Awaking in the Super 8 in Longview on a Cool, Clear East Texas Morning after a Good Nights Sleep and watching my SA Spurs roll the OKC Thunderless, I call Julie and find out that #21 is One Hour Late out of TXA into Texas! A quick shower and then a nice self serve breakfast in the hotels breakfast room as I read the provided USA Today! ^_^ ! (included and one the better all you can eat ones Ive had in bargain motels!)
I decide to walk back to the Amtrak Station since the weather is so nice and its an easy stroill of less than 2 miles through downtown! (This is the closet hotel to the Amtrak Station in Longview!) I arrive about 8;15AM, check with Julie and #21 is just leaving Marshall about 20 minutes down! The old T&P/MoPac Station is undergoing complete rennovation, paid for by the City of Longview, and looks really nice compared to the Broom Closet Am Shak that used to be used @ this oldtimer!
There are 2 Agents on Duty plus a couple of Amtrak Suits, (One of whom stands on the Platform next to the Main as a UP Freight Rumbles by Very Close! The Agent comments that "And we just had Safety Training Last week in CHI with that guy!" :huh: ) in the Office waiting on #21! The Shreveport and Houston buses are parked in the parking lot awaiting #21 and there are a few folks in the waiting room that came off the shuttles waiting on the Train or the Thruway Buses that will mkae the stops in Mineola, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Cleburne, McGregor and Temple today as #21 is Re-Routed through East Texas due to the Trackwork around Tower 55 in FTW!!!
Soon two Charter Buses arrive and stop on the Platform and at 8:45AM the Horn sounds aand #21 pulls into the Station only 15 minutes down! Several UP freights have rolled through in each direction but the Main is Clear as the Passengers that are riding the Bus or arriving de-train and the Luggage is loaded or unloaded! Several folks are upset that they have to ride a Bus instead of the Train today and one lady is cursing the Agent who tells her that she will enjoy her ride on the Dog which leaves from the Greyhound Station across the Street! About 40-50 people get off, then 5 of us Board! The consist is the usual one engine and 7 Cars and I am in the First Coach which is Empty! The last 2 Coaches are fairly fiull (today is not a #421 day) with lots of Taylor, Austin and San Antonio riders aboard!
I stash my bag and head for the SSL which is about half full! There I see one of the Amtrak VIPs and he tells me that he is from the Government Affairs/PR Division in WAS and is riding along to monitor the Re-Route and then write a story when he returns to WAS! Didnt give me his Name! <_<
We roll out @9
)AM only 25 minutes down and proceed to Big Sandy where we do a Backup Move and then head for Tyler, the largest City in East Texas which hasnt seen Passengers Trains since the 60s!! The Conductor tells us that we will head for Coriscana and then to Hearne where we will then do a T&E Crew Change and take the UP Freight Main to Taylor and on into Austin! There is a UP Pilot in the Engine with the Amtrak Engineer but the Conductors are the Regular MHL-FTW Crew! As we roll, through the small Logging and Farming towns (it sems like the 1950s through here)we pass several UP Freights and surprisingly the Track is Double tracked and Smooth! We roll through Tyler, head out through the Piney woods as Lunch is Announced in the CCC (I pass as I had a Large Breakfast), roll through Corsicana (no Passenger Trains since the Lone Star was killed) and head for Hearne now Early for Arrival into Hearne per the Conductor!
We roll into Hearne 30 minutes early and the Conductor announces that we will have to wait about 30 Minutes for the Relief T&E Crew that is being Bused from FTW! No-one is allowed off the Train "for Safety reasons"! Finally the Relief Crw Arrives and we roll out headed for Rockdale and Taylor on a Hot, Sunny Afternoon! I ask Fred, the Regular Conductor on the SAS-FTW Route if #22 was on time today since we hadnt seen it during the Re-Reoute! He informed me that it was taking a Different Re-Reroute from Hearne than we had used, it headed through Palestine for Longview where it would meet the Buses that ran for Northbound Passengers today between Austin and Longview!
We rolled into Taylor One Hour Early @ 4:30PM on a Hot, Sunny Spring Afternoon in Central Texas and were allowed to get off @ (my second home! :giggle: ), the Taylor "Picnic Table" Am-Station! :lol: (actually the UP Guys are very nice about letting Amtrak Passengers use the Old MoPac Station which is their Headquarters and which has Restrooms, Vending Machines and Air Conditioning! )
At 5:30 the All Aboard Call is made and we Roll out headed to Austin on the Regular Route and smoke out of Roundrock, through McNeil and down MoPac into the Austin Station for an Early 6:15PM Arrival! The Train will have to wait for the Thruway Buses to arrive from North of Taylor before heading for SAS!!!
