had8ley
Engineer
My son called me about three weeks ago and said that he had reliable information that The Texas Eagle would have the new CCC car running on #22 on May 7th. He enticed me by saying the Astros were playing the Nationals the night before and that he had home plate tickets. So, off to Houston I went. My son lives at The Lofts at The Ball Park~ a two block walk to the front gate of Minute Maid Park. What a lot of fans do not realize is that the old Union Station is part of the stadium. The old waiting room is an entrance to the park. They even have a life sized train on the outfield wall inside the ball park that has an engineer on board. Every time an Astro hits a home run he runs up and down the track blowing the whistle. It's quite unique.
Now for the meat. We got home after 11 and woke up at 4:30 a.m. We had decided to board #22 in San Marcos, TX, one stop north of San Antonio. The town is not big and we soon found the intermodal center but no RR tracks. I went inside and the two gentlemen behind the counter said, "You have to drive to the tracks in back of the depot." Sure enough, hidden by trees and about 100 yards behind the depot was a platform with two canopies and two benches. It sure beat an Amshack but the canopies were so high you might get real wet in a driving storm. #22 was carded into San Marcos at 8:32 a.m. About 8:40 we heard the distinctive Amtrak whistle. Two other pax had shown up at the last minute and one lady decided to re-pack her suitcase (and a rather large one at that) right on the platform. Somehow, she got herself back together again rather quickly.
The lone engine pulled up to where everyone was standing and we thought that the train had stopped short. A UP Road Foreman, who was one of my old bosses, climbs down the ladder after making a check ride with the engineer.(Boy, do they have it made on that run~ San Antonio to Austin and return the same night for the engineer. The train crew went on to Fort Worth.) After a few words with my old boss the train pulled up and spotted for loading. Eureka~the 0012 (I think they're 39000 series) CCC was on board along with the sightseer lounge. And yes, it was confirmed by the crew that this was the maiden voyage of the CCC. We were in the sleeper and the conductor, who was very skillful and entertaining, walked us to the sleeper. We had been politefully asked by our sleeper attendant, as we walked through the CCC, if we wanted breakfast. We were served a box breakfast as the diner crew still gets on in Austin~ the CCC will NOT be running open bumper to bumper. I ate the muffin and fruit cup and ignored the yogurt and cereal. The sleeping car attendant said the catering company charges Amtrak $20 a piece for the cold box breakfast. You could almost equate that to the $700 Air Force hammers.
There was a lady implementer on board the CCC. She said she had been a conductor for eight years before taking the implementers job. We went into a discussion about the CCC and I learned quite a bit. It will run with only two LSA's and a chef. The sightseer lounge will stay on for the summer and come off in the fall. (It was manned for this trip but will be unattended at some time in the near future.) The menu was definitely as regional at the City's is. There were a few Mexican choices and pit bar-b-que on the menu. I just don't see this working if one of the LSA's takes off to the coaches with the rolling cart and the other has to handle both the snack and diner side of the CCC. I strongly suspect that the cart will only roll in non- meal hours or the wheels will rust where it is parked. Remember, the LSA's are responsible for their inventory even though Gate Gourmet is supposed to do it. I was surprised to learn that the commissary supplies were put on in Chicago for the entire round trip with just ice and a few incidentals put on at intermediate points.
The running on the old MOP (Missouri Pacific) was rather uneventful but full of slow orders and Form B's (work approach orders). We gradually noticed the number of hills by the groaning of the lone GE going uphill and the muffled idle coming downhill. When we turned onto the BNSF it was like entering a new world of railroading. Temple, TX has a long original ATSF depot with
T E M P L E spelled out across the entire face. The main part of the building is a museum. Outside, and between the depot and the main line are cabooses, an old, old Baldwin switcher, a very ornate steam engine, an old 10 and 6 sleeper still in Amtrak colors, a Pullman sleeper that looked road ready and a PULLMAN troop sleeper that looked like a converted box car! There was so much equipment I'd have to get on the ground with a pad and pencil to list it all. On the other side of the main line was a full yard and roundhouse. What really got our attention was the well groomed park immediately adjacent to the park. There was rail laid as if there was a park train but no, there were hand operated hand cars locked in a pen. You could go around the park only if you pumped your way around !!!
