About the Railroad

On October 21, 1881 the first railroad pulled into Cleburne and was greeted by 1,000 spectators, one-quarter of the town’s population. In 1897, Cleburne won out over Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple to become the location of the biggest Santa Fe shops west of the Mississippi, where they repaired and manufactured locomotives and other rail cars. The Cleburne Santa Fe Shops brought prosperity to Cleburne and were the largest employer for a century. While the Shops closed in 1989, the story of the Railroad is an integral part of the history of Cleburne.
After many years of planning, the Cleburne Railroad Museum opened to the public in November 2016 and now boasts a collection that encompases over 2,000 railroad artifacts.