Your personal experience with Texas Eagle

[junebug]

These are the resources I use to prepare for any trip by rail - so I know what to look for and where:

• Amtrak Route Guide: https://www.amtrak.com/route-guides

• Google Earth: https://www.google.com/earth/

• Topographic maps: http://www.mytopo.com/maps/index.cfm?

• FRA Map: http://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety/ This one is invaluable as it shows the normal routes taken by Amtrak - which is sometimes really difficult to find in urban areas with many other train tracks. It also gives the names of most of the places along the route which might otherwise go unnoticed - such as the remnants of ghost towns (the info is usually found by a Google search and the Wikipedia link).

• YouTube Videos: even though some of them are badly done.

Thank you. I don't understand what to do with the FRA map. I took a look at it and didn't get it. Why do you use Google Earth and the Topographic maps? Sorry for seeming dense.

 

[Lonestar648]

I like to see where the train is actually going to go or on the the trip that maybe we are on a different track than planned. Example, Some people like to know which main the TE is arriving into San Antonio on. There are two main UP mains that split south of New Braunfels, one goes by the airport and other parts of San Antonio, the other is further east along I-35, I have traveled the route enough times looking at maps and my GPS to know where I am.

 

[KmH]

These are the resources I use to prepare for any trip by rail - so I know what to look for and where:

• Amtrak Route Guide: https://www.amtrak.com/route-guides

• Google Earth: https://www.google.com/earth/

• Topographic maps: http://www.mytopo.com/maps/index.cfm?

• FRA Map: http://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety/ This one is invaluable as it shows the normal routes taken by Amtrak - which is sometimes really difficult to find in urban areas with many other train tracks. It also gives the names of most of the places along the route which might otherwise go unnoticed - such as the remnants of ghost towns (the info is usually found by a Google search and the Wikipedia link).

• YouTube Videos: even though some of them are badly done.

Thank you. I don't understand what to do with the FRA map. I took a look at it and didn't get it. Why do you use Google Earth and the Topographic maps? Sorry for seeming dense.

It's a map that shows a train engineer safety and other information.

Yellow dots mark each grade crossing.

Blue dots with blue numbers are mileposts.

Red dots are town names.

Purple dots over grade.

Blue dots under grade.

 

[KmH]

I like to see where the train is actually going to go or on the the trip that maybe we are on a different track than planned. Example, Some people like to know which main the TE is arriving into San Antonio on. There are two main UP mains that split south of New Braunfels, one goes by the airport and other parts of San Antonio, the other is further east along I-35, I have traveled the route enough times looking at maps and my GPS to know where I am.

Tune into the dispatchers radio freq?

I imagine it varies based on freight traffic.

 

[Chey]

I've taken it a number of times although I mostly get off at FTW, and that's usually on time, several times its been early. But I've had several delays south of there. One time we were going to take it from FTW to SAS and we left the house too late. I called and had them change the ticket to say from AUS to FTW. We live several hours away from both FTW and AUS but could easily get to AUS by departure time. But between FTW and AUS the train got held up by a *bunch* of freights and got into AUS THREE hours late. We got into SAS at midnight. Last year (and/or the year before) it got delayed by flooding but that was mostly south of AUS, I don't think the southbound (21) was affected that much, at least as far as AUS.

Several others have told you about the scenery - I particularly like the lights on Little Rock's bridge over the Arkansas River but I usually miss it since it's pretty late. You're certainly too young to remember the JFK assassination but I'm not and I was in shock the first time I saw the Texas School Book Depository building and Dealey Plaza from the train, which I hadn't expected but recognized right away.

 

[niemi24s]

Thank you. I don't understand what to do with the FRA map. I took a look at it and didn't get it. Why do you use Google Earth and the Topographic maps? Sorry for seeming dense.