Austin was all that I had heard it was~ up and coming FAST. It will be the next Atlanta. Why people would want to live in ultra swanky condos next to the main line is beyond me. They were so close we could see what program the people were watching on the return trip.
Cleburne was the last stop before Fort Worth and it was very interesting. What had been a huge back shop for the Santa Fe steam and diesel engines was now just a bare bones skeleton with very old, and probably scrapper bound, work equipment cars and scattered materials.
We pulled in to Fort Worth about 45" late and looked over at the next track. There was a Trinity Railway Express train that would take us to where I wanted to go~ the old T&P building where I had hired out 40 years earlier. Just as we turned the corner to board the train departed. I went inside the station, which is also a very active bus transfer/terminating point and inquired as to how far the T&P building was. We were able to walk there in about ten minutes. I was completely blown away at how ornate and Art-Deco the building remained. It is a Gothic 10 plus stories and I would personally say much more ornate than the Great Hall. There were stained glass windows, beautiful hanging chandeliers and the original T&P diamonds, complete with red lettering were on the doors. The original Waiting room is now a rentable ballroom; the workers were setting up for a party but asked us in. Everything was still as it was 40 years ago. Ticket windows and information booths with signs. When we walked to the train platform the chalk boards and track # boards were still up. It really was worth the trip I thought. We walked up to the train level and there was the same train we had missed at the Intermodal facility. We were told to go get a ticket from the machine downstairs. By the time I fumbled with gold dollars the machine gave me for change, but would not take for another ticket, I heard the train rumbling out of the station. The TT gives it 4 minutes to get to the Intermodal facility; we made back in 10 and saved $3. I saw what looked like a Canadian re-build and an old FP-59 California style engine with two and three car consists.
#21 was Julied as late as 4' 56" but fortunately it backed in only two hours late. We had kept amused by the number of times The Heartland Flyer (all four cars) were shuffled from one track to another and the numerous workers washing windows and supplying the train. Ironically, they had to shove our train on top of the Heartland Flyer for some reason unbeknown to us. We were in the "California" car as #421 made the Sunset Limited connection this trip with one coach and sleeper bound for LA. So we walked about 10 car lengths and boarded. Our sleeper was refurbished but it looked like it had been sitting in a siding for six months. It was just short of filthy and ironically it was the GEORGE M. PULLMAN !!! He would have fired anyone around that car if he was still alive. The A/C didn't blow in our car and the attendant said, "Some of them are like that. " I told my son, "Let's go eat." #21 had TWO CCC's~ the 006 and 007. One served meals and the other served snacks. There was no sightseer lounge. There was an implementer, in a rather nice suit, who ran up and down the aisles all night long but spoke to no one. There was a lone server with an LSA in the car. The LSA hid in the snack end and left the table waiting to the lone server (in full view of the implementer who was wearing out a pair of shoes). Fortunately, the train was late, because the CCC crew gets off in Austin, as we were in the diner almost two hours eating. It was enjoyful and the flat iron steaks are still great. The pecan pie is to die for even though they look "one sided" the slices are so thin. The waitress was really nice and gave us ice cream to ala mode the pie without us even asking. That's how you get a very good tip. We returned to our room which had cooled down just enough to be bearable as the sun had already set.
We had a very enthusiastic A/C who was heading to LA for conductor training. The engineer would call back and say, "See that church house? It's seven minutes to the depot from there."
