I had an amazing piece of luck today, October 28, 2003. I happened to be driving south on Heights Blvd in Houston, Texas when the railroad crossing gates came down protecting the UP crossing. To my surprise, it was the eastbound Sunset Limited - the time was 407 p.m. There were several cars ahead of me and I had to hurry with the camera, so the photos aren't exactly classic rail shots, but I couldn't have timed it any better. (I'm in Houston with my wife, who is attending the International Quilt Festival and I had just gone back to our bed and breakfast to take a nap - I left the b&b about 404 pm heading south when the lucky timing occurred).
   I've also included some construction photos of the new Houston MetroRail line on Main Street and some of the old Union Station, now Minute Maid Park. I've also been hearing a lot of ads for and against the commuter rail project with voting to be held on November 4.




Eastbound Sunset Limited crossing Heights Blvd in Houston, Texas at 407 pm on October 28, 2003.


Houston Union Station is to the left of the ballfield (Minute Maid Park) in Houston, Texas. Houston Astros baseball tickets can be bought in the station, which is physically connected to the park. I remember lots of times my grandfather and I would ride the Santa Fe to this station from Brenham to connect to the MoPac's Valley Eagle for Harlingen, Texas back in the late 1950s. I'm glad they preserved the station at least. The current Amtrak office is west of here on Washington Avenue.






More scenes taken through the locked doors of Union Station showing the old waiting room, the ballfield and the outside entrance on Crawford Street.




Scenes of construction on Main Street in Houston, Texas of the new MetroRail system.