21-08-27 PHOTOS: DART South

In 2020 I had managed to get in my annual trip to Dallas just before COVID shut everything down. I figured that 2021 would be a wash, but as luck would have it I was able to reschedule for later in the year and despite the heat I was able to make quite a bit of the opportunity by exploring the southern part of the DART Red and Blue lines. These were the first two lines to be constructed and had a number of interesting elements that would be altered in the later Green and Orange line construction. The photo gallery for all of this along with a good bit of freight action in the Union Station area can be viewed here ( mirror ).

I begin my journey at the Inwood station on the Green/Orange line where one connects to Dallas Love Field via shuttle bus. Ironically I would be connecting to a DFW bound train as that airport is directly served by DART.

As I would be staying at the Hyatt Regency Dallas I transferred to TRE at the Victory station to avoid having to make a transfer at the less hospitable West End station. At Victory, named due to the proximity of the downtown Dallas sports arena, DART and TRE run side-by-side allowing for a convenient across the platform transfer.

My TRE train had Bomber cab car #1004 leading and F50PHI #570, seen at Union Station next to F59PH #122.

The next morning I passed by TRE F59PHI #569 to catch DART Westmoreland Bound LRV #153.

The Westmoreland Station was undergoing a bit of a rebuild so I was only able to get photos from the departure/arrival end. Here is DART LRV #110 at the opposite end of my train.

To transfer to the Blue Line I got off at 8th and Corinth, just south of the Trinity River. 

A northbound Blue Line train to Rowlett at 8th and Corinth.

The University of North Texas (UNT) station was part of a two stop extension past the original Blue Line terminus at Ledbetter. Opened in 2016, the extension used cab signals instead of a modified Line of Sight system used on the 1996 portion.

DART LRV #103 on a DFW Orange Line routing at West End.

Northbound Orange Line train at the Northwest Jct just south of the West End station. 

BNSF ES44C4 #8184 and ET44 #3961 waiting to enter the Up Dallas Sub at TRE Jct just west of Union Station.

DART LRV #182 on a Westmoreland routing sits next to TRE cab car #1008 at Union Station.

A little bit later a Union Pacific intermodal train appeared from the other direction with SD70ACe #8814 leading and AC4400 #6671 behind.

Ahead of the departure of eastbound Texas Eagle Train #22, I ventured out to REUNION interlocking where some UP MoW equipment was sitting.

DART LRV #128 passing the repurposed Dallas Union Station TOWER 107.

The train was being led by Amtrak P42DC #69. The Texas Eagle can get away with just a single diesel engine as its route is largely flat and the consist fairly short.

A day later I found UNT bound DART Blue Line passing through Northwest Jct just behind TOWER 106, the Texas Book Depository and the Honorable Richard J Dealey Plaza.

In the opposite direction I caught a UP manifest freight with AC4400 #6460 and ES44AC #5438 rounding the curve at JFK Jct with DART LRV #258 on a Red Line assignment making an appearance.

This time Train 22 was being led by Amtrak P42DC #63.

For some reason the westbound track #2 signal at DALLAS interlocking was displaying an Approach Restricting indication for a Diverging Clear signal at JFK JCT.

Walking over to JFK JCT I was in time to catch a westbound UP welded rail train pulled by ES44AC #8201 pass under the eastbound cantilever signal for DALLAS interlocking with an Advance Approach signal flashing eastbound on track #1. An old Hydra-Cushion box car was acting as a buffer/tool car on the rear end.

And just as we have reached the end of the rail train we have reached the end of my trip. Tune in next time as we had back to Philly for some urban exploration.