We looked at each other and kinda doozed off. I did get off at Temple and look inside the depot. The museum must be upstairs as the old wating room was practically empty. At Austin, we were
greeted by a rather uppety lady who said, "Who's sitting in MY room?" Rather than cause a stir we gladly moved to the now closed, and unmanned,CCC that was about 20 degrees cooler than our room. We pulled into San Marcos almost three hours late and got to bed in Houston about 2:30 a.m. This old man sure was tired but happy as a clam that he was able to make the trip.
Sorry for the length and no pictures!
Now for the meat. We got home after 11 and woke up at 4:30 a.m. We had decided to board #22 in San Marcos, TX, one stop north of San Antonio. The town is not big and we soon found the intermodal center but no RR tracks. I went inside and the two gentlemen behind the counter said, "You have to drive to the tracks in back of the depot." Sure enough, hidden by trees and about 100 yards behind the depot was a platform with two canopies and two benches. It sure beat an Amshack but the canopies were so high you might get real wet in a driving storm. #22 was carded into San Marcos at 8:32 a.m. About 8:40 we heard the distinctive Amtrak whistle. Two other pax had shown up at the last minute and one lady decided to re-pack her suitcase (and a rather large one at that) right on the platform. Somehow, she got herself back together again rather quickly.
The lone engine pulled up to where everyone was standing and we thought that the train had stopped short. A UP Road Foreman, who was one of my old bosses, climbs down the ladder after making a check ride with the engineer.(Boy, do they have it made on that run~ San Antonio to Austin and return the same night for the engineer. The train crew went on to Fort Worth.) After a few words with my old boss the train pulled up and spotted for loading. Eureka~the 0012 (I think they're 39000 series) CCC was on board along with the sightseer lounge. And yes, it was confirmed by the crew that this was the maiden voyage of the CCC. We were in the sleeper and the conductor, who was very skillful and entertaining, walked us to the sleeper. We had been politefully asked by our sleeper attendant, as we walked through the CCC, if we wanted breakfast. We were served a box breakfast as the diner crew still gets on in Austin~ the CCC will NOT be running open bumper to bumper. I ate the muffin and fruit cup and ignored the yogurt and cereal. The sleeping car attendant said the catering company charges Amtrak $20 a piece for the cold box breakfast. You could almost equate that to the $700 Air Force hammers.
There was a lady implementer on board the CCC. She said she had been a conductor for eight years before taking the implementers job. We went into a discussion about the CCC and I learned quite a bit. It will run with only two LSA's and a chef. The sightseer lounge will stay on for the summer and come off in the fall. (It was manned for this trip but will be unattended at some time in the near future.) The menu was definitely as regional at the City's is. There were a few Mexican choices and pit bar-b-que on the menu. I just don't see this working if one of the LSA's takes off to the coaches with the rolling cart and the other has to handle both the snack and diner side of the CCC. I strongly suspect that the cart will only roll in non- meal hours or the wheels will rust where it is parked. Remember, the LSA's are responsible for their inventory even though Gate Gourmet is supposed to do it. I was surprised to learn that the commissary supplies were put on in Chicago for the entire round trip with just ice and a few incidentals put on at intermediate points.
The running on the old MOP (Missouri Pacific) was rather uneventful but full of slow orders and Form B's (work approach orders). We gradually noticed the number of hills by the groaning of the lone GE going uphill and the muffled idle coming downhill. When we turned onto the BNSF it was like entering a new world of railroading. Temple, TX has a long original ATSF depot with
T E M P L E spelled out across the entire face. The main part of the building is a museum. Outside, and between the depot and the main line are cabooses, an old, old Baldwin switcher, a very ornate steam engine, an old 10 and 6 sleeper still in Amtrak colors, a Pullman sleeper that looked road ready and a PULLMAN troop sleeper that looked like a converted box car! There was so much equipment I'd have to get on the ground with a pad and pencil to list it all. On the other side of the main line was a full yard and roundhouse. What really got our attention was the well groomed park immediately adjacent to the park. There was rail laid as if there was a park train but no, there were hand operated hand cars locked in a pen. You could go around the park only if you pumped your way around !!!
