# My day riding some trains



## stntylr (Jun 17, 2009)

I decided a few weeks ago that it had been way to long since I had riden a train. So I decided to spend a day off riding some trains. First I drove 2 1/2 to Fort Worth. This may seema little strange since I live only a half hour away from the Temple Tx station and Amtrak even has a motor coach pick up less than a mile from where I work. But there was a method to my madness. I knew I could ride up to Fort Worth on the Texas Eagle and meet the southbound train in Fort Worth to ride back. The problem was I was afraid that if the northbound train was more than an hour late I would miss the connection and be stuck in Fort Worth.

Also I used to live in Fort Worth 20 yrs ago and I wanted to see the Trinity Railway Express.

I parkat the restored T&P station in downtown FW. They have free parking there so it's a good place to go. I arrived about 50 minutes early for the TRE which gave me a chance to check out the station. The T&P station was the main train station for FW until the late 60's. the line was eventually shut down and the station was abandoned with the upper floors becoming offices for the Dept of Housing. today the upper floors have been renovated for condominiuns and the station has been restored. It's a beautiful place but very empty. They need to find something to put there.

The T&P is the terminal point for the FW end of the TRE. I saw the train arrive and the passenges get off. I had a good half hour by myself to check out the trai and take some pitures. Finally the train departed with just a few passengers. The next stop was only about five blocks away at the ITC station. A bunch more people got on there and soon we were off again toward Dallas. The first thing I noticed was that the train left the city and seemed to be out in the countryside. I didn't know there was any countryside in DFW. Soon we reached the Centerpoint/dfw stop which I just found out will soon be an Amtrak station. There out train came to an end and we had to transfer to another train. For the first leg we were on the Bombadier bi level coaches. Now I was on a self propelled desiel train that had been built back in the 50's for use in Pennsylvania. the new train was nice and seemed in good condition. Past the centerpoint stop I could see the maintance yard for the TRE. There were a couple a trains in the yard and one train that looked like they had stuck a whole bunch of the self propelled cars together. Coming into dallas I could see where they building the new Dart light rail line out to DFW. they still had a way to go on that line.

When I got to Union station I got to use the Quick traks machine to print my ticket. 9 dollars for a one way trip from dallas to Fort Worth. Not back of course a round trip on the TRE is only 5 dollars. Next I rode the Dart light rail to West End which has a lot of places to eat. I bought a 7 dollars sandwich from a sandwhich shop.

After my lunch I decided to walk back to Union Station. It's only a few block and it gave me a chace to check out Deley Plaza. I had seen so many pictures of the place. I was surprised that it looked exactly like the pictures only smaller. I made it back to Union station to wait for my train. I had already checked online and I knew it was running an hour late so I had some time. I took some pictures and waited mostly in the sun. I noticed that the TRE platform had seats but the Amtrak platform didn't. Finaly the Texas Eagle arrived 45 minutes late. I was able to get some pictures of the train arriving. On the train I had a nice big comfy seat to myself. I took some pictures of the seats to she my wife to help me convince her to take a train trip to Chicago next year with me. I love to look out the window and there was plenty to see. In Arlington I had a good look at Six Flags Over Texas, the Rangers Ballpark and of course the new Cowboys stadium. That thing is huge. I think you can see it from the surface of the moon.

The thing I thought of the most was that Arlington has no mass transit. The only way to get there is to drive. The TRE doesn't have a stop in Arlington and if if did the nearest point would be a few miles away. It would make so much sense to have the TRE stop there or the DArt but Arlington is not a member of Dart so no trains or buses. With parking at the stadium starting at 40 dollars Jerry Jones is racking in the bucks.

Next for me was the Fort Worth ITC. Before we got there they announced that we were 5 minutes early. Since we left 45 minutes late from Dallas we had made up a lot of time. We have to back into the ITC. We backed right next to tower 55 which I had heard a lot about. It didn't look to impressive. What was impressive was the ITC with both Texas Eagles there. I thought to myself I would have made the connection if I had gone from Temple. Oh well.

The ITC is a very nice place and there were a lot of people passing through. The problem for me was that I wasn't parked at the ITC, I was parked at the T&P. I could wait an hour and take the next TRE train but I was ready to go home so I walked the 5 blocks and went on home.

I really enjoyed my day and I will have to plan so more train trips. Maybe I will risk the Fort Worth connection. I suppose if I missed the return train I could take the TRE to DFW and fly home.


