San Angelo railport says expansion, Mexico bridge could unlock large import/export volumes
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Summary
Railport consultant Roger Horton told the panel the San Angelo railport is about 40% built on 183 acres with 18,000 feet of track, and that import/export growth—tied to the Presidio bridge crossing—could add hundreds of annual carloads; some numeric figures in the transcript are unclear and noted as spoken.
Roger Horton, a consultant involved with the San Angelo railport, told the panel the project is roughly 40% built of the original 183 acres and currently has about 18,000 feet of track, two office structures, a certified truck scale and a completed 19-acre laydown yard intended to support a wind-tower project.
Horton said the South Plainsville and Mesa Railroad–operated railport is largely internally funded, has one full-time and one part-time employee on site, and is building additional track (2,500 feet already underway) to serve a proposed customer. He described a separate plan to prepare 7,500 more feet of track and negotiations to close a 250-acre adjacent parcel that would support a larger served industrial park.
On volumes, Horton reported about 550 carloads in the 2020–2025 period as a baseline. He also referenced additional potential shipments, including "8 50 wind turbine car loads" and "2 50 car loads" from a chemical distributor; the transcript phrasing is unclear on those figures and so the exact numbers are not verified in this report. Horton said import/export trade with Mexico is a critical growth factor and cited the planned opening of the Presidio Oinaga international bridge crossing as a potential game changer for rail volumes.
Horton outlined long-range rail plans for the 250-acre parcel that would include a 12,500-foot loop track allowing continuous unloading of 100-car-plus trains and spurs into the interior of the site. He emphasized that buildout pace depends on business growth and confirmed the city and county have been cooperative partners in permitting and planning.
Horton urged thinking beyond headline trade figures to note the concrete volume of everyday imports, giving the example that about 1.3 million tons of peppers were imported from Mexico in 2024 to illustrate the steady flows that support local industry opportunities.