[1] With financial backing from the Vanderbilt railroad syndicate, construction of the FW&RG began at Fort Worth in November, 1886, but proceeded slowly with many changes of route, reaching Granbury (40 miles [64 km] away) a year later, Comanche in 1890, and Brownwood, 144 miles (232 km) from Fort Worth, in 1891.

[1] In 1901, the Frisco Railroad got control of the FW&RG, which it operated as an independent subsidiary, extending the line to Brady in 1903 and on to Menard in 1911.

The Frisco entered bankruptcy in 1913 and made no further extensions of the FW&RG, which in most years failed to make a net profit.

[1] On March 1, 1937, Frisco sold the FW&RG to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway for $1.5 million, giving the latter an entry into Fort Worth from the west.

The remainder of the former FW&RG from Belt Junction in Fort Worth to Ricker, six miles (9.7 km) east of Brownwood,[5] was bought by Cen-Tex Rail Link, an affiliate of the South Orient Railroad on May 20, 1994.