You're welcome. If you click on "Help" at the top left on the FRA Map, you'll find a 10 page User's Guide. I use Google Earth and the topographic maps to see what there is to see all along the route. With Google Earth it's just like helicoptering along the route at whatever altitude you choose and seeing what's below via satellite imagery. The topographic maps sometimes show the route more clearly and give a better sense of...uh...the topography along the route. None is better than the other because they each compliment each other. Here's an example:

1. Looking at the timetable for the California Zephyr, the mileages at Glenwood Springs CO and Grand Junction CO (from Chicago) are shown as 1223 and 1311, respectively. Subtraction of one from the other gives the distance between the two or 1311 - 1223 = 88 miles.



2. When looking at the FRA map mileposts for those two stations you'll find (with a little interpolation) 360.1 and 449.6 and subtraction would give the distance between them of 449.6 - 360.1 = 89.5 miles which is 1.5 miles more. Why is there that much difference? In other words, is the timetable wrong or is the FRA map wrong?

3. A look at the FRA map milepost markings between the two stations reveals this...



...milepost 394 is missing and the distance between mileposts 393 and 395 itself seems too short. Does this mean the FRA map is in error?

4. To find out, Google Earth is looked at for clues...



... and nothing unusual is seen (unless you really know what to look for).

5. As a last resort to solve the problem, the topographic map of the area is found...



...and the answer is revealed - the OLD RAILROAD BED shown following the river bank explains the 1.5 missing miles. When that part of the route was abandoned, the mileposts were not changed because that would have necessitated the relocation of about 350 mileposts from this location all the way West to Salt Lake City. Not worth the effort.

Moral of the story is that the distance between two mileposts is not always one subtracted from the other - and these 3 different types of maps complement each other in helping to resolve the discrepancy. So basically, neither the timetable nor the FRA map is in error (the FRA map merely showing the location of the discontinuity in the milepost signage). And as a guess, there are probably other such discontinuities in existence. FWIW, this one is located about 5 miles West of Rifle CO.

 

[VentureForth]

My personal experience on the Texas Eagle is awesome. I got an onboard upgrade to a sleeper for only $35 from Chicago to Dallas.

But that was in 2000...

 

[junebug]

My personal experience on the Texas Eagle is awesome. I got an onboard upgrade to a sleeper for only $35 from Chicago to Dallas.

But that was in 2000...

WOW!

 

[junebug]

I've taken it a number of times although I mostly get off at FTW, and that's usually on time, several times its been early. But I've had several delays south of there. One time we were going to take it from FTW to SAS and we left the house too late. I called and had them change the ticket to say from AUS to FTW. We live several hours away from both FTW and AUS but could easily get to AUS by departure time. But between FTW and AUS the train got held up by a *bunch* of freights and got into AUS THREE hours late. We got into SAS at midnight. Last year (and/or the year before) it got delayed by flooding but that was mostly south of AUS, I don't think the southbound (21) was affected that much, at least as far as AUS.

Several others have told you about the scenery - I particularly like the lights on Little Rock's bridge over the Arkansas River but I usually miss it since it's pretty late. You're certainly too young to remember the JFK assassination but I'm not and I was in shock the first time I saw the Texas School Book Depository building and Dealey Plaza from the train, which I hadn't expected but recognized right away.

You can see the book depository from the train? Cool!

Nah, not too young.I was in fourth grade. The whole class sat on the floor, in the teacher's lunchroom. There was a little black and white TV on a cart. I will never forget how sad I felt when I saw Walter Cronkite saying Kennedy had died.

 

[junebug]

Is it wishful thinking that when Trump says 'fixing the infrastructure' of the country, that means putting money into Amtrak? Other than into the profitable East Coast lines?

It would be so awesome to get off BNSF's tracks and get our own.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Is it wishful thinking that when Trump says 'fixing the infrastructure' of the country, that means putting money into Amtrak? Other than into the profitable East Coast lines? It would be so awesome to get off BNSF's tracks and get our own.

