Western Railroad Discussion > Grapevine Vintage and Ft. Worth & Western in Fall

A few from a couple of weeks ago.  Was visiting Grapevine, TX to have dinner with friends, and we decided to go up the new clocktower of the "Grapevine Main" complex.  The complex was designed to look like a grand old railroad station, but houses an upscale food court and a very nice hotel/bar.  A very nice combo, and very railroad/wine oriented. 

The tower overlooks the GVRR depot, which that afternoon was housing GVRR's "new" FL9 locos and tourist train set.  It also overlooks the TexRail Grapevine station, which is how we got to Grapevine.  Nice RR combo.

1.  A look north with the GVRR at the depot and the Cotton Belt Tower in the distance.  CBT is a clock tower for the Cotton Belt Hotel, another upscale establishment that pays tribute to Grapevine's RR history.
2.  A closer look.
3.  The other end of the train, waiting for it's next run.

Sorry the image quality isn't great - these were taken with an older android phone in 20 mph winds!  More to come...

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4.  The front of the Grapevine Main station complex - this is the food court/bar portion.  The hotel is to the left and has a great outdoor sitting area directly behind the TexRail station, with the GVRR station across those tracks.  The first pictures were taken from the clock tower.
5.  The FL9 next to the station.
6.  In your face with the ex-Cotton Belt station. 

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Lastly, I was out for a morning walk about a week later and noticed the signals were up for the FWWR freight local that runs between Hodge Yard and just north of DFW airport once or twice a week.  This line is the ex-Cotton Belt that goes up through Grapevine - FWWR is the freight operator while the line is dispatched by TexRail.  This location is in North Richland Hills, TX, about 1/2 mile west of the NRH Ironhorse TexRail station.  Just have to get lucky to catch the local - they try to run it between TexRail trains early in the morning going back to Hodge.  So I grabbed my cell phone and climbed on a pile of ballast and shot this video. Too bad the train didn't show up 5 minutes later - it would have been completely in low sun, rather than just the portion heading over the I-820 bridge.

Three units is unusual - two is much more common because of the number of cars they haul back and forth.  These cars will be interchanged to UP or BNSF at Hodge Yard later in the day.

Again, sorry about the shaky quality of the video - old cell phones handled by older hands do not always make the best video quality.  All I can say is don't let me perform surgury on you anytime in the near future...!

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Note the ex-SP  three unit articulated set from the Lark in the third photo.  These were purchased a few years ago and 
trucked in from East Texas.  I was told by the crane operator that picked them up,  just outside of Tyler,  that
the undercarriages were structurally compromised.  The interiors, however, are awesome and I sure do hope
they are able to resurrect them to their former glory.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/21 15:11 by WrongWayMurphy.

A lifetime later some of my beloved New Haven FL-9s, that I shot in the early 1960s, are still going strong. I always knew they were special! 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/21 08:05 by RRBMail.

The station architecture is really great and replicates the look and feel of a great railroad station. Thanks for showing something a lot of us will probably not see in person.

Bruce Stikkers
St. Joseph, IL

Thanks for posting!  Something we rarely see here on TO.

Regards, Jim Evans

RRBMail Wrote:
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> A lifetime later some of my beloved New Haven
> FL-9s, that I shot in the early 1960s, are still
> going strong. I always knew they were special! 

GVRR has done a great job rehabbing the FL9s - mechanically and asthetically.  They sound great rumbling by, on the weekends they run to/from the Stockyards.  And as you can see, the paint (which was done in GVRRs paint shed) matches the cars scheme exactly.  One of the best looking tourist operations I've seen - all equipment matches both in style and scheme.  Only wish it ran on a prettier route; the best locations are when the tracks run through a couple of golf courses!  Although I do like the tank farm (Nustar, Magellan Midstream) in Colleyville...LOL.

As to Grapevine Main, my wife has instructed me that we are going to dinner there within the next couple of weeks (for the food, and for Grapevine's Christmas lights).  So I'll try to snap a few interior shots of the great hall and post them here as well.  Sometime this month, but don't know exactly when.

In picture number three. can anyone tell me anything about the SPVs just ahead of the SP articulated passenger cars?