Rail Revelations

All aboard! 205 MPH bullet train between Houston and Dallas is closer than ever

News_bullet train_Shinkansen Series_N700

A private company plans to use the N700 bullet train, pictured above in Japan, to speed passengers from Dallas to Houston at 205 mph.

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The federal government is partnering with the Texas Department of Transportation and a private rail company to assess the impact of a long-discussed high-speed train lines between the Dallas area and Houston.

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx confirmed for the Texas Tribune that two environment studies will move full steam ahead in 2014. One analysis sponsored by TxDOT examines a traditional rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth, while the other privately-funded analysis looks to a potential bullet train route between Big D and Houston.

“I can’t speak to whether there will be roadblocks or anything down the road," Foxx said on Tuesday. "But what I can tell you is I’m delighted to be part of helping get this first step underway . . . It’s a big deal for Texas"

One proposed rail project that would reduce Dallas-Houston travel times to a mere 90 minutes.

Texas Central High-Speed Railway — a for-profit firm based in Dallas and Washington, DC — will work with the Federal Railroad Administration to study the company's plans for a DFW-Houston line, the details of which are expected later this year.

In August 2012, Texas Central proposed a rail project that would reduce Dallas-Houston travel times to a mere 90 minutes with bullet trains speeding at 205 miles-an-hour. The company would raise roughly $10 billion in private capital to fund the line, which it says it could have up and running in just eight years.

While Texas Central appears to be planning a route along existing north-south freight lines, researchers from the University of Texas–Arlington are exploring another high-speed rail option along the state's highway system.

A UTA study released in November recommends further detailed investigation into four corridors — I-45 from Houston to Dallas, I-20 between Dallas and Fort Worth, I-35 from DFW to Laredo (though San Antonio and Austin) and Route 6 from Houston to Waco (through College Station).

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the UT plan looks to so-called Maglev technology that propels trains with magnets than wheels. Texas Central, on the other hand, would partner with noted rail firm JR Central to build a route designed for steel-wheeled N700 bullet train, a model widely in use across Japan.

Watch this jazzy presentation from Texas Central High-Speed Railway:

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REVIVING THE ALAMO

Texas landmark the Alamo reclaims historic cannon from private ownership

Photo by Gower Brown/ Unsplash

A 90-pound cannon used in the Battle of the Alamo is returning to its San Antonio home.

It turns out the Alamo's original 1836 cannons are good for more than just defense — they also make a sturdy birdbath. After serving as a garden ornament for Samuel Maverick’s descendants, an authentic piece of San Antonio history is finally returning home to the revered mission.

According to an Alamo announcement, the swivel cannon weighs 90 pounds and is approximately three feet long. The relic was originally found in 1852 when Maverick built a home near the northwest corner of the battle’s site.

The lawyer and land baron was saved from death when he was urged by William Barret Travis to ride to the Texas Declaration of Independence convention in Washington-on-the-Brazos to send reinforcements. Returning to the Alamo’s grounds, he found a cache of cannons buried where the Hotel Gibbs sits today.

From there, the cannon wound up at the Maverick family’s Sunshine Ranch on the Northwest Side, where it was eventually incorporated into the garden DIY project. In 1955, the cannon was removed from the ranch, and the current location remained a mystery until the Alamo received a call from a Maverick relative in Corpus Christi.

Alamo cannon This Alamo artifact gives an idea of what the cannon will look like once restoration is complete.Photo courtesy of the Alamo.

“The relative graciously donated the cannon to the Alamo,” wrote a rep from the mission. “Alamo Senior Researcher and Historian Kolby Lanham and Head Conservator Pam Jary Rosser drove down the very next day to take this piece of history home to the Alamo.”

Although the artillery is mostly intact, it is missing its trunnions (the pivot-point protrusions on the sides of the barrel) and cascabel (the knob and neck assembly at the rear of historic muzzle-loading cannons). The parts were removed by the Mexican army to make the cannon inoperable.

Once preservation is complete, this cannon and the Alamo Collection’s other battle cannons will make their way to the upcoming Visitor Center and Museum, where they will be joined by rocker Phil Collins' collection of Alamo artifacts. The Alamo is in the midst of a $550 million preservation project, which includes conserving the Alamo Church, Long Barrack, and the mission’s original footprint. The museum is on track to debut in late 2027.

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