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 17, 2009)

stntylr said:


> I decided a few weeks ago that it had been way to long since I had riden a train. So I decided to spend a day off riding some trains. First I drove 2 1/2 to Fort Worth. This may seema little strange since I live only a half hour away from the Temple Tx station and Amtrak even has a motor coach pick up less than a mile from where I work. But there was a method to my madness. I knew I could ride up to Fort Worth on the Texas Eagle and meet the southbound train in Fort Worth to ride back. The problem was I was afraid that if the northbound train was more than an hour late I would miss the connection and be stuck in Fort Worth.Also I used to live in Fort Worth 20 yrs ago and I wanted to see the Trinity Railway Express.
> 
> I parkat the restored T&P station in downtown FW. They have free parking there so it's a good place to go. I arrived about 50 minutes early for the TRE which gave me a chance to check out the station. The T&P station was the main train station for FW until the late 60's. the line was eventually shut down and the station was abandoned with the upper floors becoming offices for the Dept of Housing. today the upper floors have been renovated for condominiuns and the station has been restored. It's a beautiful place but very empty. They need to find something to put there.
> 
> ...


  Thanks for the report on the DFW train situation!If you want your wife to consider a train trip beforeyou go to CHI how about the Heartland Flyer from FTW to Oklahoma  !!!!!Ride the TE22 from Temple to

FTW. do a roundtrip to OKC,take the Eagle back to Temple. You could also ride to Austin oand or San Antonio

but that would involve an overnight stay but that could be a quickie get away vacation!SMILE,Ride Trains!!!!! :lol:


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## printman2000 (Jun 17, 2009)

jimhudson said:


> Thanks for the report on the DFW train situation!If you want your wife to consider a train trip beforeyou go to CHI how about the Heartland Flyer from FTW to Oklahoma  !!!!!Ride the TE22 from Temple to
> 
> FTW. do a roundtrip to OKC,take the Eagle back to Temple. You could also ride to Austin oand or San Antonio
> 
> but that would involve an overnight stay but that could be a quickie get away vacation!SMILE,Ride Trains!!!!! :lol:


The HF from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City would also require an overnight in Oklahoma City.


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## printman2000 (Jun 17, 2009)

stntylr said:


> Soon we reached the Centerpoint/dfw stop which I just found out will soon be an Amtrak station. There out train came to an end and we had to transfer to another train. For the first leg we were on the Bombadier bi level coaches. Now I was on a self propelled desiel train that had been built back in the 50's for use in Pennsylvania. the new train was nice and seemed in good condition. Past the centerpoint stop I could see the maintance yard for the TRE. There were a couple a trains in the yard and one train that looked like they had stuck a whole bunch of the self propelled cars together.


So was the train you transferred to just one car? Or did it also have several of the self propelled cars together?

My first experience with TRE was on a train of self propelled cars, though I have never seen them run just one car.


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## stntylr (Jun 18, 2009)

I believe it was four cars.


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## metrorail (Jul 6, 2009)

Things to point out...

1. T&P Station is the end of line for the TRE. I must agree, it is very lonely!

2. The DARTRAIL construction you saw was for the new GREEN LINE (First branch to open on Septimber 14!). It will connect communities from Southeast Dallas to Northwest Dallas. However, another line, the ORANGE LINE, will connect off of this new GREEN LINE to DFW Airport. That should open around 2013.

3. Don't forget, that's "*CENTRE*POINT/DFW" station (They're fancy enough to spell *CENTER* like that!)

4. Arlington does have public transit, sort of. The T, Fort Worth's Transit Service, provides a park and ride bus to and from Arlington on weekdays. This service debuted sometime last year.

5. AMTRAK is a really great service (Better than flying!). It's better on you wallet and better on the environment. I encourage you and your wife to take a trip togeather on the TEXAS EAGLE to Chicago.


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## stntylr (Jul 6, 2009)

I enjoyed my trip last month so much that I'm doing it again tomorrow. this time I'm taking my camcorder along and will post some video on youtube of the trip.


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## Shanghai (Jul 6, 2009)

The TRE is convenient from Dallas Union Station to DFW Airport, but it doesn't run on Sundays. A taxi from DFW to DUS is $60.00!!


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## stntylr (Jul 8, 2009)

Here is some video I shot yesterday along the same route . I had some problems with glare through the window.

The first one is from the Fort Worth T&P station to the Fort Worth ITC which is also the Amtrak station. I was riding on the TRE.


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