Valley Eagle
 |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Inter-city rail |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Locale | Southwestern United States |
| First service | 1948 |
| Last service | 1962 |
| Former operator(s) | Missouri Pacific Railroad |
| Route | |
| Termini | Houston, Texas Brownsville, Texas second section to Corpus Christi, Texas |
| Distance travelled | 371 miles (597 km) (Houston-Brownsville) |
| Average journey time | Southbound: 8 hrs 55 min Northbound: 8 hrs 25 min (1960) |
| Service frequency | Daily (1948–1962) |
| Train number(s) | Southbound: 321 Northbound: 322 (1960) |
| On-board services | |
| Seating arrangements | Reclining seat coach |
| Technical | |
| Rolling stock | Streamlined passenger cars |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The Valley Eagle was a named streamliner passenger train of the Missouri Pacific Railroad that began in 1948. It ran from Houston, Texas's Union Station to Brownsville, Texas at the Mexico–United States border and a second section to Corpus Christi. It first carried the numbers #11 south and #12 northbound and in later years carried the number of #321 south and #322 heading north.[1]
It made coordinated connections in Houston with trains from St. Louis (Texas Eagle #21/22), from Memphis (#201/202) and from New Orleans (Houstonian #309/310). The Valley Eagle had its final run in 1962.[2]
Night train counterpart
[edit]The Missouri Pacific Railroad also operated the Pioneer, a night train counterpart that outlasted the Valley Eagle.[3] After the Pioneer lost its sleeping car and its name, it continued to 1965 or 1966 as an unnamed night train on the route.[4]
External links
[edit]- Photo of the Valley Eagle departing Houston Union Station, 1953
Notes
[edit]- ^ December 1960 Missouri Timetable, Table T
- ^ December 1960 Missouri Timetable, Table U
- ^ "Missouri Pacific Railroad, 'Equipment' and Table 6". Official Guide of the Railways. 96 (1). National Railway Publication Company. June 1963.
- ^ "Missouri Pacific Railroad, 'Equipment' and Table 6". Official Guide of the Railways. 98 (2). National Railway Publication Company. July 1965.
