# Texas State Railroad Trip



## Bob Dylan (Mar 27, 2010)

A beautiful Spring day in East Texas (the Piney Woods) for a ride on the Texas State Railroad (TexasStateRailRoad.com), the redbuds i n bloom and the dogwoods just starting due to a late winter with snow and freezing temps!It's the longest,skinniest state park in Texas basically being the railbed and the ROW for the connection between the Palestine and Rusk depots on each end. Approximately 22 miles, 8 trestles through piney and swampy woods.

The engine we had is a 1901 old T&P that is the last of it's kind running, had been on display in Abilene,Texas for many years before being donated to the TSRR. The company that operates the trains also runs the Smokey Mountain Railroad and the Durango Narrow Gauge train in Colorado. They contracted it from the State when the Gov. (Ricky Perry, suddendly its 1861!)wanted to close it down as well as the park due to "budget problems!" (billions for toll roads, not a cent for rail! Sen. Hutchison helped broker the deal , she who saved the Eagle and Sunset several times during her Senate tenure!)

About 200 people, a mix of senior tour groups, grandparents with grandkids and couples of various ages took the hour and a half journey from Palestine to Rusk where we had lunch during an hour layover @ a nice lakefront park @ the Rusk 1920s depot. The car choices were climate controlled firstclass with "snacks" or open air coaches which was where we rode, last car on the train going,first behind the engine returning.The consist was the 1901 steamer,gondola, baggage/climate control first class car, 1 coach with closed windows, 1 open window/platform coach, our choice! 

A couple had paid for the cab ride, you get an engineer hat, gloves, red bandana and get to ride in the fireman seat, also blow the whistle during crossings but not operate the throttle etc. Its like $225, would have done it if Id had it!  The trip back is mostly uphill so the train chugs away, reminds one of the little train that could! Saw lots of small critters, birds, a few wild hogs but no gators or snakes yet, the crew said it was a little early for them yet! Also there was a Dulcimer Music Fest going on in Palestine, the dogwood trail weekends are underway! Fascinating old town, lots of railroad barons had mansions on the hill here when the T&P was in its heyday, also later the MOPAC!Very reasonable motels, lots of eating joints, a nice weekend get away for those wanting to get out of the city and ride a real steam train! (It also runs from Rusk to Palestine on special occasions but Rusk is a much smaller town 25 miles East so its better to use Palestine for a base!)

Including the lunches it was about $100, well worth it IMHO, wouldnt be the same with a diesel engine but still a great trip for anyone who likes tourist trains and old timey railroads and country scenery! Catch it while you can, there's talk again of shutting it down, damn government officials dont seem to get it about parks and heritage, lets give it to corporations and campaign contributers (aka bribes!  ) It gets really hot and humid in the summer in the Piney woods so the best time to go is Spring or Fall, they have lots of specials too, check out the web site!(No AGR points but paid with my AGR MC so got those!) :lol:


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## the_traveler (Mar 27, 2010)

jimhudson said:


> The consist was the 1901 steamer,gondola, *baggage*/climate control first class car, 1 coach with closed windows, 1 open window/platform coach, our choice!


Can you check baggage, just in case there's a delay?

:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## stntylr (Mar 27, 2010)

I remember you saying you were going to ride the Texas State Railroad when we were on the Red Line.


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## Alice (Mar 28, 2010)

When Jim talked about this a few weeks ago, I took note and scheduled a detour on a driving trip from CA to TN. It was well worth the extra miles. I was there Thursday, after a Wednesday storm that beat up all the flowers, on their other operating steam engine (1917 Baldwin). Friday I met the train at Maydelle and took a closer look at the pre-1900 turntable there (still used regularly), and also went to the Forestry Museum in Lufkin. Besides lumber industry material, they have a room devoted to steam through history, and a static display out back that includes a 1908 Baldwin and a steam log loader. This afternoon I stopped at the B-RI Railroad Museum in Teague, in the old depot. This is basically devoted to a history of Teague, especially the Teague family, but since it was and is a railroad town, they have tons of stuff donated by families of railroad workers: time tables, photos, books, caboose and switch keys, rail maps, blueprints (including a diagram of "The General"), model layouts, medical equipment from the clinic where rail workers went, etc. One fascinating series was about a staged wreck ("publicity stunt") Sept. 15, 1896, between two steam locomotives, that was "catastrophic, if not spectacular." Outside are a 1926 Baldwin and a caboose, and a BNSF yard is just across the tracks. In both Lufkin and Teague, climbing aboard the equipment is encouraged.

I heartily second Jim's enthusiasm for the Rusk-Palestine line, and suggest spending a few extra days in the area for other rail-oriented history.

Thanks, Jim!