Trump's standard MO would be to direct Amtrak to use taxpayer funds to license the name TrumpTrain at substantial expense before casually watching it go bankrupt from the sidelines. Followed by shrugging of shoulders, whining about fake news, blaming his predecessor in some vague incomprehensible manner, and then moving on to his next scam project.

 

[Lonestar648]

If Congress can ever work together, maybe the infrastructure improvement plan, mentioned by both parties during the election, can be passed with money for the track and signalling improvements, not just at current speeds but also main line increases. Capital for Amtrak deteriorating equipment, but right now it is all a dream. With more and longer sidings, some additional double track, maybe the TE schedule could improve end to end, plus eliminate those annoying freight delays.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

If Congress can ever work together, maybe the infrastructure improvement plan, mentioned by both parties during the election, can be passed with money for the track and signalling improvements, not just at current speeds but also main line increases. Capital for Amtrak deteriorating equipment, but right now it is all a dream. With more and longer sidings, some additional double track, maybe the TE schedule could improve end to end, plus eliminate those annoying freight delays.

Are you somehow unaware that one single party is completely in charge of both houses of Congress? Why would they not be able to "work together" toward their common goal of dissolving basic protections and placing foxes in charge of hen houses?

 

[VentureForth]

So, Junebug, to clarify -

Any time on Amtrak beats time in the office. That being said, my opinion is that from a scenery standpoint, the Texas Eagle is perhaps the loneliest ride to the West. You wander through endless fields flatlands between Chicago and St. Louis. You will then get some excitement crossing the Mighty Mississippi River and following it for a few minutes. Some of the most scenic sights are then in the middle of the night as you progress through Missouri and Arkansas. East Texas is a forest, then more gently rolling plains as you go into Dallas. Yes, you can see the book depository to the North (Station Side) as you cross over Elm Street and onto the grassy knoll.

From Dallas to Fort Worth, you'll travel along the old Rock Island line and pass through junk yards, back yards, and jail yards. You'll also pass through the Bell Helicopter plant. Well, sort of. You'll pass between the parking lot and the main plant. You'll then pull into Fort Worth, followed by one of the busiest railroad interchanges in the US - Tower 55.

Fort Worth to San Antonio is pretty straight forward. Depending on the day of the week, you could spend several hours in the middle of the night in San Antone' hooking up to the Sunset Limited.

From San Antonio to El Paso is flat dessert. Parts of El Paso are incredible as you pass mere yards from the Mexican Border. Enjoy it before it is only a big, beautiful, impenetrable wall.

You'll miss the Rockies between El Paso and LA, but you'll get some incredible, pristine, dessert views. You'll likely spot a saguaro or pipe organ cactus

Finally, you'll arrive in LA probably around 4 AM - long before anything is open. Unless you're in a sleeper, you'll be unceremoniously booted to the station.

In conclusion, I love Texas. I miss Texas. I bleed Cowboys blue. But if I had my dream trip to the West, it'd be the SWC from Chicago to LA, Coast Starlate from LA to Seattle, then the Empire Builder back to Chicago.

 

[neroden]

1. Looking at the timetable for the California Zephyr, the mileages at Glenwood Springs CO and Grand Junction CO (from Chicago) are shown as 1223 and 1311, respectively. Subtraction of one from the other gives the distance between the two or 1311 - 1223 = 88 miles....

2. When looking at the FRA map mileposts for those two stations you'll find (with a little interpolation) 360.1 and 449.6 and subtraction would give the distance between them of 449.6 - 360.1 = 89.5 miles which is 1.5 miles more. Why is there that much difference? In other words, is the timetable wrong or is the FRA map wrong?...

3. A look at the FRA map milepost markings between the two stations reveals this...milepost 394 is missing and the distance between mileposts 393 and 395 itself seems too short. Does this mean the FRA map is in error?...

OK, something many people Might Not Know about railroad mileposts. They're sort of arbitrary and the distance between them is not actually the number of miles.

