Texas Eagle (MP train)

Last updated
Texas Eagle
Texas and Pacific Railway ticket.JPG
A Texas and Pacific EMD E7 leads an Eagle in this 1950s ticket cover.
Overview
Service type Inter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
Locale Midwestern United States/Southwestern United States
First serviceAugust 15, 1948
Last serviceApril 30, 1971
Successor Inter-American (train)
Former operator(s) Missouri Pacific Railroad
Texas and Pacific Railway
Route
Termini St. Louis, Missouri
El Paso, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Mexico City
Stops
  • 45 (St. Louis–El Paso)
  • 37 (El Paso–St. Louis)
  • 18 (St. Louis–San Antonio)
  • 17 (San Antonio–St. Louis)
  • 23 (St. Louis–Galveston)
  • 21 (Galveston–St. Louis)
Average journey time
  • 29 hours 45 minutes (St. Louis–El Paso)
  • 30 hours 20 minutes (El Paso–St. Louis)
  • 18 hours 10 minutes (St. Louis–San Antonio)
  • 18 hours 31 minutes (St. Louis–Galveston)
  • 18 hours 20 minutes (Galveston–St. Louis)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)
  • 1 (St. Louis–El Paso)
  • 2 (El Paso–St. Louis)
  • 21-221-21 (St. Louis–San Antonio)
  • 22-222-22 (San Antonio–St. Louis)
  • 21-221-21-25 (St. Louis–Galveston)
  • 26-22-222-22 (Galveston–St. Louis)
On-board services
Seating arrangements Reclining seat coach
Sleeping arrangements roomettes, double bedrooms; carried-over slumbercoach transferring at St. Louis from the National Limited (1961)
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed
  • 45.6 mph (St. Louis–El Paso)
  • 44.7 mph (El Paso–St. Louis)
  • 50.8 mph (St. Louis–San Antonio)
  • 46.7 mph (St. Louis–Galveston)
  • 47.2 mph (Galveston–St. Louis)
Track owner(s) Missouri Pacific Railroad

The Texas Eagle was an American streamlined passenger train operated by the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Texas and Pacific Railway between St. Louis, Missouri, and multiple destinations in the state of Texas. It operated from 1948 to 1971. The Texas Eagle was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations in 1971, although Amtrak would revive service over the Missouri Pacific with the Inter-American in 1974. This train was renamed the Eagle in 1981 and finally the Texas Eagle in 1988.

Contents

History

Planetarium Dome coaches were featured equipment on the Texas Eagle. Missouri Pacific Planetarium Dome 1961.JPG
Planetarium Dome coaches were featured equipment on the Texas Eagle.

The Texas Eagle began on August 15, 1948, with the renaming of the Sunshine Special . [1] :119 For thirteen years, the Texas Eagle operated as two separate sections, leaving St. Louis in the late afternoon, one following behind the other at an approximately 10-minute interval. At Longview, the routes diverged. The west Texas section continued to Dallas and El Paso, while the south Texas section split off cars for Houston and Galveston at Palestine, then operated to Austin and San Antonio. In 1952, dome cars were added to the train. After 1961, the Texas Eagle was consolidated as a single, very long train, between St. Louis and Longview, Texas, where the train was split into several sections, each serving different Texas cities. The west Texas section (the West Texas Eagle) of the Texas Eagle continued from Longview to Dallas, Fort Worth, and El Paso; the south Texas section (South Texas Eagle) served Palestine, Austin, San Antonio, and Laredo. A third section of the Texas Eagle split from the main train at Palestine, providing service to Houston. [2]

While at its northern end, the Texas Eagle served St. Louis, as noted above, it also had another section that split off at Little Rock, going east towards Memphis. [3]

On December 12, 1948, a few months after its inception the Texas Eagle carried through sleepers from the Pennsylvania Railroad's Penn Texas , providing a one-seat ride from Washington, D.C., and New York City to Texas. Through sleeper service ended on June 30, 1961, but it was still possible to make a connection between the two trains in St. Louis. [4] :134–135

