NEWS National Railroad Passenger Corporation Amtrak Intercity 210 South Canal Street Chicago, Illinois 60606 Fax: 312 655-2565 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATK-96-78 April 12, 1996 Contact: Marci Larson 904-359-8190 BY POPULAR DEMAND: AMTRAK TEXAS EAGLE TO ADD MINEOLA, TEXAS STOP CHICAGO -- Mineola, Texas, will join the Amtrak system on April 14 as a stop on the Chicago to Los Angeles Texas Eagle (trains #21 & 22), in response to customer requests and months of community encouragement. Mineola is 80 miles east of Dallas and 45 miles west of Longview, Texas. Leaders of the local effort to convince Amtrak to add the stop have agreed to improve the former Texas & Pacific Railroad (T&P) station now owned by the City of Mineola and to help market Amtrak service. Amtrak Intercity CEO Mark Cane credited the efforts of Mineola Mayor Celcia Scott Boswell in leading the effort to add the stop for the Texas Eagle, a 2767-mile heartland journey by Amtrak Superliner from the grain belt to the sun belt. The Texas Eagle operates tri-weekly via St. Louis, Little Rock, Texarkana, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin and San Antonio. In San Antonio, the Texas Eagle is combined with the Sunset Limited (trains #1 & 2) to complete the trip to Los Angeles via El Paso, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona. The Texas Eagle departs westbound from Chicago to Los Angeles on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays and will offer service from Mineola on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The combined Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited departs from Los Angeles on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays and would offer service from Mineola to the east on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. - more - - 2 - ATK-96-78 According to a newspaper account quoted in a 1948 "Dallas Morning News" story, Mineola has long and interesting railroad roots. The Texas & Pacific and the Houston & Great Northern (later known as the International & Great Northern) railways were racing their construction crews across East Texas in 1873 when they agreed the first to reach the hamlet of Sodom could have crossing privileges and a depot there. The International & Great Northern (I&GN) claimed the victory after it worked within sight of the T&P. But when the I&GN was told it had to reach the current depot site first, hundreds of workers gathered, lifted the track from the ground and turned it in the proper direction. The T&P arrived at the location about 15 minutes later on May 23, 1873. The two railroads later consolidated and Sodom became Mineola. The current brick walls were built to cover a circa 1907 building and modernize it during a ceremony on June 20, 1951. According to a "Wood County Record" report on the eve of the ceremony: "The new railway passenger station in Mineola is one of the most attractive small town stations in the entire Texas & Pacific system." The T&P was combined with the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1963, which was absorbed in 1982 by the Union Pacific. The City of Mineola obtained the station from the Union Pacific and has plans to return the depot to its 1907 appearance. Please see an authorized Amtrak travel agent, visit a staffed Amtrak station or call 1-800-USA-RAIL for details on this service. Amtrak Intercity operates passenger rail service over most of the United States, including the Texas Eagle and the Sunset Limited; Midwest corridor trains for the Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City and St. Louis markets and other domestic and international long-distance trains. Headquartered in Chicago, Amtrak Intercity employs nearly 6,200 people in 39 states and is one of three Amtrak strategic business units. # # # NOTE: An event to celebrate Amtrak service to Mineola is scheduled for April 29. For more information call: 1-800-MINEOLA.