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COWCATCHER MAGAZINE

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.

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Throttling Up

Ever wonder why railroads chose certain locomotives to pull freight trains? Railroads have practiced multiple-unit train control since the 1890s when Frank J. Sprague developed a system to combine motive power in electric train operation. When assigning power and consisting locomotives today, railroads generally match the horsepower per ton and tractive effort ratings to specific locomotives designed to meet specific network needs. But other factors are involved, and it's not uncommon for railroads to mix makes and models of locomotives when consisting for trains.

State of Model Railroading

Response to the Cowcatcher’s 2025 State of Model Railroading survey was positive and many say the hobby is rolling along fine, maybe a bit complicated for some. The 31-question survey sent to readers across the U.S. in November earned a 42 percent response rate. Questions ranged from personal preferences and skill levels and layouts to how modelers buy and spend.

Joint Agency

Whether shuttling power, moving cars through interline carrier agreements or running on joint lines, North America’s largest rail providers interact. One of the more obscure examples is the Milwaukee Road’s Joint Agency Yard in Kansas City, MO, where the Milwaukee Road and Kansas City Southern coexisted for 40 years. On the N-scale Whitehurst & Pine Ridge Railroad, joint yard agreements in Kansas City and Dallas make sense, allowing KCS traffic to move in and out of both ends of the layout to service grain customers without the need for another yard.

Plus

BNSF posts record agricultural volumes on the heels of a good harvest. A Milwaukee Road stock car with a storied past is now on display at the Galveston Railroad Museum. And a United Kingdom retailer and manufacturer introduces its camera car, the Eye-Choo, to the U.S. And more!