The western section ended May 31, 1969, leaving a San Antonio–St. Louis service. [2] The Missouri Pacific discontinued the remaining Texas intrastate segment of the Texas Eagle on September 22, 1970. The Missouri Pacific bypassed the Interstate Commerce Commission by arguing (to the Texas Railroad Commission) that the "Texas Eagle" was not an interstate train but rather three intrastate trains: one which ran San Antonio–Texarkana, another which ran from Texarkana to the Missouri border, and a third which ran from the Missouri border to St. Louis. The Texas Railroad Commission accepted this argument and permitted the Missouri Pacific to end the Texas portion of the Texas Eagle. [5] The Texas Railroad Commission ruling was handed down less than a month before President Nixon signed Railpax legislation which placed a moratorium on passenger train discontinuances in anticipation of the start-up of Amtrak. The St. Louis–Texarkana truncation of the Texas Eagle continued running until the advent of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, when it was discontinued. [2]

International service

From its beginning, into the latter 1960s, the South Texas Eagle had cars that continued from Laredo, Texas, where a connection was made to the Aztec Eagle for Nuevo Laredo and Mexico City, operated by the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México. Likewise, there were through Pullman sleepers continuing to Mexico City. [6]

Sample consist

The December 1952 edition of the Official Guide of the Railways listed the following for a southbound Texas Eagle: [7]

TypeSeatingRouteNotes
No. 1 : St. LouisFort WorthEl Paso
Sleeper14 roomettes, 1 drawing room, 2 double bedroomsSt. LouisFort Worth
Sleeper14 roomettes, 4 double bedroomsNew YorkEl PasoConveyed New YorkSt. Louis by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Sleeper14 roomettes, 4 double bedroomsWashingtonFort WorthConveyed WashingtonSt. Louis by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Sleeper14 roomettes, 4 double bedroomsMemphisFort WorthConveyed MemphisLittle Rock by No. 201
SleeperRoomettes and bedroomsDallasLos AngelesConveyed El PasoLos Angeles by the Southern Pacific Railroad
Lounge5 bedroomsSt. LouisFort Worth
DinerSt. LouisFort Worth
CoachSt. LouisEl Paso
CoachSt. LouisFort WorthPlanetarium dome
CoachMemphisFort WorthConveyed MemphisLittle Rock by No. 201
TypeSeatingRouteNotes
No. 21 : St. LouisPalestineHouston/San Antonio
Sleeper14 roomettes, 1 drawing room, 2 double bedroomsSt. LouisGalveston
Sleeper14 roomettes, 4 double bedroomsMemphisHoustonConveyed MemphisLittle Rock by No. 201
Sleeper10 roomettes, 6 double bedroomsWashingtonHoustonConveyed WashingtonSt. Louis by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Sleeper10 roomettes, 6 double bedroomsNew YorkHoustonConveyed New YorkSt. Louis by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Sleeper10 roomettes, 6 double bedroomsNew YorkSan AntonioConveyed New YorkSt. Louis by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Sleeper14 roomettes, 4 double bedroomsSt. LouisSan Antonio
Sleeper14 roomettes, 4 double bedroomsSt. LouisSan Antonio
Diner loungeSt. LouisHouston
Diner loungeSt. LouisSan Antonio
CoachSt. LouisHouston
CoachSt. LouisCorpus ChristiConveyed HoustonOdem by No. 11; OdemCorpus Christi by No. 205
CoachSt. LouisSan AntonioPlanetarium dome
CoachSt. LouisSan Antonio
CoachSt. LouisSan Antonio
CoachSt. LouisSan Antonio
CoachHoustonGalveston
TypeSeatingRouteNotes
No. 201 : MemphisLittle Rock
Sleeper14 roomettes, 4 double bedroomsMemphisFort WorthConveyed Little RockFort Worth by No. 1
Sleeper14 roomettes, 4 double bedroomsMemphisHoustonConveyed Little RockHouston by No. 21
CoachMemphisLittle Rock
CoachMemphisFort WorthConveyed Little RockFort Worth by No. 1

