Texas Mini Gathering - DFW - January 7-8 2012

[Texan Eagle]

I'm not exactly against spending the night in Dallas, but what will we do if Sunday's Southbound Texas Eagle (21) is substantially delayed while the local intercity passenger rail connections are offline? I don't have a strong desire to spend a lot of time riding a city bus or a taxi.

Umm.. why should this be an issue? If one is going to take the southbound TE on Sunday, it should not matter to him/her if it arrives at DAL at 11.30am or 2.30pm, right? From what I understand so far, the plan suggested by a couple of folks is that everyone meets Saturday afternoon in FTW, see the exhibition train and the TE/Flyer and then take TRE to Dallas, have dinner in Dallas and stay the night in Dallas. On Sunday, the folks taking southbound TE can do so from DAL, and everyone can spend time at DAL Union Station until the TE pulls in, there will be DART and freight traffic to keep railfans entertained, and downtown is just a block away if the station seems boring.

Regarding traveling between DAL and FTW on Sunday, I guess some locals would have a car and they can help rush the folks to the right place as last resort if the need be, right? I am not sure if I will 100% attend, but if I do I will have my car with me and I would be glad to be a volunteer "cab driver" to drop off folks at the airport/FTW if the need be

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Umm.. why should this be an issue? If one is going to take the southbound TE on Sunday, it should not matter to him/her if it arrives at DAL at 11.30am or 2.30pm, right? From what I understand so far, the plan suggested by a couple of folks is that everyone meets Saturday afternoon in FTW, see the exhibition train and the TE/Flyer and then take TRE to Dallas, have dinner in Dallas and stay the night in Dallas. On Sunday, the folks taking southbound TE can do so from DAL, and everyone can spend time at DAL Union Station until the TE pulls in, there will be DART and freight traffic to keep railfans entertained, and downtown is just a block away if the station seems boring.

If everything is on-time and the lines are not long then I agree that there is no problem. On my trip for the Washington D.C. meetup things didn't go as smoothly as planned, even with seasoned gatherers in attendance. Obviously this is a much smaller event that is far less likely to run into any serious setbacks, but I was still thinking of how to ensure that we'd have the maximum likelihood of seeing the Anniversary Train even if the lines were crazy long or there were some sort of delay for one or more of the incoming and/or outgoing trains. That's all. Other than that Dallas works fine. ^_^

 

[Texan Eagle]

Obviously this is a much smaller event that is far less likely to run into any serious setbacks, but I was still thinking of how to ensure that we'd have the maximum likelihood of seeing the Anniversary Train even if the lines were crazy long or there were some sort of delay for one or more of the incoming and/or outgoing trains. That's all. Other than that Dallas works fine. ^_^

Why would there be lines to see an Amtrak exhibition? After all, nobody rides the trains in Texas, remember?

 

[tonys96]

Can we have specifics? Which date would be the lunch and/or dinner? We'd need to know that in order to know which date to leave to get there on time. Is it going to be Dallas or Ft. Worth? My vote would be Dallas because the TE would get there earlier and leave to come back home later. More time to spend in the area. I have an old time table, but arrival in Dallas would be 11:30 a.m. and departure to go back up north would be 3:40 p.m. Arrival in Ft. Worth would be 1:25 p.m. and departure back up north would be 2:20 p.m. If it all falls into place, I'd be in a hotel only one night, so timing is important to me.

The most obvious start for our gathering appears to be around 2:00PM on Saturday when the last of the three Amtrak trains arrives in Fort Worth.

11:30A Southbound Texas Eagle (21) Arrives in Dallas

12:40P Southbound Heartland Flyer (821) Arrives in Forth Worth

01:45P Southbound Texas Eagle (21) Arrives in Fort Worth

02:00P Northbound Texas Eagle (22) Arrives in Fort Worth

03:20P Northbound Texas Eagle (22) Arrives in Dallas

There is a similar 2:00P outbound cutoff on Sunday. Those 24 hours or so should provide for a dinner and a breakfast along with a lunch in or near the Forth Worth station if folks are so inclined. Northbound Heartland Flyer passengers will have a couple more hours to kill until 5:25P but for the most part it lines up pretty well. I'd be OK with having dinner in Dallas if that's what the group prefers and the intercity rail runs late enough to allow for it, but I think basing our hotels in Forth Worth makes more sense on all counts.

This sounds good to me. Closest Hotel seems to be the Downtown Hilton at 0.2 miles and $135. Cheapest(downtown) is the Sheraton 0.3 miles and $119. Sheraton is about five blocks from the Intermodal center where the Amtrak display is and close to the T&P station. Any recommendations?

The Intermodal center also serves Greyhound and other intercity buses if you want to travel that way. If you want to fly back on Sunday there are buses to Dallas all day long.

