Dark, stormy skies and Superliners at
Longview, Texas June 19 - Round trip on the Texas Eagle Little
Rock-Fort Worth June 19 and 22 with inside and outside photos - Train
watching in Saginaw and North Fort Worth, Texas near old tower 60 -
Locomotives seen: BNSF 7752, 6894 (Santa Fe blue and yellow), 3166 (Santa Fe blue and yellow), 8060 *** UP 4632, 5900 *** BNSF Gensets 1287, 1291. (Photos by Ken Ziegenbein)
The reason for my trip was to attend the National Natioal
Railway Historical Society convention in Fort Worth.
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LEFT-On June 19, 2008, I got to the Little Rock Amtrak station (located inside Union Station) early so I could view the northbound Texas Eagle-Amtrak 22. It's 1:45 a.m. and 22 is a couple of hours late. RIGHT-The east balcony of the station at 1:50 a.m.
LEFT-The Eagle arrived at 1:53 a.m. and had dischaarged its passengers when I took this photo. RIGHT-From inside looking out.
LEFT-Two freights were passing each other at 3:05 a.m. RIGHT-UP 4447. An FRA inspector was to ride
the cab of Amtrak 21, the southbound Eagle, and was waiting in the
station. He decided to do a quick inspection of this stopped freight
while he waited.
LEFT-A southbound freight with three KCS
units, including 7024, stopped on UP Main 2 about 4:35 a.m., waiting on
a northoubnd freight, which soon arrived on the Amtrak siding. The
Eagle was late (scheduled arrival 3:05 a.m.) RIGHT-UP 3870 crept through on the Amtrak
siding about 4:42 a.m. , passing the KCS train. Amtrak 21, the
southbound Eagle, finally arrived about 5:30. While all were waiting on
it to arrive (even the crew was on the platform),
we heard the Baring Cross bridge signal that the lift-span was
being raised for a barge. We could also hear the distinctive sounds of
the Amtrak locomotive horns on the other side of the Arkansas River,
waiting for the bridge to go down. I'm not sure if the train was in the
UP yards all this time or not. Anyway, it arrived and we were happily
on our way to Fort Worth.
LEFT-At Texarkana, 9:37 a.m. RIGHT-Longview, Texas, noon, June 19. There
was a storm front approaching with a distinctive leading edge to the
lower dark cloud layer. We ran into heavy rain as soon as we departed
Longview. Having been a meteorologist for the NWS 32 years, I still
love neat dark, stormy scenes like this, especially with a train in the
scene.
The bright cloud band really stood out as the storm moved in.
Back inside the Superliner.
We pulled out at 12:04 p.m.
We arrived in Dallas at 2:46 p.m. Trinity Railway Express was waiting to leave for Fort Worth as well as us.
LEFT-In Forth Worth at the Intermodal
Transportation Center at 4:06 p.m. These people were boarding 21 for
the trip south to Austin, Temple and San Antonio. RIGHT-Lone Star Rails NRHS Convention signs
were in the lobby of the Forth Worth Hilton, where I stayed and which
was the official hotel for the event. The Fort Worth Hilton was the old
Texas Hotel, where President John F Kennedy spent his last night alive
in 1963.
LEFT-It's June 20 now, the day before the
NRHS excursion to Quanah, Texas. Here are Jerry Nunn and Tom Henning
viewing BNSF 7752, that powered our train the next day. This was taken
at the ITC in Fort Worth. RIGHT-12:54 p.m. on June 20, waiting for a
BNSF train to cross the bridge near Northeast 23th Street in North
Forth Worth, close to where Tower 60 used to be. Jerry Nunn and Tom
Henning took me here.
BNSF 6894 (still in Santa Fe blue and yellow) heads the freight.
LEFT-A UP train crosses another bridge at 12:59 p.m. headed by UP 4632. RIGHT-At Saginaw now, 1:27 p.m. June 20.
LEFT-The famous Saginaw Depot, which houses
their Chamber of Commerce and is a site where many railfans view
trains, including the '24-hours at Saginaw' event each spring. RIGHT-Santa Fe (BNSF) 3166 and BNSF 8060 head this Fort Worth bound freight.
LEFT-BNSF Gensets 1287 and 1291 near Minton
Street off Saginaw Road in Saginaw, taken from a moving car at 2:16
p.m. Trinity Industries is located here. RIGHT-Same photo with mirrir and camera in view.
RIGHT-Perfect timing had UP 5900 going over the overpass on North Side Drive, east of I-35W after we exited the freeway, at 3:25 p.m.
Jumping ahead now to Sunday, June 22,
there's a full waiting room at the Fort Worth ITC, waiting for
Amtrak 21, 22 and Greyhound Buses. The day before we rode the Quanah
Zephyr to Quanah, Texas. You can see photos of that on its own webpage
here: http://thundertrain.org/quanahzephyr062108.html
Amtrak 22 was already sitting in the
station when I took this pictures at 1:41 p.m. Passengers between San
Antonio and Fort Worth were bussed to Fort Worth due to track
maintenance.
LEFT-Boarding at 2:03 p.m. We backed out of the station at 2:45 p.m. RIGHT-Now why am I including this picture you ask? This was the view from my
Superliner window after the Eagle backed out of the Fort Worth station,
past Tower 55, and sat and sat and sat for almost two hours before
getting the green light to proceed east to Dallas. UP was doing
trackwork on the Fort Worth to Dallas line, and I suspect since we were
delayed 30 minutes from departure from the station by a late transfer
bus from San Antonio, that Amtrak may have lost a 'window of
opportunity' to head east. However, I'm not sure about
that 'window' theory. Anyway, it was a long wait. The conductor did keep us informed as to what was happening though
regarding the trackwork and the fact that there were more freights than
usual in the area due to Midwest flooding.
As I kept looking at this scene outside my window, I started to imagine
seeing things, much like looking at stars and seeing constellations.
For one, I saw what looked like trails coming down the hill and one
sideways along the hill. Is there a bear cave in the side of the hill?
LEFT-The train was packed, except for one coach which filled up in
Dallas. This is the Sightseer Lounge. RIGHT-The new Cross Country Cafe
and I must admit I liked it. The menu was
catered to the Texas Eagle and I had the Texas Brisket with a barbecue
sauce from Henderson, Texas. Prices were reasonable as well, noting
over $18 (a large steak) and most things $5 to $10.
We got back to Little Rock about 2:05 a.m. We didn't have to stop for any freights or have any more delays east of Dallas.
RIGHT-Although not seen in this photo, the six private cars that were on
Saturday's Quanah Zephyr NRHS train from Fort Worth to Quanah, Texas
were on the rear of this train, making it 14 cars long and carrying
hundreds of people.
Our engineer on this trip was Bill Sanders (right).
