dallashistory

I don't think I'd do the Copper Canyon trip right now. Would like to, you understand, but I just don't think conditions in Mexico are conducive to making the trip right now. Or the foreseeable future, i fear.

California by train, well, there are trains that go up the coast, and there are stops that would allow you get off and visit some of the missions. Both AMTRAK and California state sponsored. San Diego to Los Angeles to San Francisco, in fact. Plus service from Sacramento to Bakersfield. Be interesting to spend some time riding some of those, i expect.

Clyde ~ thought you might enjoy seeing this postcard from Oregon-past. The back states that the tunnel was once a part of the Shasta route.



Evidently, it is still in existence but no longer traveled through by trains.

http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/16494/

Neat view, Mike. Thanks.

This list of infrastructure improvements by Amtrak shows the terrible Amshak in Beaumont (which dropped you off in the middle of nowhere, but in the bad part of town) will be replaced by a new $1,250,000 station (which I think will be part of a intermodel facility closer to downtown), and ADA improvements to other stations in Texas.

http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/ARRA/Amtrak-A ... ossary.pdf

Here's another lovely view ... I think



Yet, how slick might those tracks have been?

The Beaumont AMTRAK station was.is part of an existng yard office. I'm not sure where the SP station in Beaumont was before the curent location came into use, but presume it wasn't there. I think the current location wsa selected as making the operation easy - stop at a location that required no switching and had people around. May have been an engine crew division point as well, though I wouldn't care to be held to that.

In any case - i agree a new and nice station in or near downtown would be desireable. And intermodal is the way thigs are going - consider Fort Worth, and to a considerable degree, Dallas.

When i was working for the state some years (actually - over 20 since I left state employ, hard to believe it has been that long) ago, I had to go to Beaumont fairly often. If the time was right, I'd sometimes go by the Amtrak station. Wouldn't call the area horrible, but the station was sure nothing much and i doubt I'd want an unaccompanied woman there alone at night. Now - Houston, there is an AMSHACK for true and in an area that I would NOT voluntarily go to after dark. Not without armed back-up and a gun in my pocket, anyway.

And when the InterAmerican ran to Laredo through San Antone, it stopped by the (then abandoned and derelict) I-GN station and you just got out onto the platform. No shelter of any sort - Amtrak had a bus that took passengers to and from the old T&NO/SP station and that was it. And that was NOT a very good part of town at all, though I think it may have been cleaned up since (the station was recycled as a bank and is quite nice).

Cedar wrote:Here's another lovely view ... I think



Yet, how slick might those tracks have been?

That;s neat. i love the old postcards like that one. The rails could be very slick.

Lol ... but don't think I'd be laughing with my daughter in tow in the Beaumont station of a late evening, Clyde ~ if the place remains the same. Another reason why I would hesitate before taking a long train trip into unknown country. 'Tis a shame.

But we'll ride the local lines, and dream ....

Glad you like the postcard view



When i was working for the state some years (actually - over 20 since I left state employ, hard to believe it has been that long) ago, I had to go to Beaumont fairly often. If the time was right, I'd sometimes go by the Amtrak station. Wouldn't call the area horrible, but the station was sure nothing much and i doubt I'd want an unaccompanied woman there alone at night. Now - Houston, there is an AMSHACK for true and in an area that I would NOT voluntarily go to after dark. Not without armed back-up and a gun in my pocket, anyway.

~ Clyde

Sorry ... double posting

But AMSHACK ... that is funny, Clyde

My comments about the Houston Amtrak station is NOT in jest - that area has deteriorated from what it was when the EsPee's Grand Central was there (did you know Houston had THREE train stations into the 1950s? Union, Grand Central and KATY. As did San Antonio - EsPee, I-GN/MOPAC, and Katy), and is NOT one I deem really safe at any time and certainly not after dark.

I wouldn't have a lot of problem with being on most long distance trains, unless you are getting on or off at one of the stations that is in a less than great part of town after it is late (or in the dark hours of the morning).

For sure I wouldn't want to be leaving my car parked at most Amtrak stations for a serious length of time, though.

Clyde Howard wrote:For sure I wouldn't want to be leaving my car parked at most Amtrak stations for a serious length of time, though.

That was our concern when we rode the "City of New Orleans" from the station in New Orleans to Tennessee, rented a car, and stayed there a week. But, we were able to park in a busy parking lot near the station, and it was fine when we got back. (We had to catch a taxi from the station in Nashville to the airport to pick up our rental car.)

I lived in Beaumont for ten years, and the station spot is not terrible, but is far from ideal. I don't recall a bus stop or taxi stand nearby; though there may have been; and that is not a part of town I would want to drop someone off at, and have them search out further transportation or a place to stay.

survivingworldsteam wrote:

Clyde Howard wrote:For sure I wouldn't want to be leaving my car parked at most Amtrak stations for a serious length of time, though.

That was our concern when we rode the "City of New Orleans" from the station in New Orleans to Tennessee, rented a car, and stayed there a week. But, we were able to park in a busy parking lot near the station, and it was fine when we got back. (We had to catch a taxi from the station in Nashville to the airport to pick up our rental car.)