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## Bob Dylan (Mar 28, 2010)

Alice said:


> When Jim talked about this a few weeks ago, I took note and scheduled a detour on a driving trip from CA to TN. It was well worth the extra miles. I was there Thursday, after a Wednesday storm that beat up all the flowers, on their other operating steam engine (1917 Baldwin). Friday I met the train at Maydelle and took a closer look at the pre-1900 turntable there (still used regularly), and also went to the Forestry Museum in Lufkin. Besides lumber industry material, they have a room devoted to steam through history, and a static display out back that includes a 1908 Baldwin and a steam log loader. This afternoon I stopped at the B-RI Railroad Museum in Teague, in the old depot. This is basically devoted to a history of Teague, especially the Teague family, but since it was and is a railroad town, they have tons of stuff donated by families of railroad workers: time tables, photos, books, caboose and switch keys, rail maps, blueprints (including a diagram of "The General"), model layouts, medical equipment from the clinic where rail workers went, etc. One fascinating series was about a staged wreck ("publicity stunt") Sept. 15, 1896, between two steam locomotives, that was "catastrophic, if not spectacular." Outside are a 1926 Baldwin and a caboose, and a BNSF yard is just across the tracks. In both Lufkin and Teague, climbing aboard the equipment is encouraged.
> I heartily second Jim's enthusiasm for the Rusk-Palestine line, and suggest spending a few extra days in the area for other rail-oriented history.
> 
> Thanks, Jim!


Youre welcome Alice, when I go back with my granddaughter Ill be sure and visit the other railroad stuff you mention, always enjoy your trip reports and pics, wish I had more money to do this full time, a dream trip would involve riding every old time/tourist train in North America, visit every old station no matter what it was used for now and along the way ride every Amtrak train and visit every Major League Baseball Stadium! Cant wait for National train Day in Philadelphia!


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## Ispolkom (Mar 28, 2010)

jimhudson said:


> Youre welcome Alice, when I go back with my granddaughter Ill be sure and visit the other railroad stuff you mention, always enjoy your trip reports and pics, wish I had more money to do this full time, a dream trip would involve riding every old time/tourist train in North America, visit every old station no matter what it was used for now and along the way ride every Amtrak train and visit every Major League Baseball Stadium! Cant wait for National train Day in Philadelphia!


Every *major* league stadium? How about every ball park in organized baseball? Now that would be a trip! Sadly, the Sacramento Rivercats will be in Reno the night we will be waiting for the Coast Starlight at the end of May, but later in the summer at least we'll be able to catch one, maybe two games of the Albuquerque Isotopes.


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## Bob Dylan (Mar 30, 2010)

Ispolkom said:


> jimhudson said:
> 
> 
> > Youre welcome Alice, when I go back with my granddaughter Ill be sure and visit the other railroad stuff you mention, always enjoy your trip reports and pics, wish I had more money to do this full time, a dream trip would involve riding every old time/tourist train in North America, visit every old station no matter what it was used for now and along the way ride every Amtrak train and visit every Major League Baseball Stadium! Cant wait for National train Day in Philadelphia!
> ...


You are correct about the minor league stadiums and teams! As an old ballplayer who actually played a year of minor league ball (those were the days my friend!   )I really enjoy any ball park! We have the Round Rock Express in the Austin area, owned by Nolan Ryan and family, a really nice ballpark and affordable!  A family can go for what one ticket costs in a big league stadium and the special nights make it lots of fun! being in the PCL we see the Isotopes and other PCL teams several times a year!

The logo of the Express speak to Nolan Ryans fastball ("The Express!") and right outside the stadium is the UP mailine where trains go by during games blowing their horns including the Texas Eagle #21! The ballpark announcer always comments on the trains and most of the conductors on the Eagles point out the stadium as the train rolls by! A first rate idea, I'd love to visit EVERY ballpark in North America, Latin America and even Alaska and Erics stomping grounds in the islands, a little tough to get there by rail but ferries are almost as good as trains!


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## the_traveler (Mar 30, 2010)

I've visited a few major league parks during my travels. Including at least one that they since tore down - the Kingdome! (I wonder if that's an omen? :huh: )


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## GG-1 (Mar 30, 2010)

the_traveler said:


> I've visited a few major league parks during my travels. Including at least one that they since tore down - the Kingdome! (I wonder if that's an omen? :huh: )


Now you are scaring me 2 arenas I have worked in while I was on tour with Ice Capades had their roof collapse, Hartford and Kansas City. Not the year I was there but Hartford was the following year, and the Kemper Arena some time later, close to when that hotel walkway failed. (same design/construction co.)

Aloha


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## the_traveler (Mar 30, 2010)

GG-1 said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > I've visited a few major league parks during my travels. Including at least one that they since tore down - the Kingdome! (I wonder if that's an omen? :huh: )
> ...


I take blame for the Hartford Civic Center, but not for the Kemper Arena. (Never been to KC except to change planes once and sleeping thru Union Station on the SWC!  )


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## JayPea (Mar 30, 2010)

the_traveler said:


> I've visited a few major league parks during my travels. Including at least one that they since tore down - the Kingdome! (I wonder if that's an omen? :huh: )



In that case, Traveler, stay away from Safeco Field in Seattle until AFTER the 24th of June. Among the festivities of my Pacific Northwest Amtrak loop (Spokane-Seattle-Portland-Seattle) are a couple of nights in Seattle and a day game that day between the Marginals--oops, Mariners :lol: and the Flubs---oops, the Cubs. :lol:

I remember when they showed live on TV the implosion of the Kingdome. Best thing that could have ever happened to that overgrown concrete wart. I watched one Seahawks game and one Mariners game in it and it was like playing ball in a mausoleum.


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