Another Good Impression...
In December a delegation of about twenty folks from Austin, Texas, came to Dallas for a one-day look at electric transit in North Texas. The group from Austin Metro and various transit-minded citizens groups spent most of their time checking out DART, but did allow themselves two hours to visit McKinney Avenue Transit Authority. John Landrum gave them the standard car barn tour and they rode the regular service car.
Tom Barry, writing in the Austin Statesman of December 17, 1997, raves about Dallas' "luxury light rail," but also says: "The best time for me was the ride on the McKinney Avenue Trolley ... This operation is private, run by volunteer trolley enthusiast similar to the Austin Stream Train group. It serves the museums and entertainment district with vintage electric trolleys. If you think that is a good idea for downtown Austin, there's some folks ahead of you."
The Electric Railroaders Association will hold its annual convention in Dallas this year on the 5th, 6th and 8th of September. On Saturday the 5th, they will tour AIRTRANS at DFW Airport and the Tandy Subway in Fort Worth. On Sunday, they will ride DART Rail and on Labor Day, they will descend on MATA. We will have four cars running from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Even if you aren't an ERA member, there will be lots of good photo opportunities all up and down our route. Bring your camera and plenty of film. -- JL
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