23-03-16 PHOTOS: McKinney Ave Extension

When I first visited Dallas in 2007, I was pleased to discover the McKinney Avenue heritage trolley line (apparently now rebranded as the M-Line) that ran from the art museum to the McKinney Ave arts and entertainment district. By that time the system had already been expanded once with a spur to the CityPlace DART station and a northward expansion to Blackburn Ave. The operation had an impressive fleet and level of service for a donation-funded non-profit and I rode it several times during my stay, despite the difficulty in reaching the Art Museum terminus (it was easier to take DART to CityPlace). Although I have been regularly visiting Dallas since 2017, I was never "downtown" enough to make time to revisit the McKinney Avenue trolley. However in 2023 I found myself back in the same hotel I had used in 2007 and to my complete surprise I realized that the long planned McKinney Ave Trolley extension into downtown had been completed and instead of being some 5 blocks away the streetcars now stopped across the street. With that level of convenience of course I was going to ride it again ,especially since I would be able to use it to access a greater variety of eateries. You can find the full gallery of photos here ( mirror ) and the previous coverage of my DART excursion to Buckner and the Dallas Terminal Railway here.

Due to the rainy weather I actually hit up the trolley before heading to Buckner with the hope that the weather would clear up some. The new station stop was at the corner of Federal and Olive and was where I caught the M-Line's smallest vehicle, Birney Safety Car #636.

The operator was new on the job and was receiving instruction from a comparatively veteran young lady. Watching the process it was interesting to see how much more complicated streetcar operation was with a huge amount of forethought to get stopped at the right place and not get into conflicts with the Texas sized vehicles it was sharing the road with.

I captured two long videos showing the training process, the first taken on Olive Street and the second on Cole. When the streetcar approached the more challenging McKinney Ave, the instructor took over.





In 2007 the CityPlace extension had been a stub terminal affair with the streetcars changing direction at the end of the line. This precluded the use of single ended cars like PCC's so at some point the M-Line installed an electric turntable. Here we see #636 taking a spin

After getting back to downtown I snagged this video of #636 turning off Federal St onto Olive St to begin a new run to the McKinney Ave food and arts district.

Later in the week the weather improved and I caught #636 again near the Klyde Warren Park, that was built on top of the Texas Route 366 urban highway.

I only rode it a few blocks until it McKinney Ave. The junction here was built new for the downtown loop expansion.

After picking up my food I managed to catch former Dallas Peter Witt car #754 making the turn onto what used to be the Saint Paul Street single track stub to the Art Museum.

23-03-16 PHOTOS: Dallas Terminal Railroad

While reviewing potential railfan activities to do before my 2023 trip to Dallas, I noticed something something that appeared to be Amtrak equipment in a random neighborhood near the Texas State Fairgrounds. Situated within walking distance of the DART Green Line to Buckner, I immediately planned an in-person investigation as it would also check off one of the last parts of the DART system that I had yet to ride. This set of photos will cover both the eastern Green Line and the little known Dallas Terminal Railroad. An additional set of photos covering the McKinney Ave trolley will be forthcoming. You can see the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

Starting out at Dallas Union Station with TRE F59PH #122 and F59PHI #569.

Arriving in Dallas I noticed that the replacement of the DART LRV rollsigns with LED signs was accelerating, like with #191 and #133 seen at Pearl St. However #213 was still fitted with the analogue signs that do much better in photographs.

Here a northbound DART Blue Line train with LRV's #192 and #185 take the flashing arrow Approach Diverging indication on the 4N signal at the north end of the Pearl Arts District platform.

 

 

DART LRV #213 actually turned out to be my ride to Buckner station at the "timetable" southern end of the line. The station is named for disgraced Red Socks first baseman Bill Buckner who was forced to flee to Texas and found his own town after blowing the 1986 World Series. Seen here the operator has already rolled the signs to the new destination of North Carrollton.

Similarly roll signed LRV #208 would be leading the return trip northward.

Passing LRV #247 on the main line. DART can reach speeds as high as 65mph.

Managed to catch some Union Pacific intermodal action on the Mineola Sub with ES44AC #2522 and AC4400 #7247.

The Dallas Terminal Railroad yard was located between MLK and Fair Park, so I bid fairwell to #213 at the former to walk to the latter.

Also located between MLK and Fair Park was the Green Line's access to DART's south side yard and maintenance facility. The yard was originally built in the 90's to serve the original Blue and Red lines, but was strategically located to also serve the planned Green Line that would be completed in the 2010's. Both lines connect to the yard via long segments of non-revenue track.

When built, the non-rev Green Line track cut through the Dallas Terminal Railroad, necessitating the installation of a 2 by 2 diamond crossing at grade, complete with power operated derails on the DALT.

23-03-12 PHOTOS: Alexandria

The joint station at Alexandria, VA works as a popular "railfan hack" for those wanting to travel to the DC Metro, but either want take LD trains that don't allow for intra-NEC travel or want more freedom to observe the power change at Union Station. Regardless I had never availed myself of this trick and in fact had never visited the Alexandria station until a friend who was staying in Crystal City suggested meeting up for a railfan activity and meeting up at the Alexandria station presented itself as the best solution. This set of photos ( mirror ) includes all of the action at Alexandria along with some unrelated CSX trains caught at the Savage MARC station.

While waiting on southbound Palmetto Train 89 at BWI, a northbound Regional appeared with ACS-86 #650 to pick up a sizable weekend crowd. I've noticed that Amtrak BWI ridership is fairly competitive with Baltimore Penn.

In a twist of fate, my Tran 89 was being powered by #650's direct sibling, #651.

At Washington Union Station, #651 was replaced with the rather threadbare Amtrak P42DC #125.

The Bradford Pear trees were just starting to bloom as #129 made its station stop at Alexandria.

This was followed up by northbound Regional Train #88 and P42DC #17.

As Train 88 was doing its work, a loaded southbound CSX coal train rounded the bend led by ES44AC #3199 and CM44AC rebuild #7202, with ET44AC #3463 pushing on the rear.

The joint station at Alexandria was served by a confederation of southern railroads, namely The Southern and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac. According to the info board it opened for service in 1905.