Texas & Pacific Railway Ghost - Dallas
Imagine boasting of 23 hours from Dallas to St. Louis!
How I wish I could have known this one in all its glory - but am thankful to have seen it before it all fades away! Not too many railroad ghost signs around. I juiced and contrasted, but still couldn't figure it all out. Couldn't find a photo anywhere that revealed much more of the text than I could guess, but after looking at old timetables from around 1900, I think I know most of what it said.
You can see the faint number 4 between the first two windows. It read: "4 Important Gateways". The red T&P Diamond had a white "The" inside the top point, "Texas" to the left and "Pacific" to the right, with "Railway" inside the bottom point. Outside the 4 scrolled notches on the sides the four gateways were named: Texarkana, Shreveport, El Paso and New Orleans.
A shame the real estate sign is posted in an unfortunate location and that meters and painted over graffiti obscure some letters. But the text at the right appears to have said:
Elegant Passenger Service
23 Hours to St. Louis
Free Reclining Chair Cars
Through Sleepers to Nashville
The Texas Eagle was a T&P / Missouri Pacific train and that route is still operated by Amtrak. My first train ride ever was on that line and so was my most memorable ride.
Way out there in the East Texas darkness, a lifetime ago, my favorite old engineer stopped #21 so I could step down from my sleeper, run up to the head end and climb up in the cab. Got to be the hogger I truly wanted to be . . . for a little while anyway. Always thought there would be another chance - but that was the only one. (Thank you Luther Virgil, I know you're looking down and smiling because I'll never forget!)
Missouri Pacific came to own a majority of T&P stock and in 1976 the two merged. In the 1990s the merger of MoPac into the Union Pacific system was finally completed. But out in East Texas the older folks still call that line the T&P.
.
Texas & Pacific Railway Ghost - Dallas
Imagine boasting of 23 hours from Dallas to St. Louis!
How I wish I could have known this one in all its glory - but am thankful to have seen it before it all fades away! Not too many railroad ghost signs around. I juiced and contrasted, but still couldn't figure it all out. Couldn't find a photo anywhere that revealed much more of the text than I could guess, but after looking at old timetables from around 1900, I think I know most of what it said.
You can see the faint number 4 between the first two windows. It read: "4 Important Gateways". The red T&P Diamond had a white "The" inside the top point, "Texas" to the left and "Pacific" to the right, with "Railway" inside the bottom point. Outside the 4 scrolled notches on the sides the four gateways were named: Texarkana, Shreveport, El Paso and New Orleans.
A shame the real estate sign is posted in an unfortunate location and that meters and painted over graffiti obscure some letters. But the text at the right appears to have said:
Elegant Passenger Service
23 Hours to St. Louis
Free Reclining Chair Cars
Through Sleepers to Nashville
The Texas Eagle was a T&P / Missouri Pacific train and that route is still operated by Amtrak. My first train ride ever was on that line and so was my most memorable ride.
Way out there in the East Texas darkness, a lifetime ago, my favorite old engineer stopped #21 so I could step down from my sleeper, run up to the head end and climb up in the cab. Got to be the hogger I truly wanted to be . . . for a little while anyway. Always thought there would be another chance - but that was the only one. (Thank you Luther Virgil, I know you're looking down and smiling because I'll never forget!)
Missouri Pacific came to own a majority of T&P stock and in 1976 the two merged. In the 1990s the merger of MoPac into the Union Pacific system was finally completed. But out in East Texas the older folks still call that line the T&P.
.