LAST EDITED ON Jul-17-04 AT 00:00 AM (EST)
Marshall, Texas. 9:00 am Sunday 11 July 2004. The beautifully restored Texas & Pacific depot serves both trains 21 and 22, though train 21 arrives at a time when no ticket agent is on duty. I arrive and drag my bag under the tunnel (which safely lets us pass under the UP's Reisor subdivision main) and back up the steps to the platform. Since Marshall is a crew-change point, the incoming engineer and conductors are already milling around. To save time, the conductor tears our tickets immediately and tells us the train is about 20 minutes away. If that's true, then at that very moment it was probably passing right behind my house.Even though it's fairly early in the morning, the East Texas sun is beaming. The waiting room is open, but who wants to sit in air-conditioned comfort when you're next to the busy Little Rock sub (as well as the switch onto the Reisor sub, which is less-traveled)? Stack trains, autos from the GM plant in Arlington, and chemical trains pass through in an attempt to get out of AMTK 21's way. I shouldn't have packed my scanner in the suitcase, but I'll grab it once we're on board.Well, the manifest has stopped on the main. Betcha there'll be a P42DC slinking its way down the station siding in just a minute. Yep. The obligatory Shamu. Southbound we're in the 2120 car, the last sleeper. Unfortunately the platform isn't quite long enough to get all the way down there, so once the engineers switch out and the train pulls forward we board through the first coach past the lounge. Through this one and two more and we're finally in the sleeper, a Superliner I. The '70s color scheme is a dead giveaway, along with the presence of an actual (though minute) closet. Downstairs to deposit the luggage (and extract my trusty scanner) and then settle in for a long day. 9:35 is too late for breakfast, but I can wait till the diner opens for lunch.Departed Marshall on time, next stop Longview. I never appreciated the improved trucks on the Superliner II's until now. Though the car is clean, the poor girl is showing her age. There's constant wheel noise but at least no irritating rattles from inside the room. Our attendant is an older gentleman with over 30 years with the railroad. He's set to retire next year and doesn't seem to be uber-thrilled with another trip on the Eagle. He IS very proficient with the "all aboard" call though, stretching the "all" for what seems like 45 seconds.Longview, TX 10:20 am
Smoke stop! Unfortunately for us evil smokers, Amtrak has banned all smoking on all trains except for the Auto Train and we're resigned to standing on the platform and sucking down all we can as quickly as we can. Were the smoking lounges really THAT bad?Mineola, TX 11:10 am
Just a quick stop here, only a couple on and off. No time for a ciggy, but Dallas isn't that far away. So far we've been on-time, no stops for freights. The condition of the track isn't stellar though, a condition the Union Pacific doesn't really care about. After all, their trains are okay through here. The bottoming out is slightly fun at first, but soon becomes annoying. Engineer's making good speed though, and we look to be into Dallas early. Somewhere between Mineola and Dallas, lunch time.
I have to admit I'm somewhat apprehensive of the dining car. Amtrak has once again instated a national menu, with very little room for the chefs to create. But since the meals are included with our fare, and a train ride really isn't complete without eating in the dining car, off we go as soon as the announcement is made. We're seated with a couple of kids, one of which looks about 17 and the other about 15. There is no conversation until I point out to my travel companion a gentleman standing beside the tracks. He's wearing a UP shirt, Amtrak cap, and has a fairly large camera around his neck."That guy is definitely a railfan." I say."Me too," the 17 year old says. This leads to a fairly lively conversation about the route (which he's never been on) and common trains through the area. They're in coach, and are traveling from Tennessee. I order the pizza, which comes with a salad. The salad is good, and served in real china. When the pizza arrives, it's obviously just a nuke job, but it goes down well and I can't complain too much. Actual silverware and plates make Blake happy. Since I began traveling Amtrak over a decade ago, on-board service has improved. Back then, the majority of dining car attendants were cranky or downright rude. Not today. Chipper, professional, and courteous. There were good tips all around.Dallas, TX 1:10 pm
Ten minutes early. Back a few years ago, Dallas was a long stop. The express cars that used to occupy the rear of the train were switched here, but no longer. Looking out the rear window you see nothing but rail, which is more fun anyway. Luckily, Dallas is a smoke stop. The folks across the hall from us are both smokers, and on these little occasions we've talked a bit. They're nice people from up north somewhere, and I point out that as soon as we leave the Dallas station we'll be crossing over the "triple overpass" next to Dealey Plaza, and the infamous book depository building (as well as the grassy knoll) will be visible. From the train you can even see the window on the 6th floor, which is now a museum. We've got about an hour and a half to travel from Dallas to Ft. Worth, evidence of the padding necessary to negate UP dispatching...at least most of the time.Ft. Worth, TX 3:00 pm