...and the answer is revealed - the OLD RAILROAD BED shown following the river bank explains the 1.5 missing miles.

When that part of the route was abandoned, the mileposts were not changed because that would have necessitated the relocation of about 350 mileposts from this location all the way West to Salt Lake City. Not worth the effort.

...And as a guess, there are probably other such discontinuities in existence.

Good guess. There are lots and lots and lots of these.
There's stuff like this on practically every railroad branch in the entire world. Sometimes it's *very substantial* -- a new route might have cut 25 miles off the old route, so there's a 25 mile jump. Or in rarer cases a new route might have *added* miles to the old route, and you can end up with two mileposts which are *more* than a mile apart. Maybe even two miles apart. If you have to put a new milepost in between those two milepost, you might end up with weird stuff like "milepost 57A", or you might end up with phony fractions, like "57.5". Or you might end up with mileposts in a different series, so you go from 57 to "D1, D2, D3, D4, D5" (D for deviation, for example) and then 58.

Mileposts are best thought of as fixed point markers. A milepost designates a location. The distance between them is arbitrary, even though it was usually a mile when first measured.

Some early railroads really didn't like this so they gave code names to all the locations rather than using numbers, but this became less common over the years, and remnants of this are found only on very short urban lines.

Occasionally when mileposts get really severely out of whack they'll go through and redo the mileposts on an entire line, but this isn't done very often. In most countries they'll usually take the opportunity to switch from mileposts to kilometer posts if they do.

 

[junebug]

So, Junebug, to clarify -

Any time on Amtrak beats time in the office. That being said, my opinion is that from a scenery standpoint, the Texas Eagle is perhaps the loneliest ride to the West. You wander through endless fields flatlands between Chicago and St. Louis. You will then get some excitement crossing the Mighty Mississippi River and following it for a few minutes. Some of the most scenic sights are then in the middle of the night as you progress through Missouri and Arkansas. East Texas is a forest, then more gently rolling plains as you go into Dallas. Yes, you can see the book depository to the North (Station Side) as you cross over Elm Street and onto the grassy knoll.

From Dallas to Fort Worth, you'll travel along the old Rock Island line and pass through junk yards, back yards, and jail yards. You'll also pass through the Bell Helicopter plant. Well, sort of. You'll pass between the parking lot and the main plant. You'll then pull into Fort Worth, followed by one of the busiest railroad interchanges in the US - Tower 55.

Fort Worth to San Antonio is pretty straight forward. Depending on the day of the week, you could spend several hours in the middle of the night in San Antone' hooking up to the Sunset Limited.

From San Antonio to El Paso is flat dessert. Parts of El Paso are incredible as you pass mere yards from the Mexican Border. Enjoy it before it is only a big, beautiful, impenetrable wall.

You'll miss the Rockies between El Paso and LA, but you'll get some incredible, pristine, dessert views. You'll likely spot a saguaro or pipe organ cactus

Finally, you'll arrive in LA probably around 4 AM - long before anything is open. Unless you're in a sleeper, you'll be unceremoniously booted to the station.

In conclusion, I love Texas. I miss Texas. I bleed Cowboys blue. But if I had my dream trip to the West, it'd be the SWC from Chicago to LA, Coast Starlate from LA to Seattle, then the Empire Builder back to Chicago.

Thanks for your honesty! I had a feeling it would be lonely. I'll just have to make some train friends and smuggle in a bottle of wine.

I lived in Port Isabel Texas for a time. It was very tropical. One side was the Gulf and the other side the ocean.

 

[Lonestar648]

Though I have traveled the TE route both directions for over 30 years, I still thoroughly enjoy the Texas landscape passing by my window. Yes, there are more scenic routes, I have been on almost every Amtrak route, but each one is special and to me very enjoyable to see. I just enjoy seeing this country and how different it is border to border and shore to shore. I like to thing about differences between the states, there are pros and cons to each states scenery along Amtrak.

