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I rode the Texas Eagle from Dallas to Fort Worth on Tuesday to experience riding it on the Trinity Railway Express tracks.   Number 21 arrived in Dallas at approximately 11:50 a.m. or 20 minutes late.  It departed Dallas at approximately 12:05 p.m. Roughly 35 passengers got off the train in Dallas. Only six got on for Fort Worth and points south.  The ride to Fort Worth was quicker and smoother than what I remember from numerous trips on the UP, which is the route normally used by the Eagle. We stopped at CentrePort, which is half way between Big D and Cow Town, for a few minutes to allow a Dallas bound TRE train to pass.  The run from Dallas to Fort Worth required 38 minutes.  Normally, the Eagle is allowed 1 hour, 35 minutes to run from Dallas to Fort Worth.  Of this time, nearly 15 minutes is eaten up by backing the train into Fort Worth. Running on the TRE eliminated the need for the backing movement. At Fort Worth Amtrak had two buses to take passengers to San Antonio and intermediate points. One bus ran to Cleburne and Austin. The other ran to McGregor, Temple, Taylor, Austin, San Marcos, and San Antonio. Neither of the buses were full when they departed Fort Worth. Interestingly, Amtrak conductors were taking tickets for the buses. And Amtrak station personnel were loading bags onto the buses. Normally, these activities would be performed by the bus driver.  I suspect the union insisted that Amtrak personnel ride the buses just like they do the train. That must have been a hardship; normally the conductors have lots of time to hang out in the dinning car on the train. The equipment for Number 21, as well as the on-board service crew, stays in Fort Worth from the time it arrives there until the next afternoon.  The equipment is not being turned.  So southbound the sleepers are at the front of the train, but northbound they are at the rear. Number 21 had two locomotives, but Number 22 had one locomotive, which is the normal configuration.   Getting back to Dallas was another story.  At 2:00 p.m. Amtrak's Fort Worth ticket agent told the passengers for Number 22 to board the train.  At 2:20 p.m., which is the scheduled departure time for Number 22, the train began to move. However, I suspected that something was afoot.  Instead of going forward, we backed up a couple hundred yards and stopped.  Moreover, there were only four people on my coach, which struck me as being a pretty light load. After 10 minutes or so the car attendant said that the connecting buses would not arrive in Fort Worth until approximately 5:00 p.m., and Number 22 would not get underway until approximately 5:30 p.m. That did it. I got off the train and took the TRE back to Dallas.
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