[1] The original charter of the Tyler Tap Railroad, enacted by a special act of the Twelfth Texas Legislature on December 1, 1871, provided merely for “…a single or double track, from Tyler to such a point, not exceeding forty miles from the above town on either the Southern Pacific, Houston and Great Northern or the International Railroad, as may be selected by the directors.
[3] But, that line had come under the control of “robber baron” Jay Gould who refused a connection on reasonable terms, apparently trying to force the T&SL into a sale or unfavorable arrangement.
[8] Construction was carried out in the 1882-1883 timeframe, with the final ceremonial silver spike driven August 12, 1883 on a new bridge over the Arkansas River.
[3] The result was a 725-mile continuous rail network between Gatesville and Bird's Point, being the second-longest narrow-gauge railway system in the country, exceeded only by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.
[9] If all required elements had fallen into place, this would have created continuous 3’ narrow-gauge tracks extending from Mexico City to the Great Lakes.
[9] While a company of that name was chartered in Illinois on June 8, 1882, financial issues with both sponsor railroads starting around the Fall of 1882 quickly prevented any real progress on the plan.
[9] The T&SL ran into various forms of trouble, ranging from lack of adequate equipment, heavy rains in the Fall of 1883, and eventually a train crew strike in November 1883 when the railroad could not timely pay employees.
[2] Where the line of the T&SL, controlled by Paramore, crossed the line of the Iron Mountain, controlled by Jay Gould, the people of the town formed at that location wanted to use for its name “Paragould.”[6] However, Gould was not happy about receiving second billing, and originally refused to use that name in his train schedules, instead using “Parmley” but later acquiescing to “Para-Gould.”[6] The city name nonetheless evolved over time to “Paragould,” which it remains today.