Amtrak, TXDOT to study new service between Shreveport and D/FW
May 1, 2012 / Updated August 29, 2012
Passenger Rail
Amtrak, its Texas Eagle seen here in Longview, TX, and TXDOT are studying the feasibility for new service between Bossier City-Shreveport and Dallas/Fort Worth. – CHRISTOPHER FOX/Cowcatcher Magazine
Amtrak and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) have agreed on the scope of a feasibility study for new Amtrak service between Bossier City-Shreveport in Northwest Louisiana and along the Interstate 20 corridor to Dallas and Fort Worth.
TxDOT and Amtrak officials joined members of the East Texas Corridor Council in March to recognize the start of work to study new service by conventional trains with a maximum speed of 79 m.p.h..
Amtrak will estimate order-of-magnitude capital requirements and operating costs needed to provide state-sponsored passenger rail service, with trains making up to seven intermediate stops and operating up to two daily round-trips.
The study will consider potential schedules, operating costs, revenue and ridership, railcar and locomotive requirements, and capital needs for infrastructure improvements.
Union Pacific Railroad, which owns much of the route, will determine rail capacity.
The rail segment between Marshall, TX, and Fort Worth is served now by Amtrak’a Texas Eagle as part of its Chicago-San Antonio/Los Angeles route with one daily frequency in each direction and intermediate stops.
In a deviation from normal cover content, the Cowcatcher features the latest in 4000 series Big Boys, Minitrix's N-scale No. 4013. Why? It's one smooth-running model and the mood was just right. No. 4013 pulled 26 cars and a caboose effortlessly on Olaf Melhouse's Dakota Northern at the same time Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 was rolling through North Texas on its latest tour across the Midwest. Both the model and prototype are equally impressive. Check out the full review in the November/December 2024 issue.
Rapido Trains attributes its success over the last 20 years to relying on the knowledge of its model railroader-centric employee base. Plus, founder Jason Shron's persistence paid off after taking a big chance. He left behind his pursuits to teach art history and fulfilled a lifelong desire to make model trains.
Home Shops' USRA boxcars are another example of the company's high-quality freelance rolling stock.
The new Bartlett soybean processing plant arrives at a time when multiple industries are finding value in the versatile legume. Model train backdrops don't always need to be an elaborate work of art to create the right effect. Passengers riding the Empire State Express on the New York Central from Detroit to New York City reveled in the luxurious accommodations. And more!
