Texas Eagle discussion H2 2024

[Bob Dylan]

To me, the most irritating frequent situation with the Eagle, is it can be pretty much on time in Temple, but before the dispatcher authorizes the train to head south at Temple, the TE sits and waits and waits...

Temple has BNSF and UP Freights running past the Station, and the Dispatchers give preference to both RRs over the Eagletes.

Taylor, the last stop before Austin, has a Freight yard (UP)that also causes delays, especially since Tesla started shipping Cars out of this yard.

 

[frequentflyer]

To me, the most irritating frequent situation with the Eagle, is it can be pretty much on time in Temple, but before the dispatcher authorizes the train to head south at Temple, the TE sits and waits and waits...

Tracks between Temple and Taylor is dark terrirtory, no CTC.

Unless UP spent money on it the line and brought it into the 21st century.

 

[IndyLions]

I am currently on 21 heading to Longview, and ultimately to Houston for the Lions – Texans game. Lifelong Lions fan - I always enjoy getting to road games on Amtrak.

I drove over from Indianapolis to Bloomington-Normal and picked up the Eagle there. First time I've used that station. Like a lot of stations in Illinois it is very nice. Not fancy, but very functional. Really nice parking garage for long-term parking for my vehicle – which will be there for about five days. I wish the stations in Indiana were half as nice as that one.

Dinner (flexible dining) was much better than the Cadinal. It makes a real difference to actually have a diner (CCC) to sit in. The crew also made a concerted effort to improve the presentation of the meal. And the fact that there is a kitchen available also allowed them to prepare the food about as well as it could be .

My normal train is the Cardinal. Same food, terrible presentation, inconsistent preparation, lousy eating environment. Even if they just added the VL Diner to the Cardinal without a food change – it would make a huge difference as a start.

Overall, I am pleasantly surprised thus far. Also – it was nice to see the longer train today as the consist includes 421.

 

[MccfamschoolMom]

Really nice parking garage for long-term parking for my vehicle – which will be there for about five days.

I've been in that parking garage several times, as it's the same one we've used when attending book sales at the Normal Public Library (currently undergoing renovations, so all of their programming is off-site for the duration). Non-Amtrak parking there is all via an app now, which I find far more confusing than the paper ticket + payment kiosk setup which used to be there. (And if the hubby weren't with me, he'd be sunk, since he doesn't own a smartphone.)
I will have to remember your comparison of TE dining vs. Cardinal dining, should the hubby & I ever ride the Cardinal!