Texas Eagle
Encyclopedia
The Texas Eagle is a 1306-mile (2102 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak
in the central and western United States
. Trains run daily between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas
, and continue to Los Angeles, California
, 2728 miles (4390 km) total, three days a week (incorporated as part of the Sunset Limited
). Prior to 1988 the train was known as the Eagle.
During fiscal year 2010, the Texas Eagle carried a total of 287,164 passengers, a 10.2% increase from FY 2009's total of 260,467 passengers. The train had a total revenue of $22,728,016 during FY 2010, an increase of 15.2% from Fy 2009's total of $19,721,777.
and Texas and Pacific Railway
train of the same name, which was inaugurated in 1948 and ultimately discontinued in 1970. The route of Amtrak's Texas Eagle is longer (Chicago
to San Antonio versus St. Louis
to San Antonio), but much of today's route is historically a part of the original Texas Eagle route. St. Louis
to Texarkana and Taylor, Texas
to San Antonio is over former Missouri Pacific Railroad trackage, while the Texarkana to Fort Worth segment traverses the former Texas and Pacific Railway.
The Eagle began on October 2, 1981, as a restructuring of the discontinued Inter-American, which had operated a daily schedule from Chicago to Laredo, Texas
via San Antonio with a section to Houston, Texas
which diverged at Temple, Texas
. The new Eagle dropped the Houston section and cut back from Laredo to San Antonio. The new train carried Superliner
equipment, replacing the Amfleet
coaches on the Inter-American. In addition, the new train ran on a tri-weekly schedule with a through car on the Sunset Limited
to Los Angeles
, although the latter was not announced until the April 1982 timetable.
On November 15, 1988 Amtrak revived a Houston section, this time diverging at Dallas and running over the tracks of the Southern Pacific. It was the first time passenger traffic had served that route since 1958. Amtrak had intended to operate the Lone Star
over this route back in the 1970s
but dropped the plan in the face of obstruction from the Southern Pacific. With the change Amtrak revived the name "Texas Eagle" for the thrice-weekly Chicago-San Antonio/Houston train, while the off-day Chicago-St. Louis train remained the Eagle.
Brian Rosenwald, Amtrak's chief of product management, noted that the Sunset Limited
might be replaced by an extension of the Texas Eagle to Los Angeles: "We projected the revenue and looked at the logistics, and with a little bit of rescheduling came to the conclusion that we can make this happen with the equipment we have, and the additional revenue the train earns will more than cover the increased operating costs." The move would restore a connection to the Coast Starlight
in both directions, and move boarding in Maricopa and Tucson, Arizona to civilized times. "We are putting a stake in the ground: Triweekly needs to disappear," Rosenwald said. In the July 2010 issue, a little blurb on p. 20 shows this as something the would come to fruition at some point along with four other routes. While the route of the Sunset Limited
would not be entirely replaced, the performance improvements listed explain what will happen:
These changes would in turn create a through-car change similar to that of the Empire Builder
. Such service would originate from Los Angeles
and split at San Antonio, and vice versa from New Orleans.
(* 1 coach added at Saint Louis on northbound runs to provide service from Gateway Station to Chicago Union Station)
On a tri-weekly basis, a coach and sleeping car operate from Chicago through San Antonio to Los Angeles, in conjunction with the Sunset Limited
.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
in the central and western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Trains run daily between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, and continue to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, 2728 miles (4390 km) total, three days a week (incorporated as part of the Sunset Limited
Sunset Limited
The Sunset Limited is a passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California, and that from early 1993 through late August 2005 also ran east of New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida, making it during that time the only true transcontinental...
). Prior to 1988 the train was known as the Eagle.
During fiscal year 2010, the Texas Eagle carried a total of 287,164 passengers, a 10.2% increase from FY 2009's total of 260,467 passengers. The train had a total revenue of $22,728,016 during FY 2010, an increase of 15.2% from Fy 2009's total of $19,721,777.
History
Amtrak's Texas Eagle is the direct successor of the Missouri Pacific RailroadMissouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , Texas and Pacific...
and Texas and Pacific Railway
Texas and Pacific Railway
The Texas and Pacific Railway Company was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California....
train of the same name, which was inaugurated in 1948 and ultimately discontinued in 1970. The route of Amtrak's Texas Eagle is longer (Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to San Antonio versus St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
to San Antonio), but much of today's route is historically a part of the original Texas Eagle route. St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
to Texarkana and Taylor, Texas
Taylor, Texas
Taylor is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,575 at the 2000 census; it was 15,191 in the 2010 census estimate. Taylors largest employers include the Electric Reliability Council of Texas , Durcon Inc, and the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, an immigration...
to San Antonio is over former Missouri Pacific Railroad trackage, while the Texarkana to Fort Worth segment traverses the former Texas and Pacific Railway.
