The Austin and Central Texas Railroad

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Allen Mesch

I had the pleasure of visiting the Austin Steam Train Museum. The museum is home to the Austin & Texas Central Hobby Railroad.

The Austin & Texas Central (A&TC) refers to a model and live steam railroad founded by John Carroll Enders, Sr., in 1931. Inspired by the H&TC, Enders developed a personal railroad that evolved from O scale to HO scale and eventually to live steam, with a permanent site established at the Hi Iron Ranch near Manor, Texas, in 1972. The railroad hosted numerous live steam events and continues under the stewardship of Enders’ grandson, Stephen Balkum.

The following pictures are from my visit. I hope they will inspire you to visit the museum and schedule a trip on one of their trains.

 

Please see The Austin Steam Train Association for more information about the Austin Steam Museum and train rides

Please see The Evolution of Transportation in Texas: From Early Settlers to Modern Railroads for a great overview of railroad transportation in Texas.

Unknown's avatar

About Allen Mesch

Allen is an author, educator, and historian. He has written nine books: The Analyst; Teacher of Civil War Generals; Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. Smith; Charles A. Marvin - "One Year. Six Months, and Eleven Days", Preparing for Disunion, Ebenezer Allen - Statesman, Entrepreneur, and Spy, The Forgotten Texas Statesman, The Third Rebellion, and The Traitor. He taught classes on the American Civil War at Collin College. He has visited more than 130 Civil War sites and given presentations at Civil War Roundtables.
This entry was posted in Scratch Pad and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a comment