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The Texas Eagle is a 1306-mile (2102 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the central and western United States. Trains run daily between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas, and continue to Los Angeles, California, 2728 miles (4390 km) total, three days a week (incorporated as part of the Sunset Limited).
[edit] History
Amtrak's Texas Eagle is the direct successor of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Texas and Pacific Railway train of the same name, which was inaugurated August 15, 1948. For thirteen years, the Texas Eagle operated as two separate sections, leaving St. Louis in the late afternoon, one following behind the other at an approximately 10 minute interval. At Longview, the routes diverged. The west Texas section continued to Dallas and El Paso, while the south Texas section operated to Austin and San Antonio, where a connection was made to the Aztec Eagle for Laredo, Texas and Mexico City. After 1961, the Texas Eagle was consolidated as a single, very long train, between St. Louis and Longview, Texas, where the train was split into several sections, each serving different Texas cities. The west Texas section of the Texas Eagle continued from Longview to Dallas, Fort Worth, and El Paso; the south Texas section served Palestine, Austin, San Antonio, and Laredo, with a through Pullman continuing to Mexico City. A third section of the Texas Eagle split from the main train at Palestine, providing service to Houston.
The route of Amtrak's Texas Eagle is longer (Chicago to San Antonio versus St. Louis to San Antonio), but much of today's route is historically a part of the original Texas Eagle route. St. Louis to Texarkana and Taylor, Texas to San Antonio is over former Missouri Pacific Railroad trackage, while the Texarkana to Fort Worth segment traverses the former Texas and Pacific Railway.
[edit] Consist
| Amtrak Texas Eagle route[1] |
|
|
Distance |
Station |
|
|
0 |
Chicago (Union Station) |
|
|
37 mi (60 km) |
Joliet (westbound B, eastbound A) |
|
|
92 mi (148 km) |
Pontiac |
|
|
124 mi (200 km) |
Bloomington-Normal |
|
|
156 mi (251 km) |
Lincoln |
|
|
185 mi (298 km) |
Springfield |
|
|
237 mi (381 km) |
Carlinville (F) |
|
|
257 mi (414 km) |
Alton |
|
|
|
Mississippi River Illinois/Missouri border |
|
|
284 mi (457 km) |
St. Louis |
|
|
453 mi (729 km) |
Poplar Bluff |
|
|
|
Missouri/Arkansas border |
|
|
523 mi (842 km) |
Walnut Ridge |
|
|
634 mi (1,020 km) |
Little Rock |
|
|
677 mi (1,089 km) |
Malvern (F) |
|
|
694 mi (1,117 km) |
Arkadelphia (F) |
|
|
774 mi (1,246 km) |
Texarkana |
|
|
|
Arkansas/Texas border |
|
|
840 mi (1,352 km) |
Marshall |
|
|
864 mi (1,390 km) |
Longview |
|
|
912 mi (1,468 km) |
Mineola |
|
|
991 mi (1,595 km) |
Dallas |
|
|
1,022 mi (1,645 km) |
Fort Worth |
|
|
1,051 mi (1,691 km) |
Cleburne |
|
|
1,125 mi (1,810 km) |
McGregor |
|
|
1,150 mi (1,851 km) |
Temple |
|
|
1,188 mi (1,912 km) |
Taylor |
|
|
1,223 mi (1,968 km) |
Austin |
|
|
1,253 mi (2,016 km) |
San Marcos |
|
|
|
Sunset Limited to New Orleans |
|
|
1,306 mi (2,102 km) |
San Antonio |
|
|
1,475 mi (2,374 km) |
Del Rio |
|
|
1,601 mi (2,576 km) |
Sanderson (F) |
|
|
1,692 mi (2,723 km) |
Alpine |
|
|
|
CT/MT |
|
|
1,910 mi (3,074 km) |
El Paso |
|
|
|
Texas/New Mexico border |
|
|
1,998 mi (3,215 km) |
Deming (F) |
|
|
2,058 mi (3,312 km) |
Lordsburg (F) |
|
|
|
New Mexico/Arizona border |
|
|
2,176 mi (3,502 km) |
Benson (F) |
|
|
2,226 mi (3,582 km) |
Tucson |
|
|
2,312 mi (3,721 km) |
Maricopa |
|
|
2,477 mi (3,986 km) |
Yuma |
|
|
|
Arizona/California border; MT/PT |
|
|
2,622 mi (4,220 km) |
Palm Springs |
|
|
2,689 mi (4,327 km) |
Ontario (westbound A) |
|
|
2,696 mi (4,339 km) |
Pomona (westbound A) |
|
|
2,728 mi (4,390 km) |
Los Angeles |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes: |
|
|
|
A – alighting only |
|
|
|
B – boarding only |
|
|
|
F – flag stop |
|
The normally assigned consist on the Texas Eagle includes: 1 P42, 1 dorm-sleeper, 1 sleeper, 1 Cross Country Cafe (limited dining service), 1 Sightseer Lounge, 1 coach-baggage, and 2 coaches. On a tri-weekly basis, a coach and sleeping car operate from Chicago through San Antonio to Los Angeles, in conjunction with the Sunset Limited.[2]
[edit] References
- Goen, Steve Allen (1997). Texas & Pacific Color Pictorial. La Mirada, California: Four Ways West Publications. ISBN 1-885614-17-9.
- Stout, Greg (1995). Route of the Eagles, Missouri Pacific in the Streamlined Era. Bucklin, Missouri: White River Productions. ISBN 0-9659040-3-2.
- Runte, Alfred (2006). Allies of the Earth, Railroads and the Soul of Preservation. Kirksville, Missouri: Trumann State University Press. ISBN 1-931112-52-5.
[edit] External links