I like the Courtyard in Ft. Worth. It is the old Blackstone hotel, Marriott remodeled it and kept the "old time" flair. But I agree that traveling either way to Ft. Worth on Saturday is the best bet. e could take TRE to Big D, and if we missed the Anniversary train for whatever reason on Sat, we could "carpool" it over to Ft. Worth on Sunday to do this, and then if needed we can "carpool" back to Big D (Union Station and/or Love Field) later on........there seem to be several of us who are in the DFW area who can pitch in with carpooling, if needed.

Good thing about Dallas is that it is not a requirement to hotel in downtown, there are many great places along the DART routes, so there are places for every budget, or desire.

 

[AlanB]

Here's a list of hotels in Dallas & Fort Worth that are accessible by transit, either by walking or a hotel shuttle from the nearest train stop.

 

[henryj]

Ok, I like the idea of finishing up in Dallas as I want to fly back to Houston from Love Field and there is no TRE on Sunday. The TRE trains eastbound on Saturday are 5:17, 6:17, 8:17 and 9:47. We can meet at the exhibit around 2PM, take the 5:17 to Dallas and have dinner some where, stay overnight and fly home Sunday. The train only works one way from Houston if we stay overnight Saturday night. What we need now is a restaurant recommendation and a hotel recommendation. I know there are plenty of places to eat in that warehouse district right on DART. I have no idea where to stay except I would prefer a nice neighborhood if you know what I mean. Someone up there in the know give us a plan and lets do this. Remember in January Dallas can be really cold, sometimes with ice and snow so pick accordingly. If it all goes to H then we can do the car pool thingy to see the exhibit Sunday. On SWA I can always change flights.

 

[AlanB]

Henry,

I gave Texas Sunset 2 restaurant recommendations for Dallas last night in chat. The first was Hoffbrau Steaks and the second was the Spaghetti Warehouse. Both are decent, usually do good with groups, and aren't outrageously priced. At Hoffbrau I walked in with a group of 8 without a reservation and they still managed to accommodate us and take good care of us.

As for hotels, I posted a link earlier to a list of hotels accessible from transit. Just pick your favorite!

Personally I've stayed at the Hampton Inn downtown, which wasn't half bad. Granted that was about 5 years ago, so things could well have changed by now. But back then I found the location to be good and the hotel was very nice, good staff.

 

[Texan Eagle]

If you just want an excuse to ride the light rail, you can consider booking one of the hotels up in Richardson in the so-called Telecom Corridor area that is served by the DART Red Line. It's a pretty good area, very safe from what I have seen working there since the past four months, and the Hyatt, Residence Inn and one more, I guess Econo Lodge are a minute or two walking distance from Galatyn Road DART station. On weekends, there are trains from Union Station to Galatyn Park departing as late as 11.49pm and Sunday morning first train to come downtown is as early as 6.22am. The Red Line from Union Station to Galatyn Park will give you experience of at-grade running, elevated running as well as underground running.

 

[Everydaymatters]

The Florida mini-gathering is so simple: enjoy the train to WPK, meet for a meal or two, converse, enjoy the train ride back home.

Riding the light rail, gathering together to see the Anniversary Train, car pooling, etc. This is starting to sound more like the annual gathering and less like a mini-gathering, which I thought was the original intention. :huh:

 

[saxman]

If you want to fly back, I'd say staying in Dallas is a good idea. The light rail does run on Sunday, so you can get to Love Field. It's also possible to get to DFW by bus on Sunday, but it's a long ride from Dallas. Perhaps after dinner in Dallas we could a moonlight streetcar ride on the McKinney Ave trolley. For those staying in Fort Worth, the last TRE is at 9:49 pm leaving Dallas. Does it make sense to do something on Sunday? Perhaps a ride on the light rail? The only problem with that is if you stay in Fort Worth, you'd miss out on it, since you can't get to Dallas really.

There are plenty of restaurants in the West End that I'm sure we could eat at. The original Speghetti Warehouse is there and is pretty neat.

 

[City of Miami]

In Dallas I have stayed at Springhill Suites (in West End) twice and the Sheraton (on Olive St. near Arts District) twice. I got both on Priceline for around $50/night.

In FTW I have stayed at Park Central and Courtyard Blackstone (both right downtown, walking distance to Amtrak) and at the Marriott (out at the Stockyards) and another one out by the Museum District. Also on Pricline these were more expensive.

These are all on Alan's list. Since I don't have to get to and from an opera performance this time, the Richardson/Plano option with the ride on the red line interests me.

 

[henryj]

I have made my Amtrak reservations, so I am going to take a little train trip regardless. Just a reminder, the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic is January 6th in Arlington so if you are going by air you might want to jump on those reservations and the same goes for hotel space. I made the Amtrak reservation because the price for a roomette on the Sunset has already jumped over

$60 from just a few days ago. One on the Sunset to Del Rio so I can sleep until at least 5am in SAS and a coach seat on the Eagle. If you are going, well let us know. If no one is going to meet us there then I am going to fly back Saturday night. If we are going to have a nice dinner in Dallas then I will fly back Sunday.

