I will be taking the kids on vacation to the San Antonio area (New Braunfels to be exact) for a few days in June. I understand our hotel (part of the Schlitterbahn waterpark resort) is very near the UP main that runs between Austin and San Antonio.
I was hoping someone might be able to give me some info on the line, i.e. name of the subdivision, where the line connects to, yards in the area, type of train control (CTC, TWC?), number of trains per day, radio frequency for road and locals (if any).
Also, I was hoping to do a little railfanning along the line on our way down from Tulsa via Dallas on I-35. Not sure if the line goes to Dallas or not, if so, any radio frequencies would be great. I know the BNSF somewhat parallels our route from Oklahoma City to Ft. Worth and part of the way to Austin, not sure about the UP.
On your way down to Austin you can stop at Temple TX about 60 miles north of Austin. It is where the UPRR & BNSF lines cross at grade. You get off I35 at I think 12th street & proceed east over the overpass then make a right to get to the tracks. In FW there is always Saginaw where the UPRR & BNSF lines again cross at grade. Click on my web site then the Texas gallery to see my pix of the area you are interested in. [:p]
UP practices directional running between Taylor and San Marcos – generally southbounds go via Smithville and northbound via Austin. But by New Braunfels these two routes have joined and you should see 15 to 20 trains per day. Gravel trains, auto racks (empty and loaded), auto parts car, and stack trains are common. You may also see some chemical traffic.
Check Amtrak’s schedule because both north and south bound Texas Eagles (21 & 22) go through (but I don’t think they stop in NB).
Saturdays, the Hill Country Flyer runs from Austin to Burnet and back. They are still using diesel until they get the cracked saddleblock in their steam locomotive replaced. Check their web site.
Yes there are a few opposed direction trains. 21 & 22 are good examples. most of these are due to local operational needs – but the bulk of traffic is directional.
Well in about 2 hours of watching between 2PM & 4PM I saw 4 2 in each direction! 1 was a gravel train going NB the others were all mixed freights. [:p]