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Austin Steam Train 6/22/2008

Chris Parker and I slept in this morning and after a good continental breakfast, checked out of the Best Western Temple Inn and drove to our first stop of the day, the Temple Railroad Museum.

The Museum is located in the historic Santa Fe Depot in Temple, Texas. The museum offers permanent and changing exhibits, education programs, event rentals, school tours, special events and is co-located with Amtrak so you can learn the history of the railroad in Temple as well as experience it first hand.

The Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum was founded in 1973 to collect, preserve and exhibit the history of the railroads and local history of Central Texas. The original collection was housed in the 1907 Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe depot in Moody, Texas. In 1996, an Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act grant for renovating the Temple Santa Fe depot, which had been vacated by the railroad and was destined for demolition, was applied for and received. Three years later, in 1999, work on the restoration began. Dedication of the restored depot took place on July 8, 2000, and this beautifully restored building is now the home of the museum. It is located next to an active railroad yard, where railfans can take in the operations and traffic of the BNSF and Amtrak.

The museum’s collection of railroad equipment is displayed on the grounds, including three locomotives, railroad passenger cars and cabooses. Restoration work on this rolling stock collection is ongoing, and the museum also regularly hosts changing temporary exhibits and educational programmes.

The Santa Fe (formerly Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe) Moody station built in 1907 which houses the Central Texas Area Model Railroaders.

The bay window end of the depot and Santa Fe 4-6-2 3462.

Santa Fe 4-6-2 3462 built by Baldwin in 1921. It was retired in 1952 and donated to City of Temple in 1955, being moved to its current location in 2001.

The steam engine's cab.

United States Army troop sleeper 9826 built by Pullman in 1944, one of 2,400 such sleepers to be built under contract by the United States Office of Defense Transportation. It was sold to the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad and converted to an express car.

Temple Railroad Museum 8 section-5 compartment sleeper "Clover Glade", ex. Dr. Renfert in Buda, Texas, exx. Arthur Boone in Buda, exxx. Georgetown Railroad, exxxx. Texas Transportation Museum in San Antonio, exxxx. Missouri-Kansas- Texas exx. New York Central, nee 10-1-1 sleeper "Dungarvin" built by Pullman in 1913.

Amtrak 10-6 sleeper 2986 "Pine Mesa", ex. Santa Fe 2726, nee Santa Fe 1637 built by Budd in 1950.

Santa Fe HH16 2301 built by American Locomotive Company in 1937 and is the oldest surviving Santa Fe diesel, nearly identical to the their first diesel locomotive, 2300, bought in 1934. After retiring in 1964, 2301 was sold to Palo Duro Grain and by 1970, it was working for Tulia Grain at Tulia, Texas on the AT&SF line from Lubbock to Amarillo, still painted in its zebra stripe paint scheme, although all Santa Fe markings had been painted out. By 1992, 2301 had been pushed out to a side line, its duties having been taken over by an EMD switcher.

It was rescued and cosmetically restored to AT&SF colours by the museum. It had originally been planned to make the unit operational, but the cost proved prohibitively high.

Santa Fe caboose 999324, nee Santa Fe 1556 built by American Car and Foundry in 1927. It was retired in 1988 and has been returned to its original number by the museum.

Missouri-Kansas-Texas caboose 140 built by International Car Company in 1966.

BNSF GP9 1680 1999, ex. Santa Fe 2296 1980, exx. Santa Fe 2942 1978, nee Santa Fe 742 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1957.

Missouri Pacific caboose 13048 built in 1951 and numbered 1243.

BNSF 9338 South came through during our visit.

In the small park south of the station, handcar rides are given.

The museum grounds.

The Santa Fe Temple station, an example of Prairie-Beaux Arts architecture, was completed in 1911 and served as the Southern Division headquarters for the Gulf Colorado & Santa Fe, the AT&SF subsidiary in Texas. The depot still serves as a stop for Amtrak's Texas Eagle.

BNSF 9338 departed.

The BNSF engine facility. We left, crossing over the tracks and parked before walking out onto the bridge.

Overview of the Temple station area.

Overview of BNSF's engine facility.

A BNSF power set came out.

BNSF GP30 2402, nee Santa Fe 1202 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1962. We drove over to the yard gate for a few more pictures.

