Amtrak at Allen's Landing

Allen's Landing, at the confluence of White Oak and Buffalo Bayous, is where it all started for the US's 4th largest city. It's at this spot where the Allen brothers, two New York real estate developers, decided to settle the town of Houston in the months after Texas gained its independence from Mexico in 1836. With the bayou confluence providing a natural turning basin for early steamships, the original Port of Houston began here in 1841 and the town grew around it.

 

Nowadays, the Port of Houston has moved upstream to a wider and deeper stretch of Buffalo Bayou. But Downtown Houston has continued and grown here, now into the thriving heart of Texas's largest city. Parks and trails now line the bayou, along with the county jail and the University of Houston-Downtown.

 

Here, in the last golden light of a gorgeous October evening, the Sunset Limited rolls across White Oak Bayou and into the shadow of the Main St viaduct. The train is running about 30 minutes early and will pull into the Amtrak station less than a mile away.

 

AMT1 14 (Westbound Sunset Limited)

AMTK P42DC #199

AMTK P42DC #206

 

Houston, TX

October 14th, 2024

Done