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Texas Eagle</i> Amtrak service between Chicago and Los Angeles via Texas

The Texas Eagle is a long-distance passenger train operated daily by Amtrak on a 1,306-mile (2,102 km) route between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas, with major stops in St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin. Three days per week, the train joins the Sunset Limited in San Antonio and continues to Los Angeles via El Paso and Tucson. The combined 2,728-mile (4,390 km) route is the longest in the United States and the second-longest in the Americas, after the Canadian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallas Union Station</span> Main railway station in Dallas, Texas, United States

Dallas Union Station, officially Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station, also known as Dallas Union Terminal, is a large intermodal railroad station in Dallas, Texas. It is the third busiest Amtrak station in Texas, behind Fort Worth Central Station and San Antonio station. It serves DART Light Rail Blue and Red lines, Trinity Railway Express commuter rail and Amtrak intercity rail. It is located on Houston Street, between Wood and Young Streets, in the Reunion district of Downtown Dallas. The structure is a Dallas Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri Pacific Railroad</span> Defunct American Class I railroad

The Missouri Pacific Railroad, commonly abbreviated as 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. In 1967, the railroad operated 9,041 miles of road and 13,318 miles of track, not including DK&S, NO&LC, T&P, and its subsidiaries C&EI and Missouri-Illinois.

<i>Sunset Limited</i> Amtrak service between Los Angeles and New Orleans

The Sunset Limited is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 1,995-mile (3,211 km) route between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Los Angeles, California, with major stops in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, and Tucson. Introduced in 1894 by the Southern Pacific Railroad, it is the oldest continuously operating named train in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas and Pacific Railway</span> Defunct railroad in the Western United States

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.

<i>Mules</i> (train) Pair of passenger trains running in Missouri

The Kansas City Mule and St. Louis Mule were a pair of 283-mile (455 km) passenger trains operated by Amtrak running between St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri as part of the Missouri Service train network. Also operating over this route was the Ann Rutledge, which originated in Chicago. In January 2009, Amtrak consolidated these trains under the name Missouri River Runner.

<i>San Francisco Chief</i> Former streamlined passenger train

The San Francisco Chief was a streamlined passenger train on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. It ran from 1954 until 1971. The San Francisco Chief was the last new streamliner introduced by the Santa Fe, its first full train between Chicago and the Bay, the only Chicago–Bay Area train running over just one railroad, and at 2,555 miles (4,112 km) the longest run in the country on one railroad. The San Francisco Chief was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations in 1971.

<i>Denver Zephyr</i> Streamlined passenger train in the U.S.

The Denver Zephyr was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado. In peak years it ran to Colorado Springs. It operated from 1936 to 1973. The Denver Zephyr continued operating after the Burlington Northern Railroad merger in 1970. BN conveyed the train to Amtrak in 1971; Amtrak merged it with the Denver–Oakland City of San Francisco to form the San Francisco Zephyr and dropped the "Denver" name in 1973.

<i>Sunshine Special</i>

The Sunshine Special was inaugurated by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway,, on December 5, 1915, to provide a premium level of passenger train service between St. Louis, Little Rock, and destinations in Texas, United States, such as El Paso, San Antonio, Laredo and Houston. An auxiliary section of the train originated in Memphis, Tennessee, and linked with the train in Little Rock, Arkansas.

<i>Panama Limited</i> Former American passenger train

The Panama Limited was a passenger train operated from 1911 to 1971 between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The flagship train of the Illinois Central Railroad, it took its name from the Panama Canal, which in 1911 was three years from completion. For most of its career, the train was "all-Pullman", carrying sleeping cars only. The Panama Limited was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations in 1971, though Amtrak revived the name later that year and continued it until 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memphis Union Station</span> Former intercity railroad station in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.

