Given I had plenty of time on Saturday, I opted to make my trip home on the Amtrak's "Texas Eagle". The price was definitely right at $29, which was but pittance compared to bus or airline fare. The drawback, of course, was the time it takes compared to driving one's self or flying. The tracks aren't good enough in most places to allow for faster speeds, so the journey is not the quickest. But, the amenities are nice with very large seats with multiple position settings and feet rests, etc. Each pair of seats had access to power plugs, so many on the train plugged in laptops or other electronic devices to watch movies or whatnot. I overheard one person ask if WiFi access to the internet was available, and the answer was "not yet." So, perhaps that will be an available feature in the near future. Personally, I plugged in my iPhone and watched our progress across the state of Texas using Google Maps and GPS, all the while listening to music from my digital library. The stops made on my segment included: San Marcos, Austin, Taylor, Temple, McGregor, Cleburne, Fort Worth, and finally Dallas.
Here are my brother-in-law, and my brother and sister-in-law seeing me off at the San Marcos station. The train arrived 7 minutes late, at 8:37.
Here is a shot out the window as we crossed Austin's Town Lake. The crossing is just west of where I35 crosses the lake. The Austin train station was just across the lake.
During the stop in Temple, I decided to grab me something to eat from the dining car. Choices for lunch included various sandwich flavors, burgers, pizza, and other items which were "microwave friendly." I don't know if the dinner menu offered actual "prepared" food or not, but for lunch, it was all pre-made. The cheeseburger I opted for was not bad, though not as good as a freshly prepared hamburger...
The train depot in Cleburne...
The Fort Worth skyline...
Travel between Fort Worth and Dallas paralleled I30 to the south. Here is a shot of the Dallas Cowboy's Stadium, between I30 and the train tracks...
As we were about to cross the Trinity River in Dallas, I got a good view of the giant "Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge" being constructed. This giant arch will have all the support suspension cables strung out each direction to support the road bed. (your government tax - and a lot of private - dollars at work...)
After crossing the Trinity, we turned to the south and came across the railroad bridge overlooking Dealy Plaza to the east. The curved road in the left of the picture is where Kennedy's car was located when he was shot...
The Amtrak train pulled into Union Station shortly after passing Dealy Plaza. I hopped off the Amtrak train, then crossed two sets of tracks and waited about 10 minutes for a Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail train to come along. This DART train then carried me to southern Plano to the stop at Hwy 75 and Bush Turnpike - some 6 or so miles from home. Nancy was waiting for me at that station and we toodled on home from there!
The ride was relaxing, and I spent most all my time looking at the countryside out the window and following along with where we were on my phone's GPS. The Amtrak train leg of the trip took about 6 3/4 hours, but the time passed pretty quickly - and I got to enjoy an experience I had never had in my long years on this earth!
Cheers,
Travel between Fort Worth and Dallas paralleled I30 to the south. Here is a shot of the Dallas Cowboy's Stadium, between I30 and the train tracks...
As we were about to cross the Trinity River in Dallas, I got a good view of the giant "Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge" being constructed. This giant arch will have all the support suspension cables strung out each direction to support the road bed. (your government tax - and a lot of private - dollars at work...)
After crossing the Trinity, we turned to the south and came across the railroad bridge overlooking Dealy Plaza to the east. The curved road in the left of the picture is where Kennedy's car was located when he was shot...
The Amtrak train pulled into Union Station shortly after passing Dealy Plaza. I hopped off the Amtrak train, then crossed two sets of tracks and waited about 10 minutes for a Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail train to come along. This DART train then carried me to southern Plano to the stop at Hwy 75 and Bush Turnpike - some 6 or so miles from home. Nancy was waiting for me at that station and we toodled on home from there!
The ride was relaxing, and I spent most all my time looking at the countryside out the window and following along with where we were on my phone's GPS. The Amtrak train leg of the trip took about 6 3/4 hours, but the time passed pretty quickly - and I got to enjoy an experience I had never had in my long years on this earth!
Cheers,
Tom
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