Carpetbagging in Fort Worth
The first weekend of spring break was an opportunity to get out of town for a bit. We decided to go to Fort Worth. Our oldest son would meet us there, driving from Abilene.
After hanging out at the motel, we drove to Edgecliff Village, a suburb of Fort Worth, to visit family. After the appropriate interval, Andy and I sneaked out to see what might be running, while my wife and Eric stayed behind.
Being railfan tourists, we went for the #1 railfan tourist attraction in North Texas, Tower 55.
As we arrived, we saw a westbound UP transfer pass through the interlocking with a 3 genset power consist. After making a few wrong turns, we found ourselves at the east end of Davidson Yard just moments ahead of our quarry.
What’s up with the steam engine on the sidewalk in the background?
Not wanting to wear out our welcome on this overpass, we headed back towards the Tower 55 area. As we exited the freeway, we saw some Amtrak equipment at the Fort Worth ITC.
As Amtrak in the day is a rare commodity back in Houston, we went to investigate.
The first order of business was Amtrak 500, the first of only 20 GE P32BWH units. Amtrak received these in 1991. They debuted a new Amtrak paint scheme, that to many, resembled the colors on a can of Pepsi soda.
The units were nicknamed, of course, “Pepsi Cans”. LocoPhotos.com has a good view of the 500 in its original colors.
One track over was the northbound Texas Eagle. A second unit, P42DC 121 , is being added to the consist. Note the Amtrak employee between the units making the air and electrical connections.
The radio advised us that the Texas Eagle was getting ready to depart, so we headed to the Tower 55 area to see if we could get some shots of it as it departed.
The reverse move out of the depot is necessary so the Texas Eagle can access the UP line to Dallas via a connector track at Tower 55.
Now that Amtrak was out of the way, a SB UP manifest was next up. We re-located to the Hattie Street overpass, about 1/4 mile to the south.
There’s more, but it will have to wait for the next post, which I’ll try to complete tomorrow evening…
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