The Austin Western Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad headquartered in Round Rock, Texas. AWRR is a subsidiary of Watco. It is the contracted operator of of ex-Southern Pacific trackage, now owned by Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. AWRR operates the line from Fairland, Texas to Giddings, Texas, in addition to of branchline from Fairland to Marble Falls, Texas. Another of track remain out of service between Fairland and Llano, having most recently seen revenue service in 2005. This portion comprises the Austin and Northwestern Railroad Historic District.
The AWRR shares trackage with the CapMetro Rail Red Line between Leander and Austin. It interchanges with the Union Pacific and BNSF Railway; both at McNeil, Texas. Two other interchanges exist at Elgin and Giddings, but are not in service as of 2026.
The Austin Steam Train Association (ASTA) operates excursion trains over the AWRR's trackage between Cedar Park and Burnet.
As of April 2026, AWRR employees are unionized through the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) division of the Teamsters.
History The Austin Western Railroad was founded in 2007, with Watco winning the bid to operate the line after the Austin Area Terminal Railroad's contract with Capital Metro ended.
In 2015, BNSF named AWRR its "shortline of the year."
In 2024, Austin Western began to install distributed power (DPU) systems in some of its locomotives. While DPU systems are common on Class I railroads, AWRR is one of the only Class III shortline railroads to use the system.
Traffic AWRR moves nearly 60,000 carloads a year. Traffic includes aggregates, crushed limestone, recycling, calcium bicarbonate, lumber, beer, chemicals, plastics and paper.
An incomplete list of AWRR customers, as of July 2025: +IndustryCommodityCityCapitol Aggregates - Delta Materials/PugmillAggregatesMarble Falls, TXLhoist Marble FallsAggregatesMarble Falls, TXHeidelberg Materials AggregatesAggregatesMarble Falls, TXGuthrie Lumbie & DistributionLumberCedar Park, TXBuilders FirstSourceLumberCedar Park, TXICU MedicalMedical DevicesAustin, TXBalcones ResourcesRecyclingAustin, TXTex Mix ConcreteAggregatesAustin, TXTexas Materials - Manor TerminalAggregatesManor, TXPlains States CommoditiesFertilizerElgin, TXTexas Materials - Giddings TerminalAggregatesGiddings, TX
Roster +As of February 2026Road NumberModelLineageLiveryRosteredGMTX 3407EMD SD45T-2ex-SPOldcastle Materials Texas green+black2016-GMTX 3408EMD SD45T-2ex-SPOldcastle Materials Texas green+black2016-WAMX 4143EMD SD40-2ex-BNWatco black+yellow2011-WAMX 4144EMD SD40-2ex-BNWatco black+yellow2011-WAMX 4145EMD SD40-2ex-BNWatco black+yellow2011-WAMX 4146EMD SD40-2ex-BNWatco black+yellow2011-WAMX 4226EMD SD40ex-SPWatco black+yellowWAMX 4228EMD SD40-2ex-BCOLWatco black+yellowWAMX 4229EMD SD40-2ex-BNWatco black+yellowWAMX 4249EMD SD40-2ex-UPOldcastle Materials Texas green+yellow+gray2014-WAMX 4251EMD SD40M-2ex-SPPatched CIT gray 2019-WAMX 4252EMD SD40M-2ex-ATSFPatched CIT gray2019-WAMX 4276EMD SD40-2ex-BNPatched Helm maroonWAMX 4277EMD SD40-2ex-BNPatched Helm blueWAMX 6013EMD SD60Mex-NSPatched NS horsehead2019-WAMX 6014EMD SD60Mex-NSPatched NS horsehead2019-WAMX 6015EMD SD60Mex-NSPatched NS horsehead2019-WAMX 6016EMD SD60ex-CNWWatco black+yellow2021-WAMX 6017EMD SD60ex-CNWWatco black+yellow2021-WAMX 6018EMD SD60ex-CNWWatco black+yellow2021-WAMX 6036EMD SD60Mex-UPWatco black+yellow with AWRR logos2022-WAMX 6037EMD SD60Mex-UPWatco black+yellow with AWRR logos2022-WAMX 6038EMD SD60Mex-UPWatco black+yellow with AWRR logos2022-WAMX 6039EMD SD60Mex-UPWatco black+yellow with AWRR logos2022-WAMX 6040EMD SD60Mex-UPWatco black+yellow with AWRR logos2023-WAMX 6041EMD SD60Mex-UPWatco black+yellow with AWRR logos2022-WAMX 6045EMD SD60Mex-UPWatco black+yellow with AWRR logos2024-
References
External links Austin Western Railroad website Link to Union Pacific Website with AUAR Details Austin Steam Train Association