The BNSF cigar bend herald on this tower. We departed Temple after stopping at Best Buy then drove to Georgetown looking for the Georgetown Railroad and finally found it.

Georgetown Railroad MP15DC 9011 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1978 and Georgetown Railroad SW1500 9010, nee EMD Leasing 114 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1971.

We then drove the rest of the way to Cedar Park, picked up our tickets and went for lunch where we both had steak, then returned to the station to ride the train.

Central Texas' popular excursion railroad grew from the happy confluence of an historic steam locomotive and an historic rail line, after the two bothbecame the property of the citizens of Austin. The locomotive, Southern Pacific 786, had been donated to the city in 1956 as the SP was retiring its steam fleet in favor of diesel power, and she was put on static display in downtown Austin’s Brush Square. Twenty years later, the SP ended its operations in the Austin area and sold the city 167 miles of its track from Giddings through Austin and into the Hill Country to Burnet, Llano and Marble Falls.

A number of local rail aficionados, led by businessman and private-railcar enthusiast Arthur U. Boone, saw the possibilities of bringing together the city's steam engine and the city's new railroad into an authentic re-creation of historic passenger railroading in Central Texas, and they incorporated in 1989 as the non-profit Austin Steam Train Association.

SP 786, a Mikado-type engine built in 1916, was restored to operating condition in a privately financed two-year effort, period passenger cars were acquired, and ASTA's first Hill Country Flyer made its run on July 25, 1992, the first passenger train between Cedar Park and Burnet in 55 years.

A year later, ASTA moved into its 16-acre rail yard in Cedar Park, donated by Texas Commerce Bank and developed with a grant from the State of Texas. In recent years, part of the yard was subdivided for a retail development, which allowed the association to build convenient new boarding facilities in the yard for passengers, and to move its administrative headquarters to Cedar Park as well. The association’s weekend passenger operations, proudly operating as the Austin & Texas Central Railroad, have continued uninterrupted since that first Flyer in 1992.

Throughout ASTA's history, the operating crews of all its trains have always been volunteers, each fully trained and qualified for his or her responsibilities, who have not only run the trains but have provided the heart, brains and muscle for countless other projects such as equipment maintenance and restoration, tracklaying and restoration of ASTA’s historic 1912 country depot in Bertram, that opened in 1997.

After seven years and 60,000 miles of service, SP 786 was sidelined in 1999 for a repair which turned into a complete overhaul of the locomotive, which is still under way today. Passenger operations, of course, went on uninterrupted with diesel-electric locomotives, first borrowed from ASTA’s freight-hauling partners on the line and then with the acquisition of the A&TC’s own diesel, the 1960 Alco-built No. 442, which reliably powered almost all of ASTA's trains from 1999- 2016.

Before lunch, we photographed Austin Western GP50 5108, ex. Timber Rock Railroad 5108, exx. Arkansas and Oklahoma 5108, exxx. National Railway Equipment 5083, exxxx. Union Pacific 58083, nee Chicago and North Western 7023 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1985.

Our train for today's run.

Austin Steam Train Association RSD-15 442, ex. Indiana Hi-Rail Corporation 442, ex. Squaw Creek Coal Company 9842, ex. Santa Fe 9842, nee Santa Fe 842 built by American Locomotive Company in 1960. The group purchased it in early 2000 and ASTA staff and volunteers rebuilt the 442 for regular service and painted the engine in a modified Southern Pacific "black Widow" paint scheme.

Our car for this trip, Nickel Plate Road 151 "City of Chicago", ex. Amtrak 3254 1971, exx. Norfolk and Western 151 "City of Chicago" nee Nickel Plate Road sleeper/diner/lounge "City of Chicago" built by Pullman Standard in 1950. It was in service on runs between Cleveland and Chicago. After its Amtrak career, the car next went to private ownership and was donated to Austin & Texas Central Railroad for tourist train use in 1995.

Our train consisted RSD-12 442, coaches 1684 "Lake Buchanan" and 1699 "Lake Marble Falls", concession car 1726 "Lake Austin", coaches 325 "Buckeye Lake" and 107 "Buckeye Trail", NKP Pullman car 151 "City of Chicago" and Santa Fe dorm-lounge 1343.

