In 1912, J.F. Strickland extended his passenger rail interurban service from Dallas to Corsicana, establishing the Southern Traction Company as a sister company of the Texas Traction Company, which had already been providing service from Denison to Dallas four years before the Corsicana and Waco lines. The Corsicana Line opened on October 20, 1913, with a fleet of 22 passenger cars numbered 300 to 321, six freight motors numbered 500 to 505, one work car numbered 941, and a combination work and line car numbered 901. In 1917, the Southern and Texas Traction Companies merged to form the Texas Electric Railway. Unlike steam railroads, an interurban stopped during regularly scheduled routes to let off and pick up passengers when cars were flagged down, offering more affordable and more frequent service than steam rails. Restrictive economics led to the elimination of conductors in 1932, and the cars were redesigned for pay-as-you-enter boarding with a forward louver door and no baggage compartment. Travelers used smoking and non-smoking sections, one toilet, and a water fountain, and the cars appeared in several color schemes over the years. In 1932, the cars of the Corsicana Line were repainted blue and cream and became known as Bluebonnet Specials. In its heyday, the Texas Electric Railway was the largest of its kind west of the Mississippi. The Corsicana Line ended service in 1941, and the Denison and Waco lines followed in 1948. The interurban spanned the transition from the horse and buggy to the age of the affordable private automobile and paved highways, which brought this mode of travel to an end. One original Corsicana Line car, No. 305, survived after years of use as a storage shed and then a private residence before its discovery in Acton, Texas, by the City of Corsicana.