I lived in Beaumont for ten years, and the station spot is not terrible, but is far from ideal. I don't recall a bus stop or taxi stand nearby; though there may have been; and that is not a part of town I would want to drop someone off at, and have them search out further transportation or a place to stay.

I never noticed anything like a nearby bus stop in Beaumont, but I'll admit I wasn't much watching for one, either. Wouldn't surprise me if one ran down 11th - but that is a fairish walk from the station, looks like maybe 1500 feet, give or take a bit. Call it 500 yards....

Timetable says that taxi service is "on call" and there is a phone for the purpose at the station.

As I recall it, the main thing about the station is - it is pretty minimal and being next to a yard, ain't what you'd call, aesthetically pleasing. Nothing like the old Santa Fe Station at Temple, or the (no longer used, converted to a restaurant I think, but a decent new Amtrak station built close by) old EsPee station in San Antone, or Dallas union Station or the new (and very nice) Inter-modal in Fort Worth. Will be interesting to see what comes of the plans to build a new one closer to downtown.

We are hoping to ride Amtrak this summer to visit my sister and her family in Houston ... but they (kindly) will be on hand meet us.

The current situation of train-travel in our country just seems so sad to me. I felt safe in the BritRail stations which my travel-mates and I stopped in across the Pond ... and they were well-kept. Even the Underground stations in London seemed calm and secure late at night. Maybe we will recreate the same passenger railway environment here someday.

Clyde Howard wrote:My comments about the Houston Amtrak station is NOT in jest - that area has deteriorated from what it was when the EsPee's Grand Central was there (did you know Houston had THREE train stations into the 1950s? Union, Grand Central and KATY. As did San Antonio - EsPee, I-GN/MOPAC, and Katy), and is NOT one I deem really safe at any time and certainly not after dark.

I wouldn't have a lot of problem with being on most long distance trains, unless you are getting on or off at one of the stations that is in a less than great part of town after it is late (or in the dark hours of the morning).

For sure I wouldn't want to be leaving my car parked at most Amtrak stations for a serious length of time, though.

[quote="Cedar"]We are hoping to ride Amtrak this summer to visit my sister and her family in Houston ... but they (kindly) will be on hand meet us.

The current situation of train-travel in our country just seems so sad to me. I felt safe in the BritRail stations which my travel-mates and I stopped in across the Pond ... and they were well-kept. Even the Underground stations in London seemed calm and secure late at night. Maybe we will recreate the same passenger railway environment here someday.



Yes, the network is sadly thin and frayed, I fear. The trains themselves aren't bad, mostly, but the whole system has - systemic problems.

I would say that being met at Houston would not be a bad idea. I don't want to suggest that the station is a haven for muggers and thugs, and it isn't that bad during the day, but at night - I wouldn't care for it much unless Houston has done something to clean up the area and increase police visibility.

I note the time table I have (which may be a bit out of date, I need to get a current one) shows thee west-bound train originating in NOLA at 11:55 AM MoWeFr and arrives (if it is on time) at 9:13 PM same day. East-bound leaves San Antonio1:00 AM TuFrSa and arrives 9:15 AM same day. There is long history of late running on the east-bounds, though there is a 45 minute "pad" at El PAso, and a 2 hr 35 min pad at San Antonio (arrives 10L25 PM, leaves 01:00 AM next morning; Eagle and Sunset are SUPPOSED to get there at the same time - I doubt that happens much). It would pay dividends to check actual arrival times before heading to the station.

Did some digging around to see if I could find out anything about where the new Beaumont station might be - and discovered that there is NO Beaumont station. There used to be, but it was torn down at some point. All there is now is the concrete pad where the station used to be, along with the platform.

Facilities, per timetable:

1. No ticket sales at location - buy your ticket on-line or on the train;
2. No checked abggage;
3. No Redcap service;
4. Alleged to be handicapped accessible;
5. Parking, short-term and overnight is free (but I don't know if I'd want to leave my car there);
6. Rental cars and taxi service is On Call, supposed to be phone at station, but I would have my doubts...

So - yeah, Beaumont needs a new station. And a train that runs daily instead of three days a week each way...

Clyde Howard wrote:Did some digging around to see if I could find out anything about where the new Beaumont station might be - and discovered that there is NO Beaumont station. There used to be, but it was torn down at some point. All there is now is the concrete pad where the station used to be, along with the platform.

That is what I remember from my trips on the Sunset Limited from Lafayette to Houston in the 1980s. Beaumont "station" is no more than a concrete pad; hardly even an "Amshak." From the train it looks like it's in the middle of the woods; from living there, is in the heart of Beaumont, between Baptist Hospital and Old Town Beaumont, but with little nearby to make you feel like you are in a busy area. As I said before, not exactly the part of town I would want to get dropped off in; and to have to strike out in search of a taxi or phone (though so many folks have cell phones these days.)

