An annual event in that has now been extended to 2036 is the “Red River Showdown” football game in the Dallas Cotton Bowl between college rivals University of Texas and Oklahoma University. For the past few years, Amtrak made their contribution by adding extra coaches and extending the Heartland Flyer out of Oklahoma from Fort Worth to Dallas the Friday before the Saturday game with a return trip on Sunday. OU fans riding south would decorate the inside of the train and put signs in the windows while Amtrak put “Big Game Train” decals on P42 locomotive number 187.
The photos I took of the southbound train on Friday October 7th in 2022 belong to Trinity Metro, but on Sunday October 9th, I went to Fort Worth Central Station on my own for more pictures. I arrived in plenty of time to catch the special run returning from Dallas and started with an eastbound TRE at 2:56 pm as it left the station and passed under Trinity Metro headquarters.
The eastbound TRE met the expanded Heartland Flyer at the Trinity River. The special arrived in Fort Worth at 3:05 pm. This was not a happy train as Texas had beaten Oklahoma the day before to the tune of 49 to 0. I may have graduated from OU in 1978 but I live in Texas, so I am indifferent as to who wins each year.
I relocated to the parking lot behind the University of Texas Arlington bulding which originally housed Santa Fe offices and dispatchers. A step ladder helped me conquer the fence next to the tracks for this view of the train waiting for its normal 5:24 pm departure for Oklahoma City.
I was hoping for a few captures with passing TRE and TEXRail trains. I hit the jackpot at 3:28 pm with a “triple play” of all three simultaneously in the frame.
The finale came four minutes later at 3:32 pm when none other than TEXRail Train 108 “Spike” passed by showing off its own decal.
I am glad to have captured this in 2022 as this year in 2023 Amtrak provided fewer extra coaches and did not bother to bring back locomotive 187. The train just looked like a slightly bigger Heartland Flyer. To show you can never predict from year to year, this time around in 2023 Oklahoma beat Texas by a score of 34 to 30.
