Union Pacific and Amarillo, Tx

[printman2000]

I was wondering if someone with some knowledge of track maps could help me out.

Out of Amarillo going Northwest, there are two lines. One heads to Dalhart, Tx and the other to Stratford, Tx. Both of these lines look to be BNSF. Both lines intersect with a Union Pacific line.

However, I noticed on Union Pacific's Steam app for the iPhone, they are claiming these two sections as well.

Perhaps UP has trackage rights, but I have never seen a UP train in Amarillo.

Anyone know for sure about this?

 

[gswager]

I know there is UP track from El Paso, Alamogordo, going through Vaughn underneath BNSF track, Tucumcari, and so on. I'll have to look on UP's website to find out.

 

[George B]

I was wondering if someone with some knowledge of track maps could help me out.

Out of Amarillo going Northwest, there are two lines. One heads to Dalhart, Tx and the other to Stratford, Tx. Both of these lines look to be BNSF. Both lines intersect with a Union Pacific line.

However, I noticed on Union Pacific's Steam app for the iPhone, they are claiming these two sections as well.

Perhaps UP has trackage rights, but I have never seen a UP train in Amarillo.

Anyone know for sure about this?

Yes, those are lines where UP has trackage rights.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I know there is UP track from El Paso, Alamogordo, going through Vaughn underneath BNSF track, Tucumcari, and so on. I'll have to look on UP's website to find out.

I thought you needed a login to see that info. Or maybe that's only for the detailed maps. UP is a lot more protective of their information compared to BNSF IIRC.

 

[printman2000]

Yes, those are lines where UP has trackage rights.

Do you have a source for this info? Just curious.

 

[jphjaxfl]

The Rock Island operated trains on a route from Memphis-Little Rock-Oklahoma City-El Reno-Amarillo-Tucumcari-Santa Rosa(where it became Southern Pacific)-Alamogordo-El Paso. When Rock Island went bankrupt, SP or UP acquired the "Tucumcari" Line. Much of the line through Arkansas has been abandoned. It was the route of the Cherokee/Imperial from Memphis to Los Angeles and the Choctaw Rocket from Memphis to Amarillo. The Choctaw Rocket evolved to the Choctaw Rockette which was a Budd Rail Diesel Car, but in peak periods would have one of the original Choctaw Rocket tear drop observation lounge cars attached to the RDC between Memphis and Little Rock. The Choctaw Rockette was one of the longest runs of a Budd Rail Diesel Car and lasted until 1964. It was know locally along the line as "the doodlebug".

 

[printman2000]

The Rock Island operated trains on a route from Memphis-Little Rock-Oklahoma City-El Reno-Amarillo-Tucumcari-Santa Rosa(where it became Southern Pacific)-Alamogordo-El Paso. When Rock Island went bankrupt, SP or UP acquired the "Tucumcari" Line. Much of the line through Arkansas has been abandoned. It was the route of the Cherokee/Imperial from Memphis to Los Angeles and the Choctaw Rocket from Memphis to Amarillo. The Choctaw Rocket evolved to the Choctaw Rockette which was a Budd Rail Diesel Car, but in peak periods would have one of the original Choctaw Rocket tear drop observation lounge cars attached to the RDC between Memphis and Little Rock. The Choctaw Rockette was one of the longest runs of a Budd Rail Diesel Car and lasted until 1964. It was know locally along the line as "the doodlebug".

Thanks for that info. Very interesting. On the Library of Congress website, I found several pictures that said they were passengers boarding the Rock Island Rocket in Amarillo.

Course, the Rock Island tracks that went West out of town are now long gone. In town it is now a walking trail. Going West on I-40, if you watch you can still see the remnants of the line.

 

[George B]

Yes, those are lines where UP has trackage rights.

Do you have a source for this info? Just curious.

UP system maps.

For a much more detailed explanation of those lines, including why UP has rights on those lines, and the history of when UP actually owned them for a time, you have to trace the lineage of those lines, which covers many railroads, their mergers, bankruptcies, and old Texas laws on railroad ownership. It is a lot of information.

One line was originally built by the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway to connect with the Colorado and Southern, and the other is a connector to the old Rock Island Golden State Route. Tracing the history of West Texas/Panhandle railroads is painful and confusing, but I managed to do it several years back.

 

[George B]

Yes, those are lines where UP has trackage rights.

Do you have a source for this info? Just curious.

If you go to Wikipedia and search for “Fort Worth and Denver Railway”, you will find a fairly-accurate description of the line’s history.

 

[George B]

Yes, those are lines where UP has trackage rights.

Do you have a source for this info? Just curious.

It is all starting to come back to me……

The line from Amarillo to Stratford was built by the North Plains and Santa Fe Railroad, and the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railroad. At the time, these were just financial interests of the ATSF, and not subsidiaries. UP inherited the trackage rights on this line from the Rock Island, even though UP had a financial stake in this line when it was first constructed. UP never wholly owned this line like it did on the line from Amarillo to Dalhart for a time.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

The Rock Island operated trains on a route from Memphis-Little Rock-Oklahoma City-El Reno-Amarillo-Tucumcari-Santa Rosa(where it became Southern Pacific)-Alamogordo-El Paso. When Rock Island went bankrupt, SP or UP acquired the "Tucumcari" Line. Much of the line through Arkansas has been abandoned. It was the route of the Cherokee/Imperial from Memphis to Los Angeles and the Choctaw Rocket from Memphis to Amarillo. The Choctaw Rocket evolved to the Choctaw Rockette which was a Budd Rail Diesel Car, but in peak periods would have one of the original Choctaw Rocket tear drop observation lounge cars attached to the RDC between Memphis and Little Rock. The Choctaw Rockette was one of the longest runs of a Budd Rail Diesel Car and lasted until 1964. It was know locally along the line as "the doodlebug".

Yes, but also the name "doodlebug" was actually used around the country for the prestreamlined versions of this. These interesting little one unit trains were originally built in the heavyweight era.before they wee called RDCs.

These streamlined stainless steel RDC cars are the same kind which came to be called Budd cars in some parts of the country. Passengers saw the manufacturers name "Budd" prominently display so called them budd cas, esp in the Boston area.

They were actually marketed to the railroads as being for branch line service, say a train with very few passengers could be served by this one unit vehicle. As jphjaxfl noted it was unusual for one to make this long of a run. Many lines used them in commuter service. Not too many long distance "budd cars" or "doodle bugs". Though Baltimore and Ohio ran a train several cars long of them and there was also one from Chicago to Southern Illinois.

I am sure google can help a lot both with doodlebugs and with rail diesel cars.

 

[jphjaxfl]

I was looking at the 1928 Railroad Atlas that I have. The Rock Island from Memphis to Tucumcari through Amarillo and Ft Worth and Denver (Burlington subsidiary) from Denver to Fort Worth are shown as bold lines. There is a Rock Island branch line north to Stinett. What today is the BNSF Transcon from Kansas City through Amarillo to Clovis and the AT&SF branch from Amarillo to Lubbock are shown as less important regular lines. How ironic that what was the important Rock Island major route doesn't exist, the FW&D line is not as important as it once was and former AT&SF line of the San Franciso Chief is the predominant line through Amarillo.