The Springhill suites is already sold out. The Hotel Lawrence is across from Union Station. The Hoffbrau Steak House sounds like a good place to eat.

Any other ideas?

 

[tonys96]

Alan's list of hotls is quite good!

The "West End" area has gone down a bit in the past few years, but Spring Hill Suites is OK, Hampton is good, the Lawrence is more budget concious and is a quaint remodel....more stars are the Magnolia and Adolphus.

I love the Hoffbrau, really fun place, but my last trip to Spaghetti Warehouse was dismal..........

I will be happy to be a carpooler if needed, since I live betwixt D and FW

 

[AlanB]

Alan's list of hotls is quite good!

Actually that's not my list, although I have over the years tipped the author off to a few of the hotels on the list. But it belongs to a railfan and a friend of mine (also an admin over at OTOL) named Kevin Korell. Kevin has spent countless hours on compiling and maintaining those lists for various cities around the US and I cannot say enough about the effort involved!

I daresay that probably hundreds, if not a few thousand railfans have taken advantage of Kevin's hard work and owe him considerable thanks for his efforts!

You can view the master city list here as well as a food court/restaurant list that he maintains here.

I love the Hoffbrau, really fun place, but my last trip to Spaghetti Warehouse was dismal..........

I'm sorry to hear that the Spaghetti Warehouse has gone down hill.

I won't deny however that I liked the Hoffbrau better. And like I said, we walked in right off the street without a reservation and they took it right in stride and provided great service and excellent food for a decent price.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

If you are going, well let us know.

I'll definitely be there. As for specifics I'll be boarding the Northbound Texas Eagle (22) in SAS at 7:00AM on Saturday the 7th of January 2012 and arriving around 2:00PM (if everything goes smoothly). I'll be heading back South again twenty four hours later on the 8th. To be perfectly honest $28.80 is a steal for seven hours of riding. Now we just need to narrow down our hotel and restaurant options...

 

[henryj]

If you are going, well let us know.

I'll definitely be there. As for specifics I'll be boarding the Northbound Texas Eagle (22) in SAS at 7:00AM on Saturday the 7th of January 2012 and arriving around 2:00PM (if everything goes smoothly). I'll be heading back South again twenty four hours later on the 8th. To be perfectly honest $28.80 is a steal for seven hours of riding. Now we just need to narrow down our hotel and restaurant options...

First a note of thanks to Alan for providing those lists. I am leaving Houston on #1 Friday night to SAS and then taking #22 out of SAS at 7am so I will look for you. The train doesn't work for me on Sunday so I plan to fly back from Love Field. I park my car at Hobby Friday and take the Super Shuttle to the Amtrak station so when I get back my car is there waiting for me. I booked the Hotel Lawrence for Saturday night because it's across the street from Union Station and I can just walk across and check in and leave my stuff. I can put up with most anything for one night. I vote for the Hoffbrau Steak house for dinner. I like the idea of getting a chance to sample the TRE from Fort Worth. I would like to check out the new "A" Train to Denton but it doesn't run on Sunday. However, MATA does run from around 10am until 9:30 or so every 25 minutes. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

 

[tonys96]

If you are going, well let us know.

I'll definitely be there. As for specifics I'll be boarding the Northbound Texas Eagle (22) in SAS at 7:00AM on Saturday the 7th of January 2012 and arriving around 2:00PM (if everything goes smoothly). I'll be heading back South again twenty four hours later on the 8th. To be perfectly honest $28.80 is a steal for seven hours of riding. Now we just need to narrow down our hotel and restaurant options...

First a note of thanks to Alan for providing those lists. I am leaving Houston on #1 Friday night to SAS and then taking #22 out of SAS at 7am so I will look for you. The train doesn't work for me on Sunday so I plan to fly back from Love Field. I park my car at Hobby Friday and take the Super Shuttle to the Amtrak station so when I get back my car is there waiting for me. I booked the Hotel Lawrence for Saturday night because it's across the street from Union Station and I can just walk across and check in and leave my stuff. I can put up with most anything for one night. I vote for the Hoffbrau Steak house for dinner. I like the idea of getting a chance to sample the TRE from Fort Worth. I would like to check out the new "A" Train to Denton but it doesn't run on Sunday. However, MATA does run from around 10am until 9:30 or so every 25 minutes. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

MATA ????

 

[Texan Eagle]

If you are going, well let us know.

I'll definitely be there. As for specifics I'll be boarding the Northbound Texas Eagle (22) in SAS at 7:00AM on Saturday the 7th of January 2012 and arriving around 2:00PM (if everything goes smoothly). I'll be heading back South again twenty four hours later on the 8th. To be perfectly honest $28.80 is a steal for seven hours of riding. Now we just need to narrow down our hotel and restaurant options...