Austin was all that I had heard it was~ up and coming FAST. It will be the next Atlanta. Why people would want to live in ultra swanky condos next to the main line is beyond me. They were so close we could see what program the people were watching on the return trip.
Cleburne was the last stop before Fort Worth and it was very interesting. What had been a huge back shop for the Santa Fe steam and diesel engines was now just a bare bones skeleton with very old, and probably scrapper bound, work equipment cars and scattered materials.
We pulled in to Fort Worth about 45" late and looked over at the next track. There was a Trinity Railway Express train that would take us to where I wanted to go~ the old T&P building where I had hired out 40 years earlier. Just as we turned the corner to board the train departed. I went inside the station, which is also a very active bus transfer/terminating point and inquired as to how far the T&P building was. We were able to walk there in about ten minutes. I was completely blown away at how ornate and Art-Deco the building remained. It is a Gothic 10 plus stories and I would personally say much more ornate than the Great Hall. There were stained glass windows, beautiful hanging chandeliers and the original T&P diamonds, complete with red lettering were on the doors. The original Waiting room is now a rentable ballroom; the workers were setting up for a party but asked us in. Everything was still as it was 40 years ago. Ticket windows and information booths with signs. When we walked to the train platform the chalk boards and track # boards were still up. It really was worth the trip I thought. We walked up to the train level and there was the same train we had missed at the Intermodal facility. We were told to go get a ticket from the machine downstairs. By the time I fumbled with gold dollars the machine gave me for change, but would not take for another ticket, I heard the train rumbling out of the station. The TT gives it 4 minutes to get to the Intermodal facility; we made back in 10 and saved $3. I saw what looked like a Canadian re-build and an old FP-59 California style engine with two and three car consists.
#21 was Julied as late as 4' 56" but fortunately it backed in only two hours late. We had kept amused by the number of times The Heartland Flyer (all four cars) were shuffled from one track to another and the numerous workers washing windows and supplying the train. Ironically, they had to shove our train on top of the Heartland Flyer for some reason unbeknown to us. We were in the "California" car as #421 made the Sunset Limited connection this trip with one coach and sleeper bound for LA. So we walked about 10 car lengths and boarded. Our sleeper was refurbished but it looked like it had been sitting in a siding for six months. It was just short of filthy and ironically it was the GEORGE M. PULLMAN !!! He would have fired anyone around that car if he was still alive. The A/C didn't blow in our car and the attendant said, "Some of them are like that. " I told my son, "Let's go eat." #21 had TWO CCC's~ the 006 and 007. One served meals and the other served snacks. There was no sightseer lounge. There was an implementer, in a rather nice suit, who ran up and down the aisles all night long but spoke to no one. There was a lone server with an LSA in the car. The LSA hid in the snack end and left the table waiting to the lone server (in full view of the implementer who was wearing out a pair of shoes). Fortunately, the train was late, because the CCC crew gets off in Austin, as we were in the diner almost two hours eating. It was enjoyful and the flat iron steaks are still great. The pecan pie is to die for even though they look "one sided" the slices are so thin. The waitress was really nice and gave us ice cream to ala mode the pie without us even asking. That's how you get a very good tip. We returned to our room which had cooled down just enough to be bearable as the sun had already set.
We had a very enthusiastic A/C who was heading to LA for conductor training. The engineer would call back and say, "See that church house? It's seven minutes to the depot from there."
We looked at each other and kinda doozed off. I did get off at Temple and look inside the depot. The museum must be upstairs as the old wating room was practically empty. At Austin, we were
greeted by a rather uppety lady who said, "Who's sitting in MY room?" Rather than cause a stir we gladly moved to the now closed, and unmanned,CCC that was about 20 degrees cooler than our room. We pulled into San Marcos almost three hours late and got to bed in Houston about 2:30 a.m. This old man sure was tired but happy as a clam that he was able to make the trip.
Sorry for the length and no pictures!
