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Dallas, Texas - Aerial Photos

1997

Looking East

All views from Reunion Tower. Looking east.

  • Two left tracks are DART Light Rail.
  • Next three tracks (at bottom and center of photo) are Amtrak/TRE. Note that all three tracks converge to one just east of the station. (The third track from the left under the bridge is stub-end.) This means there is no "throat" and very little flexibility for handling more than one Amtrak train at a time.
  • Two freight bypass tracks and the "Kelly Lead" (on which a UP train sits) are to the right.
Further east

Telephoto picture, looking further east.

  • DART Light Rail tracks continue from Union Station to under the Convention Center, at left.
  • The one Amtrak lead merges with the freight mains just beyond the signal bridge in the center of the photo.
  • Freight yard in distance.
Looking West

Looking west.

  • Road underpass limits addition of tracks in station, due to vertical clearances.
  • Amtrak/TRE trains can continue west to Fort Worth or south.
  • DART Light Rail trains loop around the parking lot and continue to West End.

Platforms -- 1992 and 1997

Splitting the Eagle, 1992

As late as 1992, there were four tracks available at Union Station for the splitting and joining of the Texas Eagle at Dallas. It is not clear whether the two Amtrak platforms would be sufficient for this operation today.

Station tracks

In 1997, only two tracks have a sufficiently long platform to accomodate Amtrak trains. The third track from the top (just to the right of the DART Light Rail train) is only sufficient for the very short Trinity Railway Express commuter trains.

Texas Rail Stations; Rail Stations of the Southwest

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