First a note of thanks to Alan for providing those lists. I am leaving Houston on #1 Friday night to SAS and then taking #22 out of SAS at 7am so I will look for you. The train doesn't work for me on Sunday so I plan to fly back from Love Field. I park my car at Hobby Friday and take the Super Shuttle to the Amtrak station so when I get back my car is there waiting for me. I booked the Hotel Lawrence for Saturday night because it's across the street from Union Station and I can just walk across and check in and leave my stuff. I can put up with most anything for one night. I vote for the Hoffbrau Steak house for dinner. I like the idea of getting a chance to sample the TRE from Fort Worth. I would like to check out the new "A" Train to Denton but it doesn't run on Sunday. However, MATA does run from around 10am until 9:30 or so every 25 minutes. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

MATA ????

This- http://www.mata.org/

 

[tonys96]

If you are going, well let us know.

I'll definitely be there. As for specifics I'll be boarding the Northbound Texas Eagle (22) in SAS at 7:00AM on Saturday the 7th of January 2012 and arriving around 2:00PM (if everything goes smoothly). I'll be heading back South again twenty four hours later on the 8th. To be perfectly honest $28.80 is a steal for seven hours of riding. Now we just need to narrow down our hotel and restaurant options...

First a note of thanks to Alan for providing those lists. I am leaving Houston on #1 Friday night to SAS and then taking #22 out of SAS at 7am so I will look for you. The train doesn't work for me on Sunday so I plan to fly back from Love Field. I park my car at Hobby Friday and take the Super Shuttle to the Amtrak station so when I get back my car is there waiting for me. I booked the Hotel Lawrence for Saturday night because it's across the street from Union Station and I can just walk across and check in and leave my stuff. I can put up with most anything for one night. I vote for the Hoffbrau Steak house for dinner. I like the idea of getting a chance to sample the TRE from Fort Worth. I would like to check out the new "A" Train to Denton but it doesn't run on Sunday. However, MATA does run from around 10am until 9:30 or so every 25 minutes. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

MATA ????

This- http://www.mata.org/

Ahhhhh...........................we just call it the Mckinney Trolley or simply the trolley..............MATA really screwed me up..............it is a fun ride!

 

[AlanB]

This- http://www.mata.org/

Ahhhhh...........................we just call it the Mckinney Trolley or simply the trolley..............MATA really screwed me up..............it is a fun ride!

It doesn't MATA what you call it, it is a great ride. :lol: :lol:

 

[Misty.]

Umm.. why should this be an issue? If one is going to take the southbound TE on Sunday, it should not matter to him/her if it arrives at DAL at 11.30am or 2.30pm, right? From what I understand so far, the plan suggested by a couple of folks is that everyone meets Saturday afternoon in FTW, see the exhibition train and the TE/Flyer and then take TRE to Dallas, have dinner in Dallas and stay the night in Dallas. On Sunday, the folks taking southbound TE can do so from DAL, and everyone can spend time at DAL Union Station until the TE pulls in, there will be DART and freight traffic to keep railfans entertained, and downtown is just a block away if the station seems boring.

If everything is on-time and the lines are not long then I agree that there is no problem. On my trip for the Washington D.C. meetup things didn't go as smoothly as planned, even with seasoned gatherers in attendance. Obviously this is a much smaller event that is far less likely to run into any serious setbacks, but I was still thinking of how to ensure that we'd have the maximum likelihood of seeing the Anniversary Train even if the lines were crazy long or there were some sort of delay for one or more of the incoming and/or outgoing trains. That's all. Other than that Dallas works fine. ^_^

Plus I don't remember terrible lines for either of my prior Anniversary Train walkthoughs in STL and MKE, though those were both early in the day in timing. At MKE, I did another trip through later in the day, trying to locate someone... it was a little more crowded, but still no line outside the train itself. Things should be pretty smooth there. ^_^

 

[henryj]

So now that this is a go, how are we to identify each other and get our group together? I assume assembly time is the arrival of #22 at the Fort Worth Intermodal Center from SAS. I have only been there once, but the center has meeting rooms up stairs or we could meet by the Interurban display outside. Any suggestions?

 

[City of Miami]

I'll definitely be there. As for specifics I'll be boarding the Northbound Texas Eagle (22) in SAS at 7:00AM on Saturday the 7th of January 2012 and arriving around 2:00PM (if everything goes smoothly). I'll be heading back South again twenty four hours later on the 8th.

Me too. Exactly.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

So our current consensus is Hoffbrau Steaks for dinner in Downtown Dallas and nearby hotels?

 

[henryj]

So our current consensus is Hoffbrau Steaks for dinner in Downtown Dallas and nearby hotels?

Sounds good to me.