer, chemicals, plastics, and paper.

The contract was transferred to Watco as of October 1, 2007 and the name of the railroad was subsequently changed to the Austin Western Railroad.

In addition, the Austin Steam Train Association operated an excursion train between Austin, Cedar Park, and Burnet.

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