The two of us boarded "City of Chicago" and had table seats 17-18. I was served a Coca-Cola and waited for the trip to start then at 1:00 PM, it reversed into the wye before we pulled out onto the mainline.

Leaving Cedar Park behind as we started north up the mainline towards Bertram, our destination.

Curving out onto the main line.

A look down the straight track as we gained track speed.

Our train took a little "S" curve as we made our way northwest towards Bertram.

Colourful plant life as we rounded another curve.

The train crossed another small trestle along the line.

Crossing the 140 foot wooden trestle across the South Gabriel River.

One more small bridge was crossed.

Our Alco looked good pulling our train long hood forward into another curve.

Proceeding for another straight piece of track.

About to round another of the slight curves on this line.

There are few short trestles on this railroad.

Rounding a pair of curves with a little smoke meant the Alco was working hard up the short hill.

A wide variety of plant life can be found.

This radio tower is the tenth highest structure in the world and is the tallest in the State of Texas.

We arrived at Bertram and Chris Parker decided to get off and I would ride to the siding.

Leaving the Bertram station for the siding.

Chris Parker took a picture of me as I took a picture of him.

Rounding a curve with a clear shot of the train.

Making our way into the siding.

The site of a future stop for the CapMetro light rail system.

A traffic signal serves a purpose.

We were now in the siding and the RSD-15 would cut off to run around the train.

Our RSD-15 ran around the train.

Interior of "Lake Buchanan".

Interior of "Lake Marble Falls".

Interior of "Lake Austin".

Interior of "Buckeye Lake".

Interior of "City of Chicago".

Interior of Santa Fe 1343.

The train at Bertram where we picked up our passengers who had detrained.

Austin Western RSD-15 442.

Our engineer for this trip.

Passengers reboarding.

One last look at the Bertram depot. The train returned to Cedar Park and I relaxed on the journey back. A special thank to the Austin Steam Train for an excellent trip.

Chris and I drove back to Belton on Interstate 35 where we filled the car with petrol and bought some drinks and snacks. Just north of Moody, Texas, on Texas Highway 317, we caught a slow-moving BNSF coal train with two units on the point clawing up a hill with four more on the rear. It put on quite a show.

The Santa Fe McGregor station, a unique L-shaped depot, is a circa 1904 building at the junction of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe (now BNSF) and the St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt, now Union Pacific) railways. Santa Fe's logo, a cross inside of a circle, is displayed on the building. The depot still retains its original feel, but the neighboring railroad control tower was dismantled in 1967. Amtrak customers use the adjacent platform.

McGregor Springs (the town’s former name) was established in 1882 at the intersection of the railways. The town, which was endowed with artesian springs, was named for Dr. Gregor Carmichael McGregor, who gave the railroad right-of-way to cross his land. Texas newspapers soon began advertising trips to McGregor, and on September 7, 1882, a state land commissioner auctioned lots from the back of a railroad car. The town adopted a charter in November 1886.

The Welcome to Crawford Texas sign included a photograph of George and Laura Bush.

A look into Crawford. We caught another BNSF freight before reaching Valley Mills and turned onto Texas Highway 6, where at Clifton, we stopped at a Sonic Drive-in. At Meridian, we turned onto Texas Highway 174 which we took back to the Fort Worth area and from there, made our way back to the Best Western DFW Inn. I used their business center to print my boarding pass then checked the Internet before calling it a night.

Up at 4:15 AM and after we checked out, we drove to the car rental drop-off location at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and took the shuttle to Terminal C where after security, we waited at Gate 14 and boarded the American Airlines flight for Los Angeles. There was a twenty minute delay due to many planes in front of us and took off at 7:08 AM CDT. The movie was the "Spiderwick Chronicles" which I watched. We landed at LAX at 8:54 AM and once outside, it took took about twenty minutes for the LAUPT Flyway Shuttle to arrive and we had a tour of Los Angeles due to heavy traffic.

At LAUPT, Pacific Surfliner 768 was delayed by signal problems so when Pacific Surfliner 565 arrived, it turned to become a late-running 768. My mother picked me up and took me home, ending a great trip to the 2008 National Railway Historical Society convention in Fort Worth, Texas.