Historical Marker

Midland & Northwestern Railroad

Historical marker location:
SH 158 and FM 1788, Midland, Texas
( From Midland, take SH 158 W about 6 mile (1 mile E of Junction of SH 158 & FM 1788))
Marker installed: 1967

Standard gauge 66-mile line built by David Fasken, Sr., to carry cattle, ranch supplies, passengers.

Operated 1916 to 1920 -- critical era of World War I and world starvation aftermath. Linked towns of Fasken, Florey, and Seminole with Texas & Pacific Railway at Midland. At first, operated with locomotive borrowed from T. & P.

Train had to stop for pasture gates to be opened. Crew shot coyotes and rattlesnakes. In a breakdown, the passengers were fed, sheltered at Fasken. Work crew slept on the prairie. Floored out in 1920, M. & N. R. was abandoned. Roadbed still is visible.