Amtrak Texas Eagle Cuts Through Farms and Ranches On Its Way to Fort Worth

Texas is huge. There are miles and miles of openness surrounding tiny towns and small farm enclaves. Cities sprawl with little regard for real estate, but for the most part, Texas is open space. 

From the high vantage point of my Amtrak window, I watched and appreciated the vastness of our great state. Here are a few of the farm and ranch scenes I photographed as the train sped past, travelling between San Marcos to Fort Worth.

The red arrow points to the mansion used for the filming of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Ripe and ready fields of cotton lay between the train tracks and the majestic old house.

In other fields, the cotton harvest is already underway. Large cream colored blocks of cotton are covered with white cloth.

Farmers are also getting the hay baled and wrapped. It has been a good year for Texas farmers, thanks to lots of rain at the right time. Praise God.

Most of the land is fairly flat, between San Marcos and Fort Worth, however, there are a few interesting hills all alone between the flatness, just south of Cleburne. Note how flat the hay field is with the contrasting hills just a short distance away.

Taking the Amtrak Train, San Marcos to Fort Worth Part 1

Once again, your Wild About Texas blogger has gotten to ride the Amtrak train to visit grandchildren who live in Fort Worth. I boarded the train at the San Marcos station, though "station" hardly describes the single metal bench sitting within fifteen feet of the tracks.

I love riding the train.

The seats are comfy and generally, there are plenty of seats to choose from. I have only had a seat mate once, and I have always been able to sit next to the window, so I can take photos. The train runs smoothly and quietly. Even the train whistle, which toots several times at every crossing, is not loud enough to be a nuisance.

After the train departs from each stop, the Amtrak attendant comes by each new passenger after they have chosen their seat. He has a pad of card stock stubs and he marks the three letter code for our stop on the stub and sticks it in a slot overhead. San Marcos is SMT, Austin is AUS and Fort Worth is FWT.

There are two cars set aside for eating. The first is the concession car, where someone can purchase snacks and soft drinks.  There is also the more formal dining car. The chef serves five star meals to diners, who are seated community style at tables that seat four people. Choices usually include a steak dinner, some sort of baked chicken dinner, a pasta meal plus a couple of other varying choices.

People pass the time in different ways. This lady knitted the entire trip. I bet she got quite a bit done.

As this gentleman passed my seat, I stopped him and commented on the patches on his jacket. He looked a little self-conscious when I asked permission to photograph him, though he did agree to pose.

Here he is in the concession car, enjoying his coffee with a couple of other passengers.

The young lady sitting next to me had her two year old with her. He was such a good boy. When another mom and her girls walked past, the two toddlers instantly noticed each other and squealed with joy. Even though they had never met, they wanted to be friends.

Momma read to her sweet boy,

And entertained him by looking out the window at the passing scenery.

And the scenery was very interesting. Come back tomorrow to see some of the quirky things I spotted as I looked out my window. There should be a post highlighting cars, trucks and heavy machinery, one on wonderful buildings, one on folks who were close to the tracks as they did their normal, routine tasks, and maybe even a post on the farms, ranches and wilderness that we passed.

The View From the Train Window..Fort Worth to San Marcos on The Texas Eagle

Not many comments today, just a montage of what I saw as I gazed out the window of the Amtrak train coming home from Forth Worth, traveling almost 300 miles south to arrive in San Marcos, Texas.

Here's one of my favorites....a classy old airplane, maybe the famous DC-3, sitting in the midst of several small,  modern passenger planes.

Of course, there are lots of Little League games being played every Saturday during the spring. The Amtrak train tooted it's whistle several times as we passed by.

I wish I had spotted these horses before they were almost passed the window. Don't they look wild and free?

Someone turned an old freight car into a barn. Cool.

Friends, I can't help it...I will probably post at least once more with some of the fun stuff I spotted as I travelled. Bear with me and I promise I will move on to other topics soon!

Riding the Amtrak Train

Thursday morning, bright and early, I arrived at the Amtrak station in San Marcos, Texas, to catch the train and ride all the way to Fort Worth, Texas. It was my first time to ever ride a train. I was a little apprehensive.

The Texas Eagle #21 departs from San Antonio, every day, and arrives in San Marcos at 8:32 a.m. to pick up passengers. San Marcos does not have an actual station with attendants. It is basically just two benches sitting right next to the track. 

 As you can see from this picture, you can drive right up to the bench. You don't even have to walk more than a few steps.

This is Anthony. He was a talkative young man who is a seasoned Amtrak traveller, so I asked him to tell me all about train travel. He filled me in a little as we waited for the train. He was going all the way to Saint Louis, Missouri to see his children.

 When we heard the train whistle, folks got ready to board.

 "ALL ABOOOOOOARD!"

The entire trip took just over five hours, which is about the same amount of time it takes to drive from my home in Seguin to Fort Worth. The ticket was only $30 one way, so for one person to travel back and forth, it is much cheaper to ride the train than to drive a pick up truck which only gets 17 miles per gallon.

We stopped in Austin, Taylor, Temple, MacGreggor, Cleburne and Fort Worth. As we neared the final stop, I asked the passengers if I could take a picture of the interior of the train so I could show my three year old grandson. One passenger suggested everyone wave, so they did.

It was a very interesting trip. Tomorrow, I will share some pictures I took of the sights and scenery I saw as I looked out the train window.