07-04-19 PHOTOS: Dallas and TRE

In this final installment of my trip to Dallas back in late April I bring you perhaps the most exciting part of my journey. Here are photos of the downtown Union Station where the famous TRE Budd RDCs hang out. TRE also makes use of push-pull trainsets mostly bought from GO Transit making use of GO vintage EMD F59PH's and new bought F59PHI's. Amtrak also stops at the station and I missed the Texas Eagle by about 5 minutes as I was walking back from the station area. Well, I guess one can't catch 'em all.

Of course I also visited the nearby 6th Floor Museum which is located in the former Texas School Book Depository building. The museum was a bit pricey and didn't allow photography, but it was sort of obligatory that I go. It was interesting to see all of those famous locations up close. The distances involved were much shorter than they had seemed in all those documentaries, well within the range of a basic marksman.

On my last day in Dallas I took the TRE out to the Airport station and was able to take pictures out through the railfan view. The line is being upgraded with new stretched of double track, especially at some stations and where they augmented some old single track bridges. The Budds run all day. In the mid-day they run the short turn trains to the airport. These run every other hour with Bomber sets going to Ft Worth in the gaps. There are additional RDC sets running all the way to Ft Worth during the peak periods.

You can find all the pictures of the downtown Dallas area as well as some railroad pix I took in Garland at:

http://acm.jhu.edu/~sthurmovik/Railpics/07-04-19_DALLAS_TRIP/-Thumbnails.html

Here is a select sample:

Here is a TRE Bomber set pulling into Union Station with cab car #1002 in the lead.

And a group of Budd cars departing.  Budds tend to be used on locals to the DFW airport mid-mine terminal while the Bomber sets go all the way to Fort Worth.

Flat nose F59PH #568 of GO vintage pulls into with the rhomboid Bombardier split-level cars also of GO vintage.  The F59's came on the used market after GO went all in with MP40PH-3Cs.

You can see the relationship between DART and TRE with the across the platform transfer.

Same train now departing through JFK Junction interlocking, which is a very thoughtful tribute on behalf of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Here is the same 3-RDC set waiting for a mid-day departure. Note the freight friendly mini-high with the drawbridge type bridge plate.

Both towers which controlled the Union Station complex are still standing and are owned by DART. TOWER 107 was on the east side, and TOWER 106 on the west. TOWER 106 still has its model board and possibly its interlocking machine. It sits in the parking lot of the 6th floor museum and is considered part of the JFK historical site.

Speaking of said museum here is the required (Richard J) Dealey Plaza shot. 

And the view from the grassy knoll.

The TRE RDC's have been thoroughly modernized, I think by VIA with the work performed by GEC-Alstom in Montreal. Here is a shot of the cab, then the underfloor AC unit.

The interior now lacks the classic flip seats.

Out on the way to the airport we passed an inbound bomber set at South Irving station.

And the TRE yard with a crapload of more RDCs in the main TRE storage facility.

Finally, you can see all of the new work at the DFW station.

Hope you found the pics interesting.