Amtrak’s historic Exhibit Train winds down 2016 U.S. tour with stops in Frisco, Galveston
September 21, 2016
News
Amtrak’s Exhibit Train will be on display at the Museum of the American Railroad Sept. 24-25 and Galveston Railroad Museum on Oct. 1 – Museum of the American Railroad
Amtrak’s Exhibit Train is making a stop at the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco on Saturday and Sunday before heading to the Gulf Coast.
The specially outfitted passenger train, which features interactive exhibits, will be open for guests at MAR from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free.
The 510-foot long streamliner celebrates the history and romance of train travel, as well as Amtrak’s 45-year history.
Two specially painted locomotives that span 40 years of technology and arrayed in an historic Amtrak paint scheme lead the Exhibit Train, which includes four display cars (former baggage cars) that have been renovated and transformed into exhibit space. Information on major events and achievements covering more than four decades of company history are shown. At the end of the train, in a reconfigured Amfleet Café car, visitors may browse the gift shop.
The train, originally created in 2011 to celebrate Amtrak’s 40th anniversary, will be displayed on tracks within the museum grounds. Enter at the 6299 North Cotton Gin Road pedestrian gate. Free parking is available at the nearby Frisco Discovery Center. Other Museum exhibits will not be accessible due to ongoing construction.
The train will head south for Galveston for an appearance at the Galveston Railroad Museum, 2602 Santa Fe Place in Galveston, on Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The stop in Galveston is the last on the train’s 2016 schedule.
Since May, the train has been on display in St. Paul, MN; Brunswick, MN; Claremont, NH; Niagara Falls, NY; Grand Canyon Village, AZ; and Pueblo, CO.
North American railroads have hauled coal in quantity ever since the anthracite roads were built on the East Coast. Decades later and despite many changes that have diminished production, coal remains a top (but declining) commodity. While it has weathered shifts in power generation and other factors leading to its decline, coal still accounts for 28 percent of total rail tonnage and 12 percent of revenue. Watch a coal trains roll by and you’ll notice that most cars are painted a stripe or block of color on one end. The color doesn’t matter, but the painted end has a rotary coupler, the non-painted end a solid drawbar. Learn how this combination of couplers enable railroads to move coal efficiently.
Manufacturers roll out the red carpet at January's Amherst Railway Society's Railroad Hobby Show in Springfield, MA. The show set an attendance record of 27,535 at what has become the big daddy of train shows. Several manufacturers came out in full dress to tout their latest products and announce new runs. At times it appeared to be a battle of the booths, something show chairman John Sacerdote anticipated leading up to the show. Lionel and Walthers did not disappoint.
After almost 20 years of top-line service, the Pennsylvania Railroad's St. Louisan and New Yorker were rechristened Spirit of St. Louis after the custom-built Ryan monoplane in which Charles Lindbergh made the first transatlantic flight. PRR’s advertising and publicity forces wasted no time capitalizing on transatlantic frenzy. The Spirit’s christening was celebrated June 15, 1927, less than a month after Lindbergh’s May 21 landing in Paris. Take a ride on the train in the Cowcatcher's ongoing series, "The Golden Age of Passenger Travel."
CN rolls out a medium horsepower hybrid locomotive that will be deployed this year across several of the railroads's yards and branch lines. Watching trains circle a layout adds a warm touch to modeling and relieves stress, say modelers. And more!
