Blogs from Texas, United States, North America - page 14

I drove South of the Nacogdoches Loop 224 on US Hwy 59 (soon to be the stupid Interstate Hwy 69) about twenty miles to Lufkin; and took the East Loop, then South on hwy 59 about ten miles to Diboll, Texas. (Please drive the speed limits in East Texas cuz they like enforcement.) I saw the nice First Methodist Church on a side road and took a look-see. The church congregation started elsewhere in Diboll in 1897. The church was deeded this property in 1922 and started building the Church, Sanctuary, and Fellowship Hall in stages later. After seeing the outside of the church, I asked the nice people in the Fellowship Hall, and the granted me permission to shoot inside the church. The chapel was very nice and had very nice stained glass windows. Outside, ... read more

This is the Texas State Railroad, Christmas edition on December 7, 2019. This railroad operates year round with full time employees; except in December where it is the Polar Express using temporary employees (except engineers and brakemen) that know little about the railroad. Since this is geared for children they stop at the "North Pole" to see Santa and elves singing and dancing. Then Santa enters the train to visit the children and give them the generous gift of a cookie. Note: The Texas State Railroad started construction in 1883 in Rusk and was completed to Palestine in 1909. The railroad connected the existing Cotton Belt Railroad in Rusk with the IGN Railroad in Palestine. The Texas State Railroad was sold to Iowa Pacific Holdings in 2012, making the railroad private...no longer owned by the State ... read more

According to Union Pacific Building America, there were only twenty five "Big Boy" Locomotives built exclusively for the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad in the early 1940s. The engine with tender were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. The Big Boys were originally coal burning steam engines, but later converted to #5 oil (diesel) steam boilers. There are seven Big Boys on display with one in Dallas Texas USA. The Big Boy locomotives have a "4-8-8-4" wheel arrangement, with the middle 8-8 wheels being driving wheels. The Big Boys were so large their frames were articulated to keep them from a bad de-rail on the curved railroad tracks. This train took about five days to travel up from Houston, Texas through many railroad towns to Marshall, Texas; then to Little Rock, Arkansas. Today Big Boy ... read more

DAY 29 Llano to Houston. (final day on the bikes) Heading out of Llano we were on a route we had plotted some months ago to avoid major cities the likes of Austin. Riding through cropping countryside we could see that the cotton had been harvested & most of the fields were bare of crops & perhaps being prepared for replanting. We noticed this part of Texas is quite different from further west we had ridden through previously. As we traveled east it became greener and looked more affluent. We rode through the very pretty city of Georgetown among trees, parks and nicely presented well kept buildings. After Georgetown our route took us through the rural heartland on mainly sealed narrow roads among cropping farms. This was an interesting look at back country rural Texas & ... read more

I did not get any sleep last night, none on the plane either. I was too excited about the trip to sleep last night at all. Saw a really beautiful sunrise from the plane. Landed in Dallas at about 7:45am central time zone. We have about a 2.5 hour layover, then it's on to L.A.... read more