Temple has BNSF and UP Freights running past the Station, and the Dispatchers give preference to both RRs over the Eagletes.
Tracks between Temple and Taylor is dark terrirtory, no CTC.
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.)
Only needs 3 things: Sightseer Lounge,Traditional Dinning and better Time Keeping!( lots of Freight Congestion between St Louis and Austin!!!)Honestly I'd be fine with just the first two. If you got those, who cares how long you're on board for?
I can understand why coach passengers would want the Sightseer Lounge, but if you have a bedroom I don't think you would need to go to the Sightseer Lounge car, even though you can see only out of one side from the bedroom. And once we are on the TE, headed to our vacation spot, the delays don't bother me either because Amtrak is a vacation in itself, to me.
The sightseer lounge is a great place to see both sides of the rail and even the sky We watched the eclipse from Beaumont area in the SSL.
All of these can be achieved by using the existing Cross Country Cafe as a lounge when meals aren't being served. That doesn't cost Amtrak anything more than having a firm policy of an open lounge for all.
But then where would the SCAs, CCAs, Conductors and other staff have a place to spread out, lounge, BS about how bad their jobs are and store their crap instead of keeping tabs on that for which they are supposed to be caring?
I assume you'll be transferring to/from the Heartland Flyer in Fort Worth on that January trip? Not looking at the PDF schedule, so I'm not sure how long a wait you'll have between trains, but if you need to go into the station proper from the platforms in-between trains, be prepared for a LONG hike (approx. 1/4 mile)! Or ask about the "shuttle" if you have mobility issues or are elderly (the hubby & I were both the latter); the driver is very nice. If you only have a short wait at the platforms between trains, there are lean-against "benches" along the platforms, but those aren't low enough to allow passengers to actually sit down.
The hubby and I are 67 and 66, respectively, and we got quite winded walking that 1/4 mile from the platform to the station when we arrived in Fort Worth. We didn't know about the shuttle before arriving, and asked about it the next morning while waiting for the northbound TE. Our legs and lungs were very thankful we didn't have to walk all the way back to the train when heading home to Illinois!
I don't recall it being that far from the platform? I know you have to go to the end of the platform to cross over to get to the station, but the station is pretty close once you've crossed the tracks isn't it?
Ditto! The SSL is one of my favorite places in the world, and the ambience is great.
ISTR when I boarded FTW-LAX, the train was wayyyyy the Hellandgone down the track, past the old control tower, instead of at the platform directly across from the bus lanes. When I questioned this, I got a really snotty attitude and an "I dunno" from the SCA. This was the beginning of a pretty crappy trip from the standpoint of on board service.
The Heartland Flyer will load across the Platform (towards Dallas)from where the Texas Eagles park, but there's no telling just where it will be spotted.
It's the Southbound Eagle, train 21, that parks so far down the track. They do that because they share the platform with local commuter trains, which unload on it and then use a crossover just behind the parked Eagle to get on the track leading to the end-of-line TRE station. Since 21 and 22 are often in the station simultaneously, train 22 uses a different track and pulls down to the pedestrian crosswalk.
It seemed like the shuttle still had to go a fair way down the platform to reach the sleeping car on the northbound TE. The hubby and I were unaware that trains 21 and 22 might park at different distances from the station, and we didn't wish to risk the exhaustion we had felt walking to the Fort Worth station from the southbound TE.
