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HISTORY
After the Civil
War was concluded, El Paso's population began to grow. The town was
incorporated in 1873 and encompassed the small area communities that had
developed along the river. With the arrival of the ATSF, SP and Texas
and Pacific (T&P) railroads in 1881, the population boomed to 10,000 by
the 1890 census, attracting newcomers ranging from businessmen and
priests, to gunfighters and prostitutes. El Paso became a boom town
known as the "Six Shooter Capital" because of its lawlessness.
Prostitution and gambling flourished until World War I, when the US Army
pressured El Paso authorities to crack down on vice, thus benefitting
vice in neighboring Ciudad Juárez in Mexico.
Mining and other industries gradually
developed in the area. The 1920s and 1930s saw the emergence of major
business development in the city partially enabled by Prohibition era
bootlegging. The Depression era hit the city hard and population
declined through the end of World War II. Following the war, military
expansion in the area as well as oil discoveries in the Permian basin
helped to cause rapid economic expansion in the mid 1900s. Copper
smelting, oil refining, and the proliferation of low wage industries
(particularly garment making) led the city's growth. The expansion
slowed again in the 1960s but the city has continued to grow in large
part because of the increased importance of trade with Mexico.
MODELING THE ATSF
INDUSTRIAL AREA
In addition to a large
yard and engine facility, the ATSF serviced the large American Smelting
and Mining Company (ASARCO) copper and zinc smelting operation along
their mainline north of Union Depot in the area known as Smelter Town.
The layout attempts to model this large complex operation and the
associated holding yard trackage that existed in the mid-1950’s.
Several trains switch the smelter. One freight train comes into
Smelter Town from the ATSF mainline, which runs along the Rio Grande
River and parallels the SP mainline. One transfer train is run between
the ATSF and SP.
The ATSF industrial area is located in
the train room. |