All-
I will be staying in Plano, TX for the next few weeks on business, and I will have evenings free.
Does anyone know of any good places to railfan and photograph trains north of Dallas?
Saginaw is probably the best place, although it is 40 miles away.
http://www.trainweb.org/southwestshorts/saginaw.html
This covers Dallas-
http://www.trainweb.org/southwestshorts/dallas.html
If I were you,I would get on DART and ride just about anywhere in Dallas you want to go and railfan like that…Union Station is about the best place to get thru trains and light rail and the TRE commuter train…You can ride round trip to FT Worth if you dont ride too late, all the way into FT Worth and back for about $4.00 I think, and you can get trains at FTW at both the ITC and the old T&P station stop…Dart goes as far as McKinney ,north ( check the schedules)and theres a trolley system there… IF you have a car you could drive to Denton or Sherman and shoot UP and BNSF Or Saginaw as another reply suggested and get them both there as well…
AS A WARNING, I would not drive anywhere in Dallas during rush hrs 4-8pm because the traffic is a nightmare at those times in D&FW ! Hope this helps and enjoy your stay…
The June, 2008 issue of Railfan magazine had an article “BNSF’s Fort Worth Sub: The North End” by Steve Schmollinger that contained several maps. Immediately following in that same issue was an article “Railroads of the Metroplex” by Ken Fitzgerald that listed all of the rail operators in the Dallas / Fort Worth area, also with some maps. Your local hobby shop may still have a copy… I have had good luck north of Fort Worth towards Denton.
Bill
There aren’t really any hot spots in Plano. The KCS operates over the old Cotton Belt line that runs through the middle of town from the East to West. The line hosts, I believe, about 4 to 8 trains a day but don’t hold me to that train total. In northern Richardson the KCS connects with the BNSF Dallas Sub at Renners. If you have the time you can go to Tower 55 but it is located in Ft. Worth. Another spot would be Denison, Texas, which is directly north of Plano on Highway 75. There the UP and BNSF have a junction where they come together to cross the Red River into Oklahoma. But the busiest location in the area is Tower 55.
I get over to Plano fairly often. BNSF comes through Frisco to the north of Plano. UP comes out of Denton and heads south towards Fort Worth. And as also noted, KCS runs across from east to northwest (on an ex-Santa Fe line) to connect with BNSF near Denton and then heads back south on trackage rights to Alliance Yard, Fort Worth. In any event, there is not what I would call “heavy” traffic on any of these lines, so I would recommend bringing along a scanner. There is a detector on the BNSF south of Frisco and sufficient chatter on UP to let you know when trains are coming.
To me, the best bet for heavier traffic is the ex-MP line east towards Marshall along US 80. Big Sandy is a crew change point where a couple of lines intersect. It also hosts Amtrak.
John Timm
I’d probably saw Saginaw to. I was just through there on July 10th. The crossings of the SF, BN & UP have received lots of past coverage in Trains. The former SF yd is near the interlocking and is worked by one switch crew around the clock. Next to the yd is the huge Horizon flour mill which is home to a unknown green colored eng which does the switching on site by a private contractor. One of the daily BNSF jobs from KS terminates @ Saginaw, so I do have a little interest in that town.This is the MNEWSAG which is referred to as the 'new sag"