After a great train ride on the Texas State Railroad, it was time to return to Dallas. Chris Parker and I drove back toward Palestine but took Loop 256 to avoid town then connected with US 287 and Texas Highway 19 back to Athens, where we stopped at Arby's for dinner. Afterwards, we drove north on US 175 to Interstate 635 North, then Interstate 30 East. At this point, the directions said to exit at Chaha Road but guess what, the road name had been changed and it was not until we passed the hotel that we realized there was no way to exit the freeway. So we had to cross Lake Ray Hubbard to the next exit and then double back.
Once back at the Best Western Lakeview Inn, we checked in and I checked my e-mail. After putting our bags in the room, the two of us decided to go to Garland so I could finish riding DART light rail so we drove along the frontage road to Broadway and turned right. It became 1st Avenue as we went to the downtown Garland station and found railroad tracks. To the right was the end of the DART Blue Line.
Finishing up DART Light Rail 12/31/2006Chris and I parked across the street and as we made our way to the station, a Blue Line train came in from Dallas. We bought our tickets and boarded then a few minutes later, the train departed and made its way to Dallas with a final stop at Ledbetter. This would be all new mileage as far as Cityplace in downtown Dallas. Our first stop was at Forest/Jupiter, then we picked up speed on the way to LBJ/Skillman and a few minutes later, made our White Rock station stop before proceeding to the junction with the Red Line to Parker Road before we stopped at Mockingbird.
We next entered the tunnel under part of Dallas to reach Cityplace Station, which ended my new rail mileage until later this evening when we would be coming back north to Parker Road. We travelled the rest of the way through the tunnel, exiting in downtown Dallas and stopped at Pearl, St. Paul, Akard, West End and Union Station, where we detrained. The area at Dallas Union Station is not the safest at night with the local homeless people around and we both felt that the next Red Line train from Westmoreland could not come fast enough.
Along the station walls, I photographed the drumheads of the various name trains that once served Dallas Union Station. The Red Line train arrived and we quickly boarded then returned north via downtown Dallas and then went through the tunnel back to Mockingbird and at the junction with the Blue Line, I started my new mileage out to Parker Road. The line is elevated over major streets in the same way that the Blue Line is from Garland. We stopped at Lovers Lane, Park Lane, Walnut Hill, Forest Lane, LBJ/Central, Spring Valley, Arapaho Center, Galatyn Park, Bush Turnpike, downtown Plano and then arrived at our last stop at Parker Road. I detrained here on my 49th birthday, having just completed riding every mile of the DART light rail system.
DART Red Line Train at Parker Road Station in Plano on 12/31/2006.
Chris Parker at Parker Road station in Plano. He found a newspaper so I read about the hanging of Saddam Hussein which made the return trip to Mockingbird seem much faster. We waited seven minutes there for a Blue Line train back to Garland and as we boarded, we found a train full of Dallas Stars hockey fans who had watched the Dallas Stars lose to the San Jose Sharks 4-2. The trip back to Garland was fast and soon we were at the car driving back to the hotel. This time, we exited Bass Pro Road from Interstate 30 East right to the hotel. It had been a great last day of 2006 and we called it a night.
New Years Day 2007 1/1/2007Chris and I slept in until 8:00 AM before we had a very poor continental breakfast and I checked my e-mail for one last time.
Lake Roy Hubbard in front of the Best Western Lakeview Inn before we checked out then drove Interstate 30 West to Interstate 630 North, then Texas Highway 79 out to Parker Road, following the route of the light rail line we rode last night.
Taking Parker Road five miles east will bring you to a very famous television location - the Southfork Ranch from the CBS Television show "Dallas", which was one of my favourites because of J.R. Ewing.
Near this same location, I posed a picture of Chris Parker in front of the Town of Parker water tower. We next drove to Irving and found Rock Island Road which took us to the Trinity Rail Express shops. This commuter rail service in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, is named after the Trinity River, the West Fork of which flows from Fort Worth to Dallas. Service was launched on December 30, 1996, shortly after the inaugural service of Dallas' DART Light Rail system, operating from Dallas Union Transit Station to the South Irving Transit Station. It runs along a former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad line that the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth purchased in 1983 for $34 million.
The Trinity Rail Shop area.
Trinity Rail Express RDC-1 2010, ex. VIA 6126, exx. Canadian National 9059, nee Dominion Atlantic Railways 9059 built by Budd Company in 1956.
Trinity Rail Express F59PH 567, nee GO Transit 567 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1994.
Trinity Rail Express RDC-1 2005, ex VIA 6112, nee Boston and Maine 6110 built by Budd Company in 1955.
Trinity Rail Express RDC-1 2002, ex. VIA 6142, nee Canadian Pacific 9061 built by Budd Company in 1957.
