dallashistory

Bill Crane wrote:I don't know if I would like to be cooped up on a train long enough to go coast to coast. I'd probably rather do it in at least three stages with overnights on the ground.

Bill Crane wrote:I'm not sure if I or another has written about the following or not.

Its been been some years back now. We flew to Edmonton and took the Canadian train west to Vancouver with an overnight stop in Jasper. Flew home. Saw the mall in Edmonton. Interacted with a moose in the street at Jasper. Was introduced to poutine, surely the most artery clogging of all fast foods. Great scenery on the way. Vancouver is always beautiful - IMO as pretty a city setting as there is in North America. As the train buffs on this board probably know there are or used to be seasonal out (East) and back trips from Vancouver so as to maximize the time spent in the most scenic areas.

I don't know if I would like to be cooped up on a train long enough to go coast to coast. I'd probably rather do it in at least three stages with overnights on the ground.

Anne and I have been to some places we thoought were pretty neat, although we have not done nearly so much sight seeing or lived in differnt places like some on this board. The train ride was one of our best trips though.

Cedar wrote:Clyde, I wonder what will become of Fort Worth's old (1899) Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Depot? I believe that Amtrak service was channeled through it prior to the restoration of the T and P Station.

http://home.flash.net/~duus/texastravel ... hat&sf.htm

We didn't have the chance to see it last weekend, but hope to do so on our next adventure.

TRAINS' Newswire found on their website indicated the following on 4/20/09:

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LOS ANGELES - Disney will send a train on a nationwide tour in support of its upcoming remake of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" starring Jim Carrey. The diesel-powered train will depart Los Angeles in late May, and will visit 41 cities in the U.S. and Canada.

The touring consist will include five cars: a baggage car, three display cars, and the heavyweight observation car Lamberts Point, which the train's staff will use. The three display cars were previously part of the Art Train while the baggage car is leased.

Four of the five cars are being transformed by Disney into a representation of 19th century London and will have a variety of interactive displays for visitors. Disney has a staff of approximately 30 working on the train in the Los Angeles area, completely refurbishing it for the project. Planned motive power is to be a pair of Amtrak locomotives, which along with the display cars will be "wrapped" in Disney promotional material.

A fleet of trucks will travel with the train, arriving at display locations ahead of its arrival with equipment to set up tents and other displays to promote the film. Visitors who have seen the train during construction said they have been surprised by the amount of work that has gone into the project, and that for the first time the "Disney experience" of the company's theme parks will be brought to the rails.

The movie, set for a late-October release, will appear in a digital three-dimensional format. Carrey's voice will portray Scrooge, as well as the three ghosts.

By DEE DIXON
July 1, 2009
Posted: July 1, 2009, 7:34 PM CDT Last updated: July 1, 2009, 9:41 PM CDT

Amtrak's only stop in Southeast Texas is a slab of concrete in a desolate area off 11th Street with no parking, no bathrooms and no shelter of any kind.

But after several years of lobbying Amtrak officials to improve the Sunset Limited's stop or move it to a more visible and convenient location, opportunity finally appears to be chugging down the tracks - $1.25 million worth.

Amtrak received $846 million from the Federal Recovery Act for projects at stations nationwide.

Texas will receive $2.6 million for 22 projects and most of it is for a Beaumont depot.

Now the questions city and railroad officials have to answer: Where will it be? Will Kansas City Southern allow its tracks to be used? If they build it, will more people ride the train?

And perhaps the biggest question is whether city and Amtrak officials can hammer out a deal fast enough to meet federal deadlines tied to the money.

"We'd like to resolve the issue soon because the stimulus funding needs to be spent in the next year and a half or so," Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said in a telephone interview from Chicago. "We've been discussing the station situation with the city for quite a long time and we'll continue to discuss it now that there is funding to solve some of the problem."

Mayor Becky Ames said it is imperative that the city and Amtrak find a better location - soon.

"We're working hard to get it moved," said Ames, who has said in the past the slab that greets travelers is a blight and poor reflection of the city.

Finding the current Amtrak stop is almost impossible. There are no signs or any other visual cues that would indicate a train stop.

"We do not believe this location is the best location for a new train station," Ames said as she stood on the concrete slab Wednesday. "Amtrak is moving forward with putting a station here. But we've contacted them and told them we don't think it is a prime location."

Major problems include no parking and the poor condition off the road leading to the depot.

With the amount of money that has been slated for the new depot, Ames said she would like to see it incorporated into downtown revitalization efforts.

She joined City Manager Kyle Hayes and Community Development Director Chris Boone on a quick site visit at two possible locations where the new depot could be built.

Both are just off College Street not far from the downtown fire station.

The main concern city officials have about the current location is that it is too desolate.

A downtown location would put travelers close to other city facilities, which adds to overall safety, Ames said.

Amtrak officials say they'll consider moving the stop.

"We'll work with the city and others to determine the best location for the facility. Whether the current location is the best spot or if another location is everyone's first choice and if it is doable," Magliari said.