I met several Rail Fans that rode today to experience the Re-Route including a guy from Illinois and a Couple from Wisconsin! The DC Amtrak guy seemed pleased with how everything went and Fred, the Conductor told me that they would run this again next Tuesday and on Several Days in June which is Posted on the Amtrak.com site! I enjoyed the Re-Route trips and overall feel lucky to have had the Voucher so all the trip cost me was tips and the Motel in Longview which was a bargain !($50) Would I do it again, not Next Week but maybe in June or if someone twisted my arm or Paid my way! :giggle:
I decide to walk back to the Amtrak Station since the weather is so nice and its an easy stroill of less than 2 miles through downtown! (This is the closet hotel to the Amtrak Station in Longview!) I arrive about 8;15AM, check with Julie and #21 is just leaving Marshall about 20 minutes down! The old T&P/MoPac Station is undergoing complete rennovation, paid for by the City of Longview, and looks really nice compared to the Broom Closet Am Shak that used to be used @ this oldtimer!
There are 2 Agents on Duty plus a couple of Amtrak Suits, (One of whom stands on the Platform next to the Main as a UP Freight Rumbles by Very Close! The Agent comments that "And we just had Safety Training Last week in CHI with that guy!" :huh: ) in the Office waiting on #21! The Shreveport and Houston buses are parked in the parking lot awaiting #21 and there are a few folks in the waiting room that came off the shuttles waiting on the Train or the Thruway Buses that will mkae the stops in Mineola, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Cleburne, McGregor and Temple today as #21 is Re-Routed through East Texas due to the Trackwork around Tower 55 in FTW!!!
Soon two Charter Buses arrive and stop on the Platform and at 8:45AM the Horn sounds aand #21 pulls into the Station only 15 minutes down! Several UP freights have rolled through in each direction but the Main is Clear as the Passengers that are riding the Bus or arriving de-train and the Luggage is loaded or unloaded! Several folks are upset that they have to ride a Bus instead of the Train today and one lady is cursing the Agent who tells her that she will enjoy her ride on the Dog which leaves from the Greyhound Station across the Street! About 40-50 people get off, then 5 of us Board! The consist is the usual one engine and 7 Cars and I am in the First Coach which is Empty! The last 2 Coaches are fairly fiull (today is not a #421 day) with lots of Taylor, Austin and San Antonio riders aboard!
I stash my bag and head for the SSL which is about half full! There I see one of the Amtrak VIPs and he tells me that he is from the Government Affairs/PR Division in WAS and is riding along to monitor the Re-Route and then write a story when he returns to WAS! Didnt give me his Name! <_<
We roll out @9
)AM only 25 minutes down and proceed to Big Sandy where we do a Backup Move and then head for Tyler, the largest City in East Texas which hasnt seen Passengers Trains since the 60s!! The Conductor tells us that we will head for Coriscana and then to Hearne where we will then do a T&E Crew Change and take the UP Freight Main to Taylor and on into Austin! There is a UP Pilot in the Engine with the Amtrak Engineer but the Conductors are the Regular MHL-FTW Crew! As we roll, through the small Logging and Farming towns (it sems like the 1950s through here)we pass several UP Freights and surprisingly the Track is Double tracked and Smooth! We roll through Tyler, head out through the Piney woods as Lunch is Announced in the CCC (I pass as I had a Large Breakfast), roll through Corsicana (no Passenger Trains since the Lone Star was killed) and head for Hearne now Early for Arrival into Hearne per the Conductor!We roll into Hearne 30 minutes early and the Conductor announces that we will have to wait about 30 Minutes for the Relief T&E Crew that is being Bused from FTW! No-one is allowed off the Train "for Safety reasons"! Finally the Relief Crw Arrives and we roll out headed for Rockdale and Taylor on a Hot, Sunny Afternoon! I ask Fred, the Regular Conductor on the SAS-FTW Route if #22 was on time today since we hadnt seen it during the Re-Reoute! He informed me that it was taking a Different Re-Reroute from Hearne than we had used, it headed through Palestine for Longview where it would meet the Buses that ran for Northbound Passengers today between Austin and Longview!
We rolled into Taylor One Hour Early @ 4:30PM on a Hot, Sunny Spring Afternoon in Central Texas and were allowed to get off @ (my second home! :giggle: ), the Taylor "Picnic Table" Am-Station! :lol: (actually the UP Guys are very nice about letting Amtrak Passengers use the Old MoPac Station which is their Headquarters and which has Restrooms, Vending Machines and Air Conditioning!
)At 5:30 the All Aboard Call is made and we Roll out headed to Austin on the Regular Route and smoke out of Roundrock, through McNeil and down MoPac into the Austin Station for an Early 6:15PM Arrival! The Train will have to wait for the Thruway Buses to arrive from North of Taylor before heading for SAS!!!
I met several Rail Fans that rode today to experience the Re-Route including a guy from Illinois and a Couple from Wisconsin! The DC Amtrak guy seemed pleased with how everything went and Fred, the Conductor told me that they would run this again next Tuesday and on Several Days in June which is Posted on the Amtrak.com site! I enjoyed the Re-Route trips and overall feel lucky to have had the Voucher so all the trip cost me was tips and the Motel in Longview which was a bargain !($50) Would I do it again, not Next Week but maybe in June or if someone twisted my arm or Paid my way! :giggle:
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