It served numerous towns and cities along its routes and operated a rail bridge between Brownsville and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in junction with the Mexican government.

The Brownie connected the citizens of Brownsville to nearby Corpus Christi for the first time on land rather than using water transportation.

Uriah collaborated with business partner Benjamin Franklin Yoakum to create a large rail system that reached from Chicago, Illinois, in the north to Mexico City in the south.

On December 31, 1907, the second (and last) major segment of track on the Brownie was completed to Houston from its starting point in Robstown and reaching Sinton as well.

Upon hearings of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the court ordered the receivers to sell off all of Yoakum's rail projects to recover from lost profits or face entire abandonment.

[citation needed] Under the Gulf Coast Lines ownership of the StLB&M, the railway saw no new purchases of rolling stock or locomotives.

The final acquisition for the Spider Web Rail Network came in 1941 when the former narrow gauged Port Isabel & Rio Grande Valley railway was acquired by the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico.

Under the Yoakum era, the steam locomotives were lettered "ST. LOUIS BROWNSVILLE & MEXICO" along the upper section of the tender and the reporting marks were applied on the cab.