January 25, 2009:
I got up and went to the lobby for breakfast. There was already one guest hogging the waffle iron and as a result he used up almost all the syrup! Fortunately, hotel staff was able to find a new bottle when I finally got to use it. I then walked to the bus stop and caught a bus downtown. I rode to West End station and walked a few blocks to Dealey Plaza where JFK was shot. I could almost see it. I took some pictures.
I then walked over to Union station and caught a train back to West End station and transferred to the route 111 bus. I was heading to the Museum of the American Railroad. The bus arrived in about 10 minutes and we were soon off. The bus traveled on a portion of the highway above the DART yards. I filmed the yards and got a glimpse of PCCs 4613 and 4614. I also saw the yard with all the railway coaches.
I soon arrived at the museum and got off I photographed a former PRR GG1 on display before I went inside.
I went inside to buy a ticket. I was a little surprised to see Anthony who had taken me to see 4613 and 4614 two days earlier. I paid admission and entered the museum photographing some equipment including former Amtrak sleeping cars, former Union Pacific DDA40X #6913, and Big Boy steam locomotive 4018.
I went in the cab of 4018 and then continued looking around, taking photos.
Note how close the locomotive is from the coach.
I then went into the gift shop and bought a DVD. I asked where some other equipment was, but Anthony told me it was being stored off site. I left and took some more photos.
This unit is actually a former CN F7 painted in the Santa Fe “Warbonnet” livery.
I then caught a bus downtown and then got on a blue line train and rode to Ledbetter station. The car was a Super LRV and I took an interior shot before getting off and photographing the car at Ledbetter.
I got back on and rode to 8th and Corinth station and transferred to a Red line train and rode to Dallas Zoo. I rode down on a non Super LRV.
I entered the zoo and had lunch. I looked at some of the animal exhibits including cassowaries, tigers, flamingos, and various snakes.
I then went to the African exhibit. There is a monorail that takes visitors to see animals that aren’t accessible from the walkways. I paid $2.50 and went for a ride.
Back home, the Metro Toronto Zoo used to operate a monorail until 1994 when one train broke down and rolled backwards down a hill and colliding with another train injuring dozens of people, but thankfully no one was killed. Over 10 years after the monorail was abandoned, there are remnants at certain parts of the zoo including two former stations and part of the right of way.
I got on the monorail at the Dallas zoo and rode around the exhibits photographing the train and various animals including an ostrich.
We soon returned to the station. I got off and photographed the monorail train before filming it departing on its next run.
I looked in the zoo’s gift shop before I left and caught a red line train to Cityplace and rode the M-line one last time. When I got to Cityplace, car 186 showed up yet again. I filmed it pulling up before I got on.
I rode to Bowens and Cole and walked to the MATA carbarn I saw car 369 which I photographed, and filmed it departing. I then walked over to the carbarn, but found it closed.
I then walked a few blocks and waited until car 186 pulled up again. I rode it back to Cityplace. I had a brief chat with other passengers on the car including a guy from Topeka, Kansas; the same city as the most hated family in America is from, but I won’t go into that.
When we got back to Cityplace, I took one more photo of 186 before getting on a northbound Red line train.
I rode the train to Parker Road. When I got off, I took some photos.
I then got back on the train to ride to the Forest Lane station for dinner. At the stop before; LBJ/Central, I saw a man get on with a suitcase, set it down, then take a seat in another part of the car. That looked suspicious because when I take my luggage on public transit, I never leave it alone on a bus or subway train like that. So when I got off, I made several attempts to report it before I told a couple of DART employees who happen to think my attempts at reporting what I saw was suspicious. It took a few minutes to get things organized, but my tip was reported, and I went to a Sonic drive in for dinner.
After dinner, I took a DART train back to West End station and caught a bus back to my hotel. I asked for a wake up call at 7:00 am and called it a night.
January 26, 2009:
I got my wake up call and got dressed. I headed to the lobby for breakfast. When I got back, I saw my dad had sent me a text message asking me to buy a Powerball lottery ticket. It’s not like I was in Dallas overnight.
