Looking for a hassle-free location in a friendly north Texas town to watch and photograph trains?
Head for the town of Saginaw, a north Texas suburb located about 8 miles north of downtown Fort Worth.
Just look for the grain elevators (along Business 287 about a mile north of I-820), and the rails which
run beneath them. Saginaw's Chamber of Commerce, housed in a restored SP depot relocated from the central
Texas town of Kosse, is located adjacent to the point where Saginaw's three main lines (two BNSF lines
and one UP) intersect. Railfans are welcome to watch and photograph trains from the Chamber's parking
lot or from the back platform of the depot itself. And the Chamber of Commerce is slowly developing
its property into an interactive exhibit which will be known as the Saginaw Heritage Center and will
celebrate the town's rail and agricultural heritage. A former Santa Fe caboose and modified former RPO
car are already on hand, and the Chamber plans to acquire additional equipment in order to assemble a
permanent "train in the station."
Three main lines run through Saginaw. (Click here to see a map of Saginaw.)
The two main tracks of BNSF's Wichita Falls Subdivision (the former
Fort Worth & Denver main line to Amarillo) run through town from southeast to northwest. BNSF's Fort Worth
Subdivision (former Santa Fe) from Gainesville to Temple runs through Saginaw from north to south.And Union Pacific's
Duncan Subdivision (the former Rock Island line from Wichita KS) approaches town from the northwest,
running parallel to the BNSF Wichita Falls Subdivision for several miles south from Hicks Airport. At Saginaw
Interlocking, the UP line curves to the south to parallel the BNSF Ft. Worth Sub toward downtown Ft. Worth.
Traffic on the BNSF lines consists primarily of coal, grain, mixed freight, and intermodal. Many trains stop at the
Saginaw Yard office, located about a mile south of the Chamber of Commerce depot, to change crews. Other trains
operate via the former BN North Yard located south of I-820 and change crews there. Also appearing on BNSF's Fort
Worth Sub are Amtrak's daily Heartland Flyer trains, which operate between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth. The
southbound is scheduled through Saginaw at 12:19 pm, and the northbound is scheduled for 5:37 pm. (The Flyer does NOT
stop in Saginaw, however.) Additionally, UP trackage rights trains operate over both BNSF lines. UP's own line, the
Duncan Subdivision, hosts mixed freight, grain, and rock traffic. Several rock trains originate daily at Chico, a
small town approximately 30 miles north of Saginaw, where numerous limestone rock quarries are located. The southbound
"fleet" often tends to hit Saginaw in the late afternoon or early evening hours.
There is no connection between the UP Duncan Sub and the BNSF lines in Saginaw. However, UP and BNSF trains
can switch between the various lines at the Tower 60 interlocking, located near the Stockyards district
in north Fort Worth. Back in Saginaw, BNSF trains can transfer between the BNSF Fort Worth and Wichita Falls
Subdivisions through a connecting track located just east of the interlocking. This track is eqiupped with spring
switches and is used primarily for yard transfers between BNSF North Yard and the newer Alliance yard (located
along the Fort Worth Sub) several miles to the north. Additionally, a newer, CTC-controlled connecting track is
located about a mile north of downtown Saginaw. Informally known as the Trinity Connection, this track allows
Fort Worth Sub trains travelling either direction to access the Wichita Falls Sub, and allows trains arriving
from Wichita Falls to head north to Alliance or south to Saginaw.