Memphis Union Station was a passenger terminal in Memphis, Tennessee. It served as a hub between railroads of the Southwest, the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, and railroads of the Southeast, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway and the Southern Railway. The terminal, completed in 1912, was built in the Beaux-Arts style and was located on Calhoun Street, between south Second Street and Rayburn Boulevard. It was demolished in 1969. This location in south Memphis was approximately two blocks east of the other major Memphis railroad terminal, Memphis Grand Central Station.

<i>Rocky Mountain Rocket</i>

The Rocky Mountain Rocket was a streamlined passenger train of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Rock Island's train numbers 7 and 8 ran between Chicago's LaSalle Street Station and Denver's Union Station and Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Rocky Mountain Rocket ran from 1939 to 1966; the train was discontinued prior to the creation of Amtrak in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Rock Union Station</span>

Little Rock Union Station, also known as Mopac Station, is a train station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system.

<i>Inter-American</i> (train)

The Inter-American was a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and Laredo, Texas. Its route changed over time and was eventually replaced by the Texas Eagle.

<i>Texas Chief</i> Passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

The Texas Chief was a passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Galveston, Texas. It was the first Santa Fe "Chief" outside the Chicago–Los Angeles routes. The Santa Fe conveyed the Texas Chief to Amtrak in 1971, which renamed it the Lone Star in 1974. The train was discontinued in 1979.

<i>Texas Special</i>

The Texas Special was a named passenger train operated jointly by the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad and the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway. It was the flagship of both these lines, operating between St. Louis, Missouri, and San Antonio, Texas, from 1915 until 1959, after which time the Katy changed the northern destination from St Louis to Kansas City after the Frisco discontinued service from St. Louis.

<i>Spirit of St. Louis</i> (train)

The Spirit of St. Louis was a named passenger train on the Pennsylvania Railroad and its successors Penn Central and Amtrak between New York and St. Louis, Missouri. The Pennsylvania introduced the Spirit of St. Louis on June 15, 1927, replacing the New Yorker (eastbound) and St. Louisian (westbound); that September its schedule was 24 hr 50 min each way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hope station (Arkansas)</span> Train station in Hope, Arkansas

Hope station is a passenger rail station in Hope, Arkansas. The station is located on Amtrak's Texas Eagle line. Trains run daily between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas, and continue to Los Angeles, California, 2,728 miles (4,390 km) total, three days a week.

The Penn Texas was a named passenger train of the Pennsylvania Railroad that ran from New York City's Pennsylvania Station to St. Louis' Union Station from 1948 to 1970. The train also had a branch from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., via York, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland. The train offered sleeping cars that would run continuous to different Texas branches to El Paso, Houston and San Antonio over the Missouri Pacific's Texas Eagle. Accordingly, this service was the longest distance that an American railroad offered for through sleeper service to the east coast, with exception of trains running from California to New York. Coach passengers heading to Texas would need to change at St. Louis Union Station. Throughout this period, the Pennsylvania's competitor, the New York Central Railroad operated a competing Southwestern Limited which also offered sleeping cars which would hitch with Texas Eagle trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laredo station</span> Former train station in Laredo, Texas

Laredo station is a former Amtrak and Missouri Pacific passenger train depot in Laredo, Texas. The station was the southern terminus of the Inter-American, the last Amtrak train to serve Laredo, which ran from 1973 to 1981.

References

  1. Sanders, Craig (2003). Limiteds, Locals, and Expresses in Indiana, 1838–1971. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN   978-0-253-34216-4.
  2. 1 2 3 Schafer, Mike (2000). More Classic American Railroads. Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing Co. pp. 87–88. ISBN   978-0-7603-0758-8. OCLC   44089438.
  3. 'The Official Guide,' August 1949, p. 734-35
  4. Welsh, Joe (2006). Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited. Saint Paul, MN: Voyageur Press. ISBN   978-0-7603-2302-1.
  5. Smith, Griffin (August 1974). "Waiting For The Train". Texas Monthly. 2 (8): 79–83, 89–99.; 91.
  6. Official Guide of the Railways, June 1968, Missouri Pacific section
  7. "The Texas Eagle - December 1952". Streamliner Schedules. Retrieved 2010-08-07.