I'm a train buff , Always have been. And I think it is pretty safe to now say, "always will be". Interesting also, is that while I rode deep into south Oak Cliff to the UNT Dallas Station, before transferring to the 415 bus which took me even more deep.
My original intention was to see the old Red Bird Mall. It did undergo a name change to the Southwest Center Mall, a massive amount of roof in South Dallas. Malls are somewhat falling from grace and are not as fashionable as they were once upon a time. But, as some know, this time of year is still hard on me, even though I did end the 20 year long mourning for my son's untimely death last year. So, I retreated to going that extra few miles to see the old malls new face and name. Another time might be better suited for such a visit.
I had a very good lunch---A super Taco Bowl at an indoor super Shell station. Actually was about the same size as Fuel City but no where as large as Buc-ee's. The Dallas area has two Buc-ee's and I haven't been to either one yet. I have been in the massive one in New Braunfells, south of Austin. But, I must say, Taco Casa was matching up for price and quantity as any Buc-ee's or even Dallas' Fuel City, (sorry, Brandon) when it comes to food. Taco Casa cannot come close to Fuel City's number of pumps, but the two combined come no where close to Buc-ee's 60 pumps for starters.
On the the trip outbound, I saw the DG&O ( a short line) engines waiting for the big bucks intermodal crossing the T&P bridge over the Trinity being pulled by Union Pacific engines. A fairly normal scene, I might add. But on the inbound trip is where a first for me was encountered under Reunion Town at Union Station. It runs both Red Line and Blue Line, Dart light rails, and also the regular diesel electric engines that pull the TRE between Dallas and Ft Worth. It is the same as a commuter rail with the double deck cars.Then, the famous Texas named trains that Amtrak runs cross country. But there it was, on all four tracks, the two Dart trains, the TRE and the Amtrak at the same time at the Union Station. I only wish that I had been on the platform and not onboard the Dart moving. I have ridden the TRE to Ft. Worth and that is a pampered trip from down town to down town. The TEXrail, is yet not ridden by me, but I hope to be able to ride it in the fall. That leaves the two other rail systems that are in various stages of construction. The Dart Silver Line--not light rail,but diesel electric like the TRE and of course, the Bullet Train from Dallas, Ft. Worth to Houston in 90 minutes.
Dart is the largest light rail system in the US with 93 miles over 5-counties and 500-million passengers in 25 years.
Dart also just approved a new underground system ( a second in downtown Dallas). So, if you are a train buff, Dallas is the place to be.
Least we not forget our amazing DFW International Airport with three control towers, 7-active runways with a future 8th just waiting for traffic to increase even more. Acreage larger than Manhattan. Pre Covid-19 the number of Internatinal carriers serving Dallas, three major Package delivery cargo lines, and the increasing foreigh air cargo that here. Just this week, American has returned to the volume pre-Covid-19, they say.
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