I'm gonna be in Ft. Worth, Texas for a few days letting the in-laws meet and spend time with thier new born grand son for the first time. While I'm there, I am definately gonna be doing some railfanning, and Tower 55 is a must. Alas, it is not accessible to the public. Does anyone know any good high volume areas near by that are photography friendly? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I don't really care if it's off of the Ft Worth Sub, or the Dallas Sub, just so long as I get a fair amount of traffic and ease of access without fear of arrest or citation for trespassing. Thanks, guys!
A quick look at the satellite shows "T&P Station" just west of the tower, and a number of surface streets nearby as well. There's a couple of parking lots for businesses in the area. Might be as simple as a stop at the office for permission to sit there for a bit.
Unfortunately, the diamond is right in the middle of the (elevated) mixmaster of I30 and I35W, so standing on a bridge with a great view is out.
Given the railfan draw of the location, I'm sure there are some established (if not official) viewing spots in the area.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
The bridge at E Hattie St south of the tower was decent many years ago. That lets you get all the N-S traffic plus the BNSF.
There is an Amtrak depot N of the tower and the TP depot west of the tower.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
I'd recommend using Google Earth and Street View to scout out some locations long before you go there. That can eliminate a lot of "hopeful driving around" once you are there.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
You wouldn't happen to know by chance if the North/South route is busier than the East/West route (or vice versa) would you? Or are they about equal in traffic volume?
25 - 30 years ago there was a Hilton (I think) hotel in the NW quadrant of the crossing maybe 300 yards distant; with good binoculars, if you had a room on the east side of the hotel, you could sit in your room and watch trains all day. Don't remember any elevated roadways, so there could have been massive changes to the area since then. Interesting tidbit: in 1963, the hotel was the Hotel Texas, where JFK spent the night before that fateful day in Dallas.
Haven't been there in at least 25 years, so everything could be different now, and all this is according to memory. It is at least a possibility.
Roughly equal, depends on how the grain and rock trains are flowing. They are different traffic though, the E-W has a lot of intermodal and automotive, the N-S a lot of bulk (grain, rock, coal).
SALfan 25 - 30 years ago there was a Hilton (I think) hotel in the NW quadrant of the crossing maybe 300 yards distant; with good binoculars, if you had a room on the east side of the hotel, you could sit in your room and watch trains all day. Don't remember any elevated roadways, so there could have been massive changes to the area since then. Interesting tidbit: in 1963, the hotel was the Hotel Texas, where JFK spent the night before that fateful day in Dallas. Haven't been there in at least 25 years, so everything could be different now, and all this is according to memory. It is at least a possibility.
Johnny
If you have time on your hands and a vehicle, I would suggest you head north to the suburb of Saginaw. The Chamber of Commerce there has restored an old depot (SP i think) and you can park in their parking lot all day free of charge and watch. Two BNSF main lines intersect the UP line to Wichita Falls, and you also get GenSet switch movement out of the former BN North Yard up to the BNSF Alliance facility. There are also some large grain elevators there that have their own locomotives for shuttling grain cars. BNSF has a yard there in Saginaw as well. Amtrak runs the Heartland Flyer through there twice a day and you get run-through Norfolk Southern power on a daily RoadRailer train.
Crazy idea--if you have some time to kill and somebody willing to drop you off one location to the next, you can buy a ticket on the Amtrak Texas Eagle and ride through the diamond itself. I don't know if this actually works, but according to amtrak.com you can buy a ticket for Dallas to Fort Worth and it'll cost about $12. You'd swing around the diamond on the south east side, and then back up through the diamond to the Fort Worth station. And/or you can take the TRE (Trinity Railway) from the Fort Worth ITC (same as Amtrak station) to T&P, and though you won't go through the diamond, you'll get close and can take pics of the tower (I think)--cost is $5 and you can walk between those two stations. There's lots of rail action at both ITC and T&P station platforms.
The new psgr. station there in Fort Worth. I taken many pictures there.
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