I finally took the wife on a day trip to Flatonia Texas to “watch trains”. I queried this place in an earlier posting and got some positive feedback, so off we went. FYI, Flatonia is a crossroads for what was the SP and smaller roads. Today its mostly UP, but as I was told, most anything could come through here (See Sept. 07 Trains).
We live in Spring, just north of Houston, and Flatonia is about 120 west of Houston off I-10. Once out of the nasty Houston area traffic, it was a nice drive. We got off at the Flatonia exit and drove South a mile or so to Route 90, turned west and soon saw the preserved switch tower and SP bay window caboose. But we needed to find the Pavilion that the good people of Flatonia built just for us “train nuts”.
The pavilion is nice and comfortable but without toilet facilities. It was very windy, but we stayed for an hour before hitting the DQ in town. After, we went back and soon a 5 loco UP consist flew by with what appeared to mostly loaded cars of all types. Later on, a 3 unit UP came be heading east but appeared to have a lot of emptys, as the boxcar doors were all open and the train was going very fast for only 3 locos and so many cars.
We went back to DQ (Blizzards) and then to the switch tower, caboose, and old time jail for pictures. And after another hour at the pavilion, we decided it was time to go and drive north through the edge of the hill country. While the wildflowers are only about 50 percent, they are a sight to behold! We made a big circle, and came back to Spring from the north, avoiding the majority of rush hour traffic.
Sadly we didn’t get to see the variety of trains I had hoped for (luck of the draw), but the pavilion was nice, and it was certainly worth the trip. But to be honest, I could probably see more trains at the UP line/yard next to Old Town Spring, only about 4 miles from home.
Glad you finally got to come over and enjoyed the pavilion. You’re right, it’s the luck of the draw as to the number of trains and variety. Yesterday and today they’ve been coming by westbound one after another. But it was good to get out of the big city wasn’t it? Please come back again.
I thoroughly enjoyed just being there, with the only real downside being the drive in and around Houston. Walking around the crossing, the aroma of creosote and the outdoors brought back memories of my childhood vacations in southern Illinois (Anna). My Grandmother’s house was across the road from the IC racetrack, which had two mains, one passing siding, and a freight siding - all in full view. I certainly recall the trains and sights/sounds, and I also remember the smells.
I told my wife (who encourages my passion for trains - real and model) that my fantasy would be to go back 60 - 70 years ago with a camera and a box of film and just hang around for a couple days!
I think that I too would give anything(w/in reason) to go back about 50 years with a brownie kodak(thats all I could afford) and go back to my grandparents house by the Katy and back to my old nieghborhood and take pics all day !
Yup, the ol Brownie Hawkeye was my earliest camera that I can recall. But who had money for film, much less develop/printing? In addition, I do believe that I felt things would always be there to take pictures later. And, to be honest, I was probably much more interested in new stuff instead of the same ol “common” locos and cars.
Picture opportunities were endless. The IC had steam in southern Illinois into about 1958, and I recall standing 20 feet away from a HUGE (to a 12 year old) 0-8-0 switcher doing its thing by the mill. And I recall the chocolate & orange E unit streamliners flying thru on their way to Chicago or New Orleans. And of course there were the steam powered coal drags and the GP powered mixed trains, all with the red side door caboose at the back.