MAINLINE, SHORTLINE, PASSENGER, AND FREIGHT Downtown Dallas STEVE SCHMOLLINGER/PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR D
ALLAS, TEXAS—a name that conjures up images of ZZ Top, J.R. Ewing, and the good life on
a grand scale. The ninth most populous city in the U.S., Dallas is a center of culture and commerce. The city has a celebrated symphony orchestra, a legendary live music scene, and several well-known museums. Along with its neighboring cities, Dallas is home to a growing list of large companies such as Exxon-Mobil, AT&T, and Texas Instruments. However, one thing Big D is not so well-known for is its railroad
operations, including those that cut right through the heart of downtown. Once home to railroads with famous
names like Texas & Pacific (a subsidiary of Missouri Pacific); Missouri-Kansas- Texas (“the Katy”); Southern Pacific and Cotton Belt; Rock Island; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Santa Fe; and Frisco, the city now has only two major carriers — BNSF Railway and Union Pacific. Dallas, Garland & Northeastern (DGNO), a shortline owned by Genesee & Wyoming, handles most of the switching in town, and Trinity Railway Express
(TRE) and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) carry passengers to and from Fort Worth and closer communities, respectively.
The City Limits The definition of “downtown” I’ll use
for this article extends, east to west, from Forest Avenue, where BNSF’s DFW Sub joins UP’s Dallas Sub, to Browder, near the west end of UP’s bridge across the Trinity River west of downtown, a total track mileage of approximately 3.6. This is the heart of Dallas’ rail network,
OPPOSITE: With the iconic blue-green Fountain Place providing a stunning backdrop, Amtrak No. 21, the westbound Texas Eagle, crosses the Trinity River flood plain on December 23, 2013. Amtrak Nos. 21/22 no longer use this route between Fort Worth and Dallas, but now travel the joint BNSF/ Trinity Railway Express DFW Sub. ABOVE: The modern Dallas skyline provides the backdrop for BNSF 9321 East, a coal load out of Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, as it roars through Reunion near Dallas Union Station on October 8, 2013. The heavy unit train is using Union Pacific’s Dallas Sub to reach its own DFW Sub, which diverges from the UP at Forest Avenue interlocking.
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