Terminals set for Dallas, Bryan/College Station and Houston

Texas high-speed rail investors plan to form an entity to develop train stations in Dallas, Houston and Grimes County near College Station, where the Texas Central Railway’s high-speed rail line terminals will be built.

The Texas High-Speed Rail Station Development Corp. (SDC), independently owned and separate from Texas Central, will build three stations along the planned line from Houston to Dallas.

SDC will undertake planning, design, development, construction, improvement, commissioning, operation, maintenance and funding of the terminals, station sites, platform surfaces and circulation area. The company will engage with governmental agencies and private companies seeking to deliver high-speed rail to Texas.

The company, to be led by investors John Kleinheinz and Jack Matthews, is an offshoot of Cadiz Riverfront Holdings and Cadiz Development Houston, LLC. SDC owns approximately 52 acres south of downtown Dallas, approximately 45 acres in Houston formerly known as Northwest Mall and approximately 59 acres in Grimes County.

As expected, Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern last week re-entered into a merger agreement under which CP will acquire KCS in a stock and cash transaction representing approximately $31 billion USD.

The agreement follows a Surface Transportation Board ruling earlier this month that rejected Canadian National’s request to form a voting trust agreement in an effort to acquire KCS. Also, KCS terminated CN’s offer of $33.6 billion last weekWednesday to pursue the deal with CP.

CP and KCS agreed in March to form Canadian Pacific-Kansas City (CPKC), but KCS backed out when CN put in a higher offer the following month.

Like the previous deal, CP will assume $3.8 billion of outstanding KCS debt. The transaction, which has the unanimous support of both boards of directors, values KCS at $300 per share, representing a 34 percent premium, based on the CP closing price Aug. 9, 2021.

Siemens Mobility has been awarded $34 billion in contracts in the United States to design, manufacture and technically support 73 multi-powered trains for Amtrak, the company said this week. There is also a possibility for up to 140 additional trains and further maintenance agreements.

The order is Amtrak’s latest endeavor to acquire the most sustainable and efficient trains on the market, which include dual powered and hybrid battery vehicles.

The trains will operate across the Northeast Corridor and various state-supported routes, including those in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. With expanded capacity and the ability to shorten trip time, Amtrak expects the new trains will add over 1.5 million riders annually.

“These new trains will reshape the future of rail travel by replacing our aging 40-to-50-year old fleet with state-of-the-art, American-made equipment,” said Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn. “This investment is essential to preserving Northeast Regional and state-supported services for the future and will allow our customers to travel comfortably and safely, while reducing carbon emissions.”

Prototype modelers will be out in force in Texas and Missouri in June and July.

Saturday’s Red River Railway Prototype Modelers Meet in Forest Hill, TX, is one of two events on tap for rail fan purists and modelers this summer. The event − which features clinics, discussions and modeling of prototype railroading − is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is the first of its kind in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Red River RPM was originally scheduled for last spring, but covid-19 put on the brakes. Since then, organizer Jacob Damron has canvassed the RPM community, and modelers from around the country are expected to attend at the Forest Hill Civic Center.

“We’ve gotten pretty strong response,” he said. “I’ve got prototype modelers coming out of the woodwork.”

No. 4014 returns after making inaugural 2019 run

Union Pacific announced Monday that Big Boy No. 4014, which stole America’s heart in 2019 with its gallant return, is thundering back for an encore.The venerable steam locomotive will depart Cheyenne, WY, Aug. 5 and travel through Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.

This is the first tour since the locomotive was restored for 2019’s “Great Race” that celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s completion. The multi-year restoration took place at Union Pacific’s steam shop in Cheyenne following a retirement that spanned six decades.

“This summer, we are proud to announce that the Big Boy will be back to tour through 10 of the states and hundreds of the communities which Union Pacific serves,” UP Senior Vice President Scott Moore said.

No. 4014 will be on display in Fort Worth (Aug. 14), Houston (Aug. 17), New Orleans (Aug. 21), St. Louis (Aug. 29) and Denver (Sept. 6).