By Eric Berger
A pair of ex-New Haven FL9s a long way from home in Texas will be leading a season of excursions in Texas beginning this weekend on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad.
The railroad offers wine-themed excursions out Grapevine, Tex., and has used the FL9s since 2019. The new GVRR season begins February 17-18, with trains boarding at 12:30 p.m. and returning at about 7:15 p.m, following a two-hour stop at the historic stockyards district.
The railroad offers scheduled train rides of varying duration nearly every Saturday and Sunday from April through autumn along with a variety of additional special trains such as its always popular Jazz Wine Trains on April 12, 19 and 26 and a new 1920s-themed wine train scheduled to debut June 7. For those with time constraints, the Stockyards Trinity River Excursion is a 45-minute train excursion that departs from the Historic Stockyards Station in Fort Worth.
Other upcomings specials are the Kiss Me I’m Irish Special (21+), March 15; Easter Bunny Express, March 31; Mothers Day Special, May 12; Fathers Day Special, June 16; and Summer Wine Train (21+), July 26.
Many GVRR trains sell out, so anyone hoping to ride while visiting the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area should visit the railroad website at gvrr.com to buy tickets in advance.
Built in 1960, GVRR 2014 and 2016 were from the second order of FL9s built for the New Haven Railroad. Originally numbered 2041 and 2044, the pair survived decades in commuter service for owners that later included Penn Central, Conrail, Metro-North Commuter Railroad and the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
Now in a backup role is GVRR 2188, the stalwart ex-Santa Fe GP7u that had served as the railroad’s primary power since their venerable 4-6-0 “Puffy” was sidelined after the 2015 season. Built by Cooke Locomotive Works in 1896 as Southern Pacific 1829, later 2248, “Puffy” previously operated on the Texas State Railroad and the Fort Worth & Western. It is currently disassembled with no timeline for restoration.
Once marketed as “The Tarantula Train” due to the spider-like way its routes projected, the name was dropped after the City of Grapevine took ownership of the operation in 2005, purportedly due to the fearful reaction it elicited from some children.
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