Well, I discovered (by actually LOOKING at the timetable - how gauche) that:

a. The AMTRAK station on Cedar and a bit (say 500 yards) east of 11th, was torn down, leaving just the platform;

2. That the station had a waiting room and all that (found some pictures on one of the rail fora, both before and after it was torn down);

3. The Beaumont stop (can't call it a station) is, as noted supra,
a. Without az ticket office or agent;
b. Handicapped accessible;
c. Has free parking, short term and over-night; and
, d. Has cab and rental car "on call", using a phone supposedly at the platform (I think I'd want to be sure I had the numbers and a cell, and make the call somewhere out of town to arrive at the time the train eally wsa going to).

To repeat, they need a station with shelter for waiting (or de-training) passengers, and under the circumstances now existing, that means a new station.

I'm going to have to try and find out what happened to the real station that was once in service (which I'm pretty sure wasn't out in the yard) during private railroad passenger days, and where it was.

Well, we had fun yesterday Whisked down to Cowtown, caught the Trinity Express train at the beautiful T and P Station ... rode to Dallas and met a friend at Union, headed back to Fort Worth and hung out there till dusk. Emmy and I are catching your railroad fever, Clyde

We're gonna do the Tarantula Train very soon

Holly, those are days and experiences that memories are made of--for EM!

Sounds wonderful!!

Steel wheels on steel rails = oh yeah, it's addictive.

We haven't ridden the Tarantula Train, but really need to. Maybe while we are up in D-FW to see the Impressionists at the Kimbell later this year.

Thanks again, Sharon

And Clyde ... I've been thinking about Katy Lake ~ which was drained so that Fort Worth's Seminary South Shopping Center could be built. I've read that though it was used to provide steam engines with water, it actually predated the coming of the railroad: Katy Lake was created so that longhorns and cowboy ponies might quench their thirst

Do you know more about this lake ... or where to learn more? Of course, the Fort Worth Public Library would be a starting place Gonna have to get down there, finally ...

PS. Clyde ~ I wish that they would have converted at least part of the old T and P Station into a (an affordable) hotel ....

I found some information on Katy Lake, that indicates it was in fact created by the M-K-T:

Echo Lake

Echo Lake is a 16.8 acre man-made lake impounding an unnamed tributary of Sycamore Creek. Neighborhoods including Brentmoor, Carter Park, Jennings-May-St. Louis, Morningside Park, Shaw Clarke, South Hemphill Heights, West Morningside, and Worth Heights all impact the water quality of Echo Lake. The lake is located in Echo Lake Park in southeast Fort Worth, approximately two blocks east of Interstate 35.

The lake was impounded in 1919 and named I&GNRR Lake (impound means to store in a reservoir). I&GNRR stood for International Great Northern Railroad Company, which came to Fort Worth in 1902, and needed the lake as a reservoir for its trains. I&GNRR was a major component of the Missouri Pacific lines in Texas. Echo Lake's "twin" to the southwest was Katy Lake, which was impounded by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad (MKT) as a reservoir for its trains. Katy Lake was drained in the 1960s, and the Seminary South Shopping Center (now La Gran Plaza) was built over it.
Echo Lake drains a 632-acre watershed that is 55 percent residential and 30 percent industrial. A watershed is the land area that drains storm water runoff into a stream. Echo Lake is owned by Tarrant County.

The Texas Department of Health, now the Department of State Health Services, issued a fish consumption ban for Echo Lake on December 5, 1995. The ban prohibits possession of fish from the lake but does not prohibit catch-and-release fishing. The fish tissue contaminant associated with this lake is PCBs.

Just how accurate this is, I don't really know.

Also, somebody did a Master's thesis (at TCU) c.1956 that involved Katy Lake, and it might offer some history: Ecological Aspects of Soil Organisms Bordoring Katy Lake, Fort Worth, Texas (Hardcover)
by Kenneth W. Peterson (Author) .

And i certainly agree that it would have been nice if the project at the T&P station had included a small hotel as well as the condo apartments. But at least the building survived, which it might not have (as did the Interurban Building in Dallas).

Thanks very much, Clyde. I went back and re-read the entry for Seminary South Shopping Center in 'Fort Worth and Tarrant County: A Historical Guide' (Ruby Schmidt, ed.) ... which contains a mention of Katy Lake. Someone once told me that they had found some inaccuracies in this book; perhaps this is another. At any rate, it states:

"Fort Worth's first major suburban shopping center, opened in 1962, is located on the site of Katy Lake, a man-made watering place for cattle drives and a source of water for the steam engines of the Katy Railroad. The lake was drained by Sears-Roebuck Company after the land was purchased from private owners." (page 45)

And I agree ~ we should be thankful first of all that the beautiful station structure was saved. Still, I think that a hotel would have proved to be sought-after nooking place within its Zigzag Moderne walls

I suspect that Katy Lake was NOT created to water cattle drives, but may well have watered cattle on their way to the Stockyards since cattle appear to have been driven to Fort Worth even after the railroads arrived.

And i agree - a hotel would have probably been a workable use for the T&P Building (as was done with the Magniolia Building in Dallas - but is is sort of pricey, they have some interesting specials that start at around $250/night for a couple). I guess you could book a room at the Hyatt Regency and ask for one that over-looks Union Station and watch trains in Dallas even if you can't in Cowtown. Have to think about that.