 

[SarahZ]

There were a couple of things I liked about the Texas scenery:

I got to see a few ranch gates, which were completely new to me, along with longhorn cattle. Obviously, I've seen cows before, but never longhorns. So that was pretty fun for this northern girl.

 

[junebug]

...In conclusion, I love Texas. I miss Texas. I bleed Cowboys blue. But if I had my dream trip to the West, it'd be the SWC from Chicago to LA, Coast Starlate from LA to Seattle, then the Empire Builder back to Chicago.

I've done that trip! It It was by far my favorite trip ever.

I got a rail pass and took the Southwest Chief to the Grand Canyon for a day (a day was enough for me! then on to Los Angeles. There was time to get breakfast and a couple of yummy sandwiches from Phillippe's to bring onto the Coast Starlight. I don't know about other people, but in my opinion there is only one section of the Coast Starlight trip that is magnificent. The part along the coast of California. After the coast it's kind of a let down to go through the Central Valley. Well, it is kind of interesting I guess, watching the farmers in the valley. After stopping in the bay area for a few days, the rest of the trip on the Coast Starlight was kind of boring. I stayed in Seattle for a day. Then, the Empire Builder was kind of meh until we got to Glacier National Park. I would have liked more time there. Freezing cold in summer! I was glad it was my last stop; I didn't have a warm jacket. Then back home to Chicago on the Empire Builder.

I think that was all in 10 days if I am not mistaken. I think the rail pass limit was 8 stops in 10 days.

 

[junebug]

There were a couple of things I liked about the Texas scenery:

I got to see a few ranch gates, which were completely new to me, along with longhorn cattle. Obviously, I've seen cows before, but never longhorns. So that was pretty fun for this northern girl.

What is a ranch gate? That does sound fun!

 

[junebug]

Though I have traveled the TE route both directions for over 30 years, I still thoroughly enjoy the Texas landscape passing by my window. Yes, there are more scenic routes, I have been on almost every Amtrak route, but each one is special and to me very enjoyable to see. I just enjoy seeing this country and how different it is border to border and shore to shore. I like to thing about differences between the states, there are pros and cons to each states scenery along Amtrak.

You're so open minded and diplomatic about all the routes You've been on almost all of them? Very cool.

 

[SarahZ]

There were a couple of things I liked about the Texas scenery:

I got to see a few ranch gates, which were completely new to me, along with longhorn cattle. Obviously, I've seen cows before, but never longhorns. So that was pretty fun for this northern girl.

What is a ranch gate? That does sound fun!

They're those fancy gates you see at the beginning of a driveway to a ranch. They often have the name of the ranch along with some artwork.

http://ranch-gates.com

I like the more rustic ones that are made from wood. Here's a nice example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/casch/4109521204

 

[junebug]

Uh oh. Fooey. Could be worse.


2/19 1 hr 33 min late
2/18 32 min late
2/17 1 hr 17 min late
2/16 1 hr 3 min late
2/15 1 hr 26 min late

This doesn't look too promising. I'll have to tell my daughter to hold dinner

 

[KmH]

I'm doing the Southern Loop in May:

Galesburg (GBB) to LA via Southwest Chief.

LA to Chicago via Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle.

Illinois Zephyr CHI to GBB

as first for me, so I've been following the thread petty close.

Plus I've been following both routes on Google Maps and MyTopo Maps so I know what sub-divisions we will use and what sights there are to see.

Like this interesting looking house on the right as we descend from Glorietta Pass in NM:

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.5678368,-105.7926359,121m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

[SarahZ]

Like this interesting looking house on the right as we descend from Glorieta Pass in NM:

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.5678368,-105.7926359,121m/data=!3m1!1e3

I have several pictures of that house in my trip albums.

I found pictures of the interior a couple of years ago. My curiosity got the better of me.

http://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/starchitect-bart-prince-glorieta-house-lists-santa-fe-nm-photos/