No, it didn't take us that long to get here. We made excellent speed through Arlington and before I knew it we were in that sharp left-hand curve approaching tower 55. This is where we switch from UP to BNSF, and the train will pull past the tower before reversing back into the station. Normally we'd be seeing our northbound counterpart here, as well as the Heartland Flyer and plenty of TRE trains. However, since it's Sunday the TRE isn't running. The Flyer is parked down on the platform but there's no sign of train 22. Interesting thing about the Heartland Flyer: part of its consist are a couple of ex-Santa Fe high level cars. Slightly shorter than Superliners, they definitely show their age. One is parked on a siding with a P42 front-coupled to it (but not running) and the other is the first car on the Flyer itself. For curiousity's sake I take a closer look, and it seems like they'd be comfortable enough. The trip into Oklahoma isn't that long anyway.Ft. Worth is also a service stop. New crew, supplies, and fresh diesel for our lone locomotive. Since last year the Eagle has been running with only one unit, and we lost at least one sleeper as well. Such is life in the 21st century Amtrak age. The train pulls forward a few hundred feet for the fuel, and we wait another half hour or so after that. Lots of folks smoking out there in the heat.At 4 o'clock we're out of the metroplex, heading south now on the BNSF mainline. Track conditions are immediately improved. The truck noise is still there, but the pits and valleys are much fewer now. Before too long the dining car steward will be along to take dinner reservations. Seems like we just ate! We take the 7:00 seating.Cleburne and McGregor are very short stops, as we seem to have lost some time. BNSF put us in the hole for a little bit, and there is some track work that restricted our speed some. Temple, TX 7:00 pm
About a half hour late, but not too bad. I basically consider anything less than an hour late to be "on-time" as far as I'm concerned. Temple is my usual spot to disembark. There's the shuttle van driver, the same tall black gentleman who drives me into Killeen at least twice a year to see my best friend. That guy has been driving that van for a while, and he's super-cool. Another great site in Temple (besides the old Santa Fe depot, also restored) is an old SF steamer. If memory serves, it was the last mainline steam locomotive in service in the state, though it seems to be in pretty bad shape these days. She looks fine cosmetically, but under the boiler jacket who knows. There is a small collection here, including a Pullman troop sleeper, a heavyweight car, and an old Amtrak 10 and 6 sleeper. Unfortunately, vandals have scrawled some obscene words on the sides of the cars facing the train and it takes away from the admiration a bit.From here out is new territory for me. I've never been on the Eagle south of Temple, but I know at some point we switch back onto UP tracks. The town of Taylor comes and goes, but I didn't notice anything notable about it.Somewhere about this time we're put in the hole for a very late Amtrak 22. She races by on her way to Ft. Worth, and I can't be too upset for the stop.Dinner time, somewhere between Taylor and Austin.
Once again, since its included in the fare I might as well get the most expensive menu item. I order my steak medium well with a baked potato and the prerequisite salad w/ ranch. It's cooked perfectly, with onion, fresh veggies, and a wonderful brown gravy. No steak sauce needed, thank you! The only real problem I'm having with on-board meals is the fact that Dr. Pepper is NOT served on the train. C'mon Amtrak, this is the TEXAS Eagle...at least 75 percent of us are requesting DP.About the time I set my fork down, the Austin stop is announced. It's only five minutes away, so I order dessert to go and race back to the rear of the train. Our neighbors are there as well, waiting for a much-needed smoke stop. When we leave, the state capitol is visible. You know that saying "everything's bigger in Texas"? Well, it's true. Our capitol is larger than that little ol' one in Washington, DC. Once we are back on board and settled in, I unwrap my brownie and savor every last bite. Honestly, it was one hell of a brownie.San Marcos comes and goes, in the dark. It was a quick stop, and I was half-napping. We seem to be about 45 minutes behind schedule.I wake up somewhere near San Antonio. The train is making stops and starts, and after turning the scanner up I learn the dispatcher is walking us through red signals and through turnouts. Trains seem to be waiting on every siding and spur, their headlights dimmed. For miles and miles we see sprawl...the highlight of which is a set of old concrete silos converted into a movie theater/strip mall complex. Hell, there's even a Joe's Crab Shack in there! Before too long the San Antonio skyline is visible. There's a very beautifully lit octagon shaped building, and the Tower of the Americas is visible. For those that don't know, the tower is the 3rd tallest in North America, right behind the CN Tower and the one in Vegas with the roller coaster on top. Going to the top was the highlight of my stay in San Antone.We crawl along the outskirts of the city. We're now about one hour late, and with all the stops and starts we seem to be getting even later. The train actually seems to be circling the city. Later, I'd find out that it in fact did. We came in not from the northeast, but from the southwest...quite a roundabout trip. But apparently it saves having to turn the train around, as the northbound Eagle simply backs out of the station for about 3 miles and takes off eastward. Just past the Alamodome I see the station and we have arrived. A little over an hour late, but intact (though tired) we catch a cab and head for the hotel.Northbound trip log to follow.Blake Harris
Manager/Engineer, Jefferson and Cypress Bayou Railway
http://www.jeffersonrailway.com
Vice Dean, Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies
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