But Kansas City Southern, the railroad that owns the tracks where city officials would like to put the new depot, doesn't seem on board with the plan.

"KCSR has operational and safety concerns with the proposal to relocate Amtrak's station to a location adjacent to KCSR's track," KCS spokeswoman C. Doniele Kane wrote in an e-mail to The Enterprise on Wednesday. "Amtrak also does not have a contractual right to use KCSR's property for station purposes."

With more than 500 stations nationwide, it isn't unprecedented for Amtrak to relocate a station. In New Buffalo, Mich. Amtrak is moving a station to another rail line later this summer and last year a station in St. Louis was moved, Magliari said.

Ames said she would contact Congressman Ted Poe to see what kind of assistance he can offer with discussions with the railroad companies.

Also on Wednesday she sent a letter to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison asking for her assistance with reaching an agreement with Amtrak and Kansas City Southern.

The Sunset Limited stops in Beaumont six times a week - three times eastbound and three westbound. It originates in Orlando and roughly parallels Interstate 10 all the way to Los Angeles.

A ticket from Beaumont to Houston can cost as little as $14 one way.

With a slight increase in ridership from 2007 to 2008, Beaumont is among the smaller stops in Texas.

Beaumont ridership increased to 1,662 in 2008 compared with 1,384 the previous year, according to the Amtrak Web site.

New Amtrack depot going in same spot
By DEE DIXON<ddixon@beaumontenterprise.com>
*July 31, 2009*
Posted: July 31, 2009, 11:25 AM CDT Last updated: July 31, 2009, 11:40 AM
CDT

The plans to move an Amtrak station downtown have been derailed.

While the city wanted a new Amtrak station to be built in a more visible
area off College Street, plans are to build a new, modern station at the
current location off 11th Street, City Manager Kyle Hayes said today.

"It is not our No. 1 choice, of course. However we've been wanting Amtrak to
make an investment to have a shelter for many, many years," Hayes said. "We
are in the early stages. It is very promising and good news that we can have
something for Amtrak passengers other than a concrete slab."

He met with Amtrak officials on Wednesday to discuss plans to build the
facility that would be made up to date to comply with Americans with
Disability Act standards.

In order to locate downtown, Amtrak, which received federal funding to build
a new depot, had to reach an agreement with Kansas City Southern to use its
rail lines.

However, a timely agreement was not possible and the $1.25 million Amtrak
received for the new station has to be spent by February 2011, Hayes said.

"There were too many roadblocks and KCS was not supportive of Amtrak
stopping on their two tracks," Hayes said. "We didn't feel there was any way
to get approval from KCS within the next two years, which could result in
the city losing Amtrak's investment."

Amtrak received $846 million from the Federal Recovery Act for station
projects nationwide.

Texas will receive $2.6 for 22 projects that will include the Beaumont
depot.

Efforts to bring high speed rail to Texas are chugging along. The Texas Department of Transportation this week formally applied for $1.8 billion in stimulus funding to improve existing passenger rail service in Fort Worth and other areas, and begin planning a world class system – in which cities may someday be linked by 185 mph trains. Historically, Texans have cast a skeptic eye toward passenger rail – at least during the automobile and aviation eras. In the 1990s, state officials rejected a proposal to build a bullet train-style system between big cities such as Dallas and Houston. This time, the key to success will be including smaller cities such as Temple in the early planning process, members of the advocacy group Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation testified Thursday during a Texas Transportation Commission meeting in Austin. Grass roots support is crucial if state leaders want to avoid a repeat of the Trans Texas Corridor, a sweeping plan to build toll roads and utility lines across the state that became widely opposed by Texans who feared that too much private land would be seized, and projects would be built with too much foreign involvement. The seven-year-old Trans Texas Corridor plan was shelved earlier this year.

“One of the lessens we’ve learned is, we really need to start there at the community level,” transportation commissioner Bill Meadows of Fort Worth said of the rail plan. “When we start talking about alignment, it has the potential to do great, but it also has the potential for impact. We really do want to start communicating, and more than anything else listening.”

If rural interests can be brought aboard, the proposed Texas T-Bone high speed rail line connecting Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio has the potential to revolutionize how people live and work, supporters said. Cities such as Waco and Bryan-College Station would suddenly be just a short hop from the state’s major metro areas. For now, the plan is to hire a rail director within the transportation department by next month, and take the necessary bureaucratic steps to begin governing the process, transportation department executive director Amadeo Saenz said. One option is to create a corporation within the transportation department that would be equipped to juggle public and private interests. The state hopes to get either its $1.8 billion stimulus request, or a comparable Federal Railroad Administration grant, he said. The transportation commission also renewed its agreement with Oklahoma to subsidize the Amtrak Heartland Flyer, which offers daily trains from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City. The states split the cost of covering Amtrak’s operating losses, and for Texas it will amount to $1.95 million for the next year. Kansas officials are pushing for the Heartland Flyer to be extended to Kansas City. Fort Worth also is served daily by the Texas Eagle, which connects San Antonio to Chicago.