Construction of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad (originally chartered under another name to other destinations) began with a groundbreaking held in August of 1857 somewhere to the east of Houston. Shortly afterwards, the workforce was redirected to a right of way that had been procured near Beaumont. As construction proceeded east and west from Beaumont, it became obvious that the intent of the owners was to connect Houston and New Orleans. This was confirmed in 1859 when the name of the company was changed to the Texas & New Orleans Railroad and a charter was obtained from Louisiana to build eastward from the Sabine River.
By January 1861 the line between Houston and Beaumont was completed, but construction eastward was interrupted during the Civil War after the capture of New Orleans by Union Troops. The line was forced into receivership in 1871 and was reconstituted under the name “Texas and New Orleans of 1874”. The new ownership pursued rehabilitation of the tracks and conversion to standard gauge. Finally, an agreement between T&NO and three other companies allowed for completion of the line to New Orleans in 1880.
The T&NO established its shops and switchyard in the area just west of the cache location. In 1880 the Galveston Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad moved its shops and operations from Harrisburg to share this location. Those two railroads later came under the umbrella of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the shops and rail yard grew into one of the largest railroad maintenance and repair facilities in the South. It covered the area bounded by Main St. on the west, Burnett St. on the north, Hardy St. on the east and the Union Pacific tracks on the south. The Hardy Street Shops and rail yard were gradually abandoned and razed after coming under ownership of the Union Pacific in 1996.