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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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FW&D Aura

Keith Brewer’s HO Wichita Falls Division, Fort Worth & Denver Rwy. is not just the culmination of years of research of his hometown railroad but the backstory after he took up model railroading. It wasn’t until several years after leaving Bowie, TX, that he understood the importance of the FW&D beyond its everyday whistles. Today Brewer's point-to-point 14x20 layout, a scaled down version of a much larger pike in another home, pays homage to the freight business. Short main line trains haul cattle, grain, gravel and agricultural products along the route from Fort Worth, Decatur, Bowie, Henrietta and Wichita Falls, TX. The action is heavy but eases when the crew breaks midway through an operating session. A tasty cobbler, cake or banana pudding is just the right recipe for fun.

Modular N Growing

With a variety of options, N-scale modular model railroading is enjoying growth.This summer in Chattanooga, TN, NRail, which embraces all forms of N scale, will head the hobby’s quest to build the world’s largest modular layout at the NMRA National Convention. It’s all but assured that the previous record will fall to a connected layout that will occupy 10,000 square feet of the city’s convention center.

Packing the Aisles

A fierce winter storm brought out model railroad and rail enthusiasts by the thousands for the opening day of January's annual Railroad Hobby Show in Springfield, MA. A single-day record of 18,432 filled the aisles at the Eastern States Exposition before some 18 inches of snow blanketed New England. U-series General Electric locomotives topped new product announcements.

Plus

Coordinated run-throughs that connect two or more Class I railroads is a proven solution for moving freight from coast to coast; one of Micro-Trains last N-scale releases, the Greenville Railgon is worth its weight in hauling heavy loads; the elegance and food of the dining car experience spoiled hungry riders during the heyday of passenger rail transportation; Union Pacific inks a record deal to upgrade its locomotives. And more!