The Eagle began on October 2, 1981, as a restructuring of the discontinued Inter-American, which had operated a daily schedule from Chicago to Laredo, Texas
Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
via San Antonio with a section to Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
which diverged at Temple, Texas
Temple, Texas
Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas. Located off Interstate 35, Temple is 65 miles north of Austin and 34 miles south of Waco. In the 2010 Census, Temple's population was 66,102, an...
. The new Eagle dropped the Houston section and cut back from Laredo to San Antonio. The new train carried Superliner
Superliner (railcar)
The Superliner is a double decker passenger car used by Amtrak on long haul trains that do not use the Northeast Corridor. The initial cars were built by Pullman-Standard in the late 1970s and a second order was built in the mid 1990s by Bombardier Transportation...
equipment, replacing the Amfleet
Amfleet
Amfleet is a series of intercity railroad passenger cars built for the operator Amtrak by the manufacturer Budd Company in two series during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Today, Amfleet cars are used extensively throughout the Amtrak system outside the western United States...
coaches on the Inter-American. In addition, the new train ran on a tri-weekly schedule with a through car on the Sunset Limited
Sunset Limited
The Sunset Limited is a passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California, and that from early 1993 through late August 2005 also ran east of New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida, making it during that time the only true transcontinental...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, although the latter was not announced until the April 1982 timetable.
On November 15, 1988 Amtrak revived a Houston section, this time diverging at Dallas and running over the tracks of the Southern Pacific. It was the first time passenger traffic had served that route since 1958. Amtrak had intended to operate the Lone Star
Lone Star (Amtrak)
The Lone Star was an Amtrak passenger train serving Chicago, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Houston and intermediate points. From Amtrak's inception in 1971 until March 1974, the train was known as the Texas Chief, as it had been under the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
over this route back in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
but dropped the plan in the face of obstruction from the Southern Pacific. With the change Amtrak revived the name "Texas Eagle" for the thrice-weekly Chicago-San Antonio/Houston train, while the off-day Chicago-St. Louis train remained the Eagle.
Proposed changes
In the August 2009 issue of Trains magazineTrains (magazine)
Trains is a monthly magazine dedicated to trains and railroads, and is one of the two flagship publications of Kalmbach Publishing. The magazine is read both by railroad enthusiasts, commonly referred to as railfans, and those within the railroad industry....
Brian Rosenwald, Amtrak's chief of product management, noted that the Sunset Limited
Sunset Limited
The Sunset Limited is a passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California, and that from early 1993 through late August 2005 also ran east of New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida, making it during that time the only true transcontinental...
might be replaced by an extension of the Texas Eagle to Los Angeles: "We projected the revenue and looked at the logistics, and with a little bit of rescheduling came to the conclusion that we can make this happen with the equipment we have, and the additional revenue the train earns will more than cover the increased operating costs." The move would restore a connection to the Coast Starlight
Coast Starlight
The Coast Starlight is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States. It runs from King Street Station in Seattle, Washington, to Union Station in Los Angeles, California. The train's name was formed as a merging of two of Southern Pacific's train names, the Coast...
in both directions, and move boarding in Maricopa and Tucson, Arizona to civilized times. "We are putting a stake in the ground: Triweekly needs to disappear," Rosenwald said. In the July 2010 issue, a little blurb on p. 20 shows this as something the would come to fruition at some point along with four other routes. While the route of the Sunset Limited
Sunset Limited
The Sunset Limited is a passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California, and that from early 1993 through late August 2005 also ran east of New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida, making it during that time the only true transcontinental...
would not be entirely replaced, the performance improvements listed explain what will happen:
- Conversion to daily ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
train - Shortening of the schedule by 9 hours
- San Antonio-New Orleans stub service on a daily basis to connect with this train
- Use of the Diner-Lounge on the stub service
These changes would in turn create a through-car change similar to that of the Empire Builder
Empire Builder
The Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route and busiest daily train, carrying more than 500,000 travelers annually since 2007. Overall, it is the railroad's 10th-busiest line. Before...
. Such service would originate from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and split at San Antonio, and vice versa from New Orleans.
Consist
The normally assigned consist on the Texas Eagle includes:- 1 P42GE GenesisGE Genesis is a series of passenger locomotives produced by GE Transportation Systems, a subsidiary of General Electric...
, - 1 dorm-sleeper,
- 1 sleeperSleeping carThe sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...
, - 1 diner,
- 1 Sightseer Lounge,
- 1 coach-baggage, and
- 2 coaches.
(* 1 coach added at Saint Louis on northbound runs to provide service from Gateway Station to Chicago Union Station)
On a tri-weekly basis, a coach and sleeping car operate from Chicago through San Antonio to Los Angeles, in conjunction with the Sunset Limited
Sunset Limited
The Sunset Limited is a passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California, and that from early 1993 through late August 2005 also ran east of New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida, making it during that time the only true transcontinental...
.