OTOL Eagle RailFest 2005 Homepage

Our ultimate destination was Dallas, Texas, where our host agency was Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). We rode DART's two light rail lines, which run to the suburbs in Garland, Plano, and Richardson. We also rode the area's commuter railroad, Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and back and explored that city's two rail stations. And back in Dallas, we rode the "M-Line", its historic streetcar along McKinney Avenue. We also made a couple of trips up Reunion Tower to view the rails below.

But there was much more! We spent one overnight in Chicago, which allowed us to take a round trip on CTA's Orange Line to Midway Airport, as well as two METRA commuter lines to weekday-only destinations Orland Park and Big Timber Road. These are lines that we did not ride during our 2003 fest in the Windy City.

Plus, we also stopped off in St. Louis and rode that city's very successful Metrolink light rail line that spans two states on both sides of the Mississippi River. While in St. Louis we visited the old St. Louis Union Station (now a shopping mall and an ample place to have dinner), and went up in the famous Gateway Arch, which contains its very own transit system run by the same agency that runs the light rail.

Then, on our way back through Chicago on the following Wednesday, we had just enough time to take a round trip on CTA's Blue Line to O'Hare International Airport.

Coupled with our rides on Amtrak trains to get there and back, Eagle RailFest 2005 was yet another memorable time on the rails. An excellent time was had by one and all! We met new friends in Chicago and St. Louis. Much of our nucleus group stayed together throughout the Fest's eight-day duration. Our participant total was 15.