Trip Report: Chicago to Fort Worth; October 24, 2010
After the 25 hour trip from New York to Chicago on the Lake Shore Limited yesterday and a good night sleep at the Palmer House Hotel, I was ready for the trip to Fort Worth aboard the Texas Eagle. I had breakfast with my nephew and his family, including my grandnephew who was five months of age.
I spent a few hours in the Metropolitan Lounge prior to departure. It was very crowded and several people were standing as all seats were taken. The announcement to board the Texas Eagle came promptly at 1:00pm and within five minutes we were walking to the train. There were two private cars on the rear of the train. They were St. James and Charter Club. The Charter Club was a dome car. Both had been restored and appeared to be in excellent condition. I did see some rich wood paneling in the St. James car through the window as I was passing by the car.
I was in room 20, car 2132, a crew car (transition dorm). The entire train was sold out – coach and sleepers. My car was filled with single riders in roomettes. Our SCA, Mike, came by and introduced himself and said he was working one of the coach cars in addition to our sleeper.
We departed Chicago on time and proceeded south towards St. Louis and all scheduled stops between. The man across the aisle from me had his laptop computer tuned to a radio station and was listening to the Bears-Redskins football game. The Bears were leading as we left but the Redskins won in the end.
I joined a couple traveling to St. Louis for dinner. I had fried chicken and it was very tasty. We proceeded into St. Louis as we did for the Gathering a few weeks ago. It is a most beautiful sight of the lights and the Gateway Arch then crossing over the Mississippi River.
We were running on time and departed St. Louis exactly 8:00pm. CDT. I did some work on my laptop and decided to turn-in at 9:00pm. I put down my bunk and went to sleep. I awoke as we approached Little Rock, AR and went back to sleep waking again shortly before Texarkana.
I washed up and dressed and walked to the diner at 6:30am. I joined a man from California and a man from Texas for breakfast. I ate an egg Quesada with salsa and grits, quite a southern breakfast. It was spicy but good. I returned to my room until our arrival at Longview, TX. We were 15 minutes early, so I detrained for some fresh air. It was warmer than Chicago and also quite humid.
We waited a few minutes in Longview for a long Union Pacific freight train to pass and then we resumed our trek. The track since Little Rock has caused the train to sway more than I like, but I managed to hold-on as I walked through the cars. We stopped in Mineola, TX on schedule and headed on to Dallas. I ate a quick lunch between Dallas and Fort Worth. As we were approaching Fort Worth, we were stopped by two slow moving freight trains. We backed into the station which took longer and as I was walking to catch the TRE, it went by on the way to Centerpoint (DFW) and Dallas. The next train was two hours later, so I grabbed a taxi to my hotel. I’ll have my return trip via SAS, NOL to NYP later.
After the 25 hour trip from New York to Chicago on the Lake Shore Limited yesterday and a good night sleep at the Palmer House Hotel, I was ready for the trip to Fort Worth aboard the Texas Eagle. I had breakfast with my nephew and his family, including my grandnephew who was five months of age.
I spent a few hours in the Metropolitan Lounge prior to departure. It was very crowded and several people were standing as all seats were taken. The announcement to board the Texas Eagle came promptly at 1:00pm and within five minutes we were walking to the train. There were two private cars on the rear of the train. They were St. James and Charter Club. The Charter Club was a dome car. Both had been restored and appeared to be in excellent condition. I did see some rich wood paneling in the St. James car through the window as I was passing by the car.
I was in room 20, car 2132, a crew car (transition dorm). The entire train was sold out – coach and sleepers. My car was filled with single riders in roomettes. Our SCA, Mike, came by and introduced himself and said he was working one of the coach cars in addition to our sleeper.
We departed Chicago on time and proceeded south towards St. Louis and all scheduled stops between. The man across the aisle from me had his laptop computer tuned to a radio station and was listening to the Bears-Redskins football game. The Bears were leading as we left but the Redskins won in the end.
I joined a couple traveling to St. Louis for dinner. I had fried chicken and it was very tasty. We proceeded into St. Louis as we did for the Gathering a few weeks ago. It is a most beautiful sight of the lights and the Gateway Arch then crossing over the Mississippi River.
We were running on time and departed St. Louis exactly 8:00pm. CDT. I did some work on my laptop and decided to turn-in at 9:00pm. I put down my bunk and went to sleep. I awoke as we approached Little Rock, AR and went back to sleep waking again shortly before Texarkana.
I washed up and dressed and walked to the diner at 6:30am. I joined a man from California and a man from Texas for breakfast. I ate an egg Quesada with salsa and grits, quite a southern breakfast. It was spicy but good. I returned to my room until our arrival at Longview, TX. We were 15 minutes early, so I detrained for some fresh air. It was warmer than Chicago and also quite humid.
We waited a few minutes in Longview for a long Union Pacific freight train to pass and then we resumed our trek. The track since Little Rock has caused the train to sway more than I like, but I managed to hold-on as I walked through the cars. We stopped in Mineola, TX on schedule and headed on to Dallas. I ate a quick lunch between Dallas and Fort Worth. As we were approaching Fort Worth, we were stopped by two slow moving freight trains. We backed into the station which took longer and as I was walking to catch the TRE, it went by on the way to Centerpoint (DFW) and Dallas. The next train was two hours later, so I grabbed a taxi to my hotel. I’ll have my return trip via SAS, NOL to NYP later.