I finished packing and checked out of my hotel. I looked at a nearby convenience store for a Powerball ticket, but they didn’t have any. I then walked to a bus stop and got on a route 26 bus. I rode it to the hospital by the TRE Market/Medical Centre station was. I knew this would be my last chance to ride a TRE RDC before I flew home. I needed to ride TRE to get to DFW Airport.
I saw an eastbound train arrive consisting of RDCs. I filmed it before I got on as I had enough time before my plane left.
I rode the train to Union Station where I got off and took a photo of the train.
I then boarded RDC #2008 and photographed the interior. A couple minutes later, a woman asked if her face was in my picture. I innocently said, “no.”
The train departed. This would be the train I would have had to take to get to the airport in time. As we passed the TRE yard, I filmed it. We soon arrived into CentrePort/DFW Airport station where I took some photos of the train.
I waited until the train left and filmed it pulling out. These two rides were my second and third rides on an RDC after my first ride on VIA’s Sudbury-White River train on my Sudbury trip. After my train departed, I photographed a TRE train pushed by ex GO F59PH #567 and a bus I would take to the airport.
I boarded
the bus and we headed off. I actually had to change buses, but I got to the
terminal just in time. I checked in with Air
I bought
lunch in the terminal and waited by my gate. I got a glimpse of my plane
arriving, but I was not in a good position to photograph it. I would be flying
home on an Embraer 175, similar to what
my family and I flew to New York on during my New York trip.
The plane had arrived on a flight
from Toronto. After the passengers disembarked, it was time to board. I had a
window seat about half way down. The plane was ½-2/3 full.
The plane left the gate on time and
I filmed the take off roll. The plane had an on board entertainment system
which I used. I also bought some headphones for $3.00. I also got a can of coke
while on the plane. I also filled out a form for Customs when we would land in
Toronto.
I reset the clocks on my camera and
cell phone to Eastern time. A couple hours later, we were flying over
Kitchener/Waterloo. The plane flew over the airport and then descended to turn
around.
The plane flew over the TTC’s Wilson
subway yard which I photographed.
From the plane, I saw an eastbound
GO train led by an F59PH. I filmed the landing and photographed a British
Airways Boeing 777, an Air France Airbus A340, and a KLM 747.
A few minutes later, we were at the
gate. I got off and took a photo of the plane. The plane had arrived early.
I went to customs. When I got to customs, the inspection was fast and painless. I then went to retrieve my suitcase.
At the baggage carousel, I waited for it to start. When the bags started appearing, mine was the third one out. I then left the area and waited for my dad. I met up with him after a few minutes. We then headed out and stopped at my mom’s ice cream store. I headed home eventually.
Conclusions:
After 13 years, I have finally finished my quest to visit all 19 of the PCCs the TTC mothballed in 1995! However, I would still like to revisit a few. The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority is a very neat operation and I would go back if I could to see them again.
Aside from the TTC “stupid” constable and not getting a sightseer lounge on the Texas Eagle, this trip was good, though it would have been better if Bill hadn’t missed the Eagle. Though riding the Eagle from Fort Worth to Dallas was the cheapest Make-up trip ever.
For the foreseeable future, my next few trips will be within Canada. My next trip won’t be until late March earliest when I go back to Montreal to make up for what I missed as a result of missing train 56 on my 2008 Adirondack trip and then go for a ride on VIA’s Chaleur.
With the completion of the quest, I would like to thank the following people/groups who helped me get to this point:
Toronto Transit Commission
Tom-Twigge Molecey, curator of the Halton County Radial Railway
GPS Videos
Trolleyville USA/Lake Shore Electric Railway
Edmonton Radial Railway Society
Markham Cougars
East Troy Electric Railway
Old Pueblo Trolley
Amtrak
John Landrum-head of the McKinney Ave. Transit Authority
McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
Until next time…
Click to read about the cars in my quest: PCC Quest
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