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Wichita Falls Railroad Museum and Tex Rail 5/24/2019

I got up at Bonnie's apartment and after shaving, left and drove to Wichita Falls. I stopped at a MacDonald's for hot cakes and sausage then drove Interstate 44, the H.E. Bailey Turnpike, for 110 miles back into Texas and stopped at the Texas Welcome Center to pick up a state map and found good directions that took me right to the Wichita Falls Railroad Museum.

The Wichita Falls Railroad Museum is a railroad museum in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The museum is located in the Historic Depot Square in downtown Wichita Falls beside the railroad tracks. The museum is home to one of the largest collections of rolling stock in the area that pertain to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (the "Katy").

The museum has one steam locomotive and one diesel locomotive, along with 13 other associated railway cars. There are also eight small rail vehicles such as motor cars or speeders and a hand car.

The Wichita Falls Railroad Museum also sports two rubber-wheeled "Kiddie Trains" for use at the museum and at civic functions around town representing the museum and its supporters.

The museum was closed so I took my pictures through the fence.

Fort Worth and Denver {FW&D} 2-8-0 304 built by Alco in 1906.

The FW&D Wichita Falls station built in 1921.

The train behind FW&D 2-8-0 304.

Fort Worth and Denver railway post office car 34 built by Standard Steel in 1922.

Missouri-Kansas-Texas NW2 1029, built in 1947, and United States Army troop sleeper No. 100261.

Missouri Pacific 10 section-1 drawing room-2 compartment sleeper "Matagorda" built by Pullman in 1913 for the Santa Fe's "California Limited". In 1948, it was re-assigned to St. Louis-San Antonio-Mexico City service over the Missouri Pacific and Nacionales de Mexico and renamed "Rio Usumacinta".

MKT wide vision caboose 212 built by International Car in 1949 as MKT end cupola caboose 1020.

MKT caboose 111 built by International Car in 1966.

Wichita Falls and Southern caboose 13.

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad coach 6102 "Silver Falls" built by American Car and Foundry in 1916. It was later rebuilt into coach-generator car 7302.

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy coach, identity unknown.

United States Army troop sleeper No. 100261, originally United States Army 9681 built by Pullman in 1944. It was later sold to MKT who converted it into a maintenance-of-way car

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy coaches. At least I was able to get pictures of most of their equipment but will have to return when the museum is open.

I took US Business 287 out of Wichita Falls but only reached the south part of town when I had to pull off the highway and cross the mainline. I could not believe my luck this morning.

BNSF 9319 East at South Wichita Falls. He had the Norfolk Southern Virginian heritage unit 1069 in his consist on a loaded Powder River coal train.

Norfolk Southern SD70ACe 1069 in the livery of Virginian Railway. I then drove south down US 287 but a short while later another train was approaching so I pulled off.

BNSF 4406 West heading for Wichita Falls. I then drove all the way to Saginaw and pulled into the parking lot to wait for Amtrak.

The Heartland Flyer came through this early afternoon. I then drove to the Texas and Pacific station in Fort Worth and parked in a lot on the south side of the station then walked into the tunnel, bought my single region ticket and went up onto the platform.

Trinty Rail Express train 2931 arrived at the Texas and Pacific station it shares with the TEXRail trains that goes to DFW Airport.

TEXRail (also known as the Tarrant Express Railway) is a commuter rail line in Tarrant County, Texas that provides service between downtown Fort Worth and DFW International Airport via Grapevine and other Tarrant County communities. It is operated by Trinity Metro (formerly Fort Worth Transportation Authority) and started service on January 10, 2019, with a preview service having occurred on December 31, 2018.

The new line is worth $1 billion. This segment of the Cotton Belt Rail Line will be operated independent of the other two segments, as it was built by Trinity Metro, instead of DART, who will be building segments to the east.

Grapevine citizens voted 8,058-2,898 on November 7, 2006 to levy a full cent sales tax, of which three-eights of a cent would authorize Grapevine to contract with Trinity Metro for rail service and another 1/8 cent for other transit improvements, like a downtown parking garage. This includes an expansion of the commuter rail system to link southwest Fort Worth to the north end of DFW International Airport.

Trinity Metro's Board of Directors finalized their plans in October 2006 for the southwest-to-northeast expansion. Two commuter routes, a light rail route and a bus rapid transit route were under consideration. The Board's recommendation was a commuter rail line that runs in the southwest part of the city near Sycamore School Road, running near Texas Christian University and the Medical District on its way to the existing T&P Station and Fort Worth Central Station. At that point it turns northwest toward the Stockyards before turning northeast toward DFW International Airport. Preliminary plans call for nine new stations with eleven total, and could be contingent on other cities along the corridor joining the agency.