Trinity Rail Express F59PH 568, nee GO Transit 567 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1994. We then made our way to North Fort Worth and found the Fort Worth and Western yard.
A line of Fort Worth and Western engines.
National Railway Equpiment GP50 2943, ex. First Union Rail 2943, exx. Union Pacific 5538, nee Chicago and North Western 5093 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1980.
Fort Worth and Western GP40-2 2009 "Chisolm Trail", ex. National Railway Equipment 7250, nee St. Louis-Southwestern 7250 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1984.
Fort Worth and Western GP38-3 2003 "General Worth", ex. Southern Pacific GP35 6650, nee Southern Pacific 7753 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1965.
From here I decided to take Chris north to the Saginaw Railroad crossing and on the way, we caught up to a Union Pacific freight.
We photographed it coming and going at Northern Road on the former Rock Island, later Missouri-Kansas-Texas, now Union Pacific, then drove around and decided to wait for trains at the old Saginaw station.
The former Houston and Texas Central, later Southern Pacific, Saginaw station, originally located at Kosse, which is now the town's Chamber of Commerce.
An RPO car of unknown heritage built by Pullman in 1927 and Santa Fe caboose 999116, nee Santa Fe 1859 built by American Car and Foundry in 1929 on display here.
A BNSF local, BNSF 6743 North, came up the former Fort Worth and Denver {Burlington Northern} then waited to go north on the former Santa Fe after a southbound train came by.
That southbound train was Amtrak 821, the Heartland Flyer, on its way from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth. Minutes later, the BNSF local took off north.
Next Union Pacific 5653 West crossed the BNSF diamond. Chris and I checked with Julie, Amtrak's automated telephone system and learned that my Texas Eagle would be an hour late at Dallas.
We drove by the Amtrak station then went west of 7th Avenue west of downtown finding a Subway shop open on New Year's Day and had lunch. We returned to the station and Chris dropped me off to wait for my train while he returned to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to catch his flight later this afternoon. I waited inside until about the time the train was due and walked out to the south end of the platform.
The Heartland Flyer had a consist of P42DC 172, hi-level coach 39957, Superliner snack coach 35001, hi-level coach 39940 and cabbage 90229. About the time my train should have arrived, the eastbound Texas Eagle 22/422 reversed into Fort Worth station.
This train had a consist of P42DC, transition 39043, sleeper 32025, coach 34010, diner 38048, lounge 33029 and coaches 31025 and 34113. Train 22/422 departed at 2:50 PM for Chicago as I waited for Train 21/421 on this windy and cold, but sunny, afternoon.
A Union Pacific on its way toward Tower 55 which is under several freeway bridges.
Just as the Texas Eagle was reversing into the station, BNSF 5038 South passed on their mainline.
At 3:30 PM, my Texas Eagle passed Tower 55 before reversing into Fort Worth station with P42DC 61, sleepers 32041 and 32086 "Louisiana", coach 34098, diner 38030, lounge 33004 and coaches 34037, 31010 and 31008, with private cars "Evelyn Henry" PPCX 800144 and "Warren R. Henry" PPCX 800148. The only clean cars on the train were the private cars. I learned over the next two days that this trainset had been on the California Zephyr during last week's blizzard in Colorado then had been in the Chicago yard and was pulled out at the last minute without a trip through the washer. Where is VIA Rail Canada when I need them? They would never sent out a trainset in this condition.
I could not find my car number until my sleeping car attendant Tom Westfield cleaned the window with the car number in it. In my 970,000+ rail miles, I have never boarded an Amtrak train this dirty.
To show how dirty the Texas Eagle was, a young railfan showed us all by writing "Wash Me!" Shortly before departure, I walked through the train and took a trio of pictures to show how dirty the windows were.
The scene outside Fort Worth through the dirty window in the lounge car.
A scene from the other side of the lounge car.
A view out of the dining car window. We departed at 3:40 PM {2:40 PM} and I received a 4:30 dinner reservation then relaxed in my room reading "Wicked" until dinner time. In the dining car, I was seated with Andrew and George going to San Antonio and Kyle going to Palm Springs. Because the dining car had run out of several menu items, I had turkey, which was very good, and the chocolate cake really hit the spot. I returned to my room to relax until it was announced that the train was approaching Crawford.
The blue-roofed Station Café is where President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush have their coffee when they are at their ranch two miles west of here. I took a fresh air stop at Temple before returning to my room for Poison's "A Decade of Poison" and Metallica's "Master of Puppets". I made up my room and called it a night at Austin then later, during the layover at San Antonio, switched my bedding around to keep my feet pointing in the correct direction of travel.
