Nostalgia & History > Lone Star at Bellaire Jct - Houston -- Dec 74

The Lone Star shortly after leaving the downtown station is on the SP at Bellaire Jct (SP line west to Eagle Lake - now abandoned - started here).
Used the wrong shutter speed but in picture 2 the diner looks like 8032, one of the oldest cars that Amtrak inherited from the railroads. Built by Budd in 1937 for the Santa Fe.
I can't read the number of the dome car but would this possibly be an ex-Northern Pacific dome sleeper?

Gary

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A FUN look back. Thanks, Gary !

Google Earth goes all the way back to 1944 in it's historical imagery.
You can clearly see that old connecting track.  It looks like a natural area now with bike trail.

mp51w Wrote:
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> Google Earth goes all the way back to 1944 in it's
> historical imagery.
> You can clearly see that old connecting track. 
> It looks like a natural area now with bike trail.

The Lone Star is headed south at this point.
The bike trail was on the old westbound SP Bellaire branch to Eagle Lake (right of the train in shot 3). Originally this was the San Antonio & Aransas Pass line.
T o the left of the train a connecting track can just be seen - this connected to what was left of the branch to downtown Houston (about a mile or two survived till the late 80's serving a couple of customers).
The rest of the line to downtown was abandoned around 1960.
The line west was abandoned in the late 90's.
Gary  

gcm Wrote:
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 I can't read the number of the dome car but would this possibly be an ex-Northern Pacific dome sleeper?
 Gary

It is an NCL Dome Sleeper.   Most were NP, but 2 were CB&Q and 1 was SP&S.    I can't tell for sure if it is one of the "Lounge in the Sky" conversions from this shot, but it appears it is not.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/17 07:28 by EmpireBuilder.

Thansk Gary. I really appreciate these glimpses back to my childhood. Much has changes around Houston in the past 30 years.

Jason Rose
Spring, TX
Rio Grande Explorations

If I remember correctly, those NCL domes had a beautiful Monad design stainless steel grill over the speaker (radio and PA?) at the front of the dome. I rode one in 1976.

Ah, yes, the Lone Star at its "fiinest," before the Dalllas section started.

atsffan Wrote:
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> If I remember correctly, those NCL domes had a
> beautiful Monad design stainless steel grill over
> the speaker (radio and PA?) at the front of the
> dome. I rode one in 1976.

 

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Gary wrote: "Originally this was the San Antonio & Aransas Pass line. 
T o the left of the train a connecting track can just be seen - this connected to what was left of the branch to downtown Houston (about a mile or two survived till the late 80's serving a couple of customers). 
The rest of the line to downtown was abandoned around 1960."

That line was the one used to get T&NO 982 to San Jacinto Street, where it could then be towed into Hermann Park. I have my Dad's old 16mm (converted to digital, though poorly) located here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bwmth2ysojrn6c6/T%26NO%20982.mov?dl=0  I can be seen perched on top of the concrete street sign, aged 5. Parts of that line lasted longer than 1960; Stahlman Lumber on Greenbriar was serviced by rail from Bellaire Jct well into the 70's.

Brian Ehni



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/17 05:34 by twin_star_rocket.

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Thanks for the 982 movie and pictures. That's the first time I've seen pictures of the move.
Did your dad take any other railroad related 16mm films?
Gary

He did. Sadly, all the film was stored in a hot closet for years, and was destroyed. Some was preserved because it was converted to Beta, then VHS, and finally digitized. When he was at the Scott & white Clinic in Temple, he took a ride on a Santa Fe steam-powered freight to Killeen. I can try and find that. May take a while, though.

Brian Ehni

Those would be great to see.
Thanks.
Gary

Gary, I've dug out the DVD copy of the Temple-Killeen run my father made behind steam. I'm extracting the video now. I'll post the video on Nostaligia & History when it's ready.

Brian Ehni

Video uploading now.

Brian Ehni