A proposal to use private funding to construct both TEXRail and DART's Dallas County segment was considered, but this plan was abandoned after necessary legislation was not passed in the State Legislature. Following this legislative defeat, Trinity Metro began pursuing federal grant funds in order to build TEXRail. On March 5, 2014, it was announced that the TEXRail project would receive $50 million in federal grant funds from President Barack Obama's 2015 New Starts Funding Budget.

In April 2015, Trinity Metro approved a contract for pre-construction services, awarded to an Archer Western Contractors/Herzog Contracting Corp (Archer Western Herzog) a joint venture, as well as approving the final design for the Iron Horse and Smithfield Road stations.

On June 9, 2015, Trinity Metro ordered an initial eight Stadler Rail 4-car articulated FLIRT3 (Fast Light Innovative Regional Train) DMUs. The contract was valued at $106.7 million, with an option for up to 24 additional DMUs, and includes the supply of components for 10 years. This is Switzerland-based Stadler's first order in the US for any model outside its Stadler GTW product line, therefore making it subject to the regulations of the Buy America Act. As such, one element of the contract is that the final assembly of the trains will take place in the US, at their plant in Salt Lake City.

That same month, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) gave approval for the project to advance into the engineering phase that immediately precedes the start of construction. In June 2016, Trinity Metro received a Letter of No Prejudice from the FTA, essentially green-lighting the project. In reaction to this, Trinity Metro said they planned to start preliminary construction in July 2016, on track for a planned opening date in December 2018. DFW Airport also said they would provide the $40 million to build the station at Terminal B, with an opening date in late 2018.

Construction on the line officially started on August 24, 2016, with a groundbreaking held at Grapevine's historic depot, the site of Grapevine-Main Street station.

On January 4, 2019, less than 12 hours before service was scheduled to commence, the opening was suspended due to signal issues identified during an inspection by Federal Railroad Administration officials along the southern end of the line in Downtown Fort Worth. The new opening took place on January 10, 2019.

Estimated travel time from T&P Station to DFW International Airport is estimated to be approximately 52 minutes. There are 48 trips per day with predominantly 1-hour headways; all but the earliest westbound and latest eastbound trains runs the full length of the route.

The line is predominantly single tracked, with passing sidings installed to allow for 30-minute headways.

This would not only be my first ride on this service but also my first time riding the Stadler-built trainsets.

My first picture of Stadler-built trainset. I walked to the first car to board.

The interior of the train. I showed them my ticket to make sure I had the correct one and they all said "Yes!".

Union Pacific 6313 passed our train while it was still in the station.

Union Pacific 6218 West passed next. At 1:25, Train 230 started moving with a very smooth ride. My new rail mileage on this trip would be from the junction with the TRE to where the Grapevine Vintage railroad comes into these tracks at that junction, and then east of Grapevine all the way to the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport station.

Tower 55 still stands in 2019.

Amtrak P42DC 82, power for the Heartland Flyer. The train stopped first at the Downtown ITC Fort Worth station then through the building and around a couple of curves to the TRE junction.

My new rail miles began.

Crossing the BNSF mainline to Saginaw.

The bridges across the Clear Fork Trinity River.

Railroad junctions along our route.

Me on TEXRail Train 230.

Our next station stop was at the North Side station.

Next we went by the TEXRail shops along the south side of our route.

Mercantile Center station.

North Richland Hills Iron Horse station.

North Richland Hills Smithfield station.

Fake bulls in a pen.

Santa Fe caboose wide vision 999729 at Colleyville.

Southern Pacific 2-8-2 771 in Grapevine.

Grapevine Vintage Railroad FL9.

Grapevine Vintage Railroad turntable and engine house.

Grapevine Vintage Railroad SPV2000 1629.

Grapevine Vintage Railroad Tower 16 from Sherman, Texas.

Grapevine Main Street station with the Grapevine Vintage Railroad train in both pictures. I was now on new rails.

The train took a curve on the way to our next station stop.

The DFW Airport North station.

The International Parkway.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The DFW Airport Radar Unit.

The Skylink trains used at the DFW Airport. The train pulled into the DFW Airport Terminal B Station and my new mileage was over. I detrained for pictures.

The train at Terminal B station. I reboarded what had become Train 237 which departed the station bound for Fort Worth.

A DART Orange Line train for Dallas.

FWWR GP38-2 2005, originally Penn Central 7922.

FWWR GP38-3 2000 (originally Denver and Rio Grande Western 3038) and GP40-2 2022 (originally Detroit, Toledo and Ironton 411).

FWWR SD40-2 2029, originally Kansas City Southern 623.

FWWR SD40-2 2017, originally Southern Pacific 8440.

The Clear Fork Trinity River.

Downtown Fort Worth.

Back to TRE Junction.

Fort Worth Texas and Pacific station.

Fort Worth Santa Fe station.

One last view of Tower 55.

The TEXRail train returned me to the Texas and Pacific station. It had been a great trip on this new service they now provide. I then drove over and checked into the Days Inn Fort Worth Stockyard Motel for my two-night stay there.

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