Day Trip to Flatonia (Tx) for Train Watching - Trains Magazine

Hi!

I finally took the wife on a day trip to Flatonia Texas to "watch trains".  I queried this place in an earlier posting and got some positive feedback, so off we went.  FYI, Flatonia is a crossroads for what was the SP and smaller roads.  Today its mostly UP, but as I was told, most anything could come through here (See Sept. 07 Trains).

We live in Spring, just north of Houston, and Flatonia is about 120 west of Houston off I-10.  Once out of the nasty Houston area traffic, it was a nice drive.  We got off at the Flatonia exit and drove South a mile or so to Route 90, turned west and soon saw the preserved switch tower and SP bay window caboose.  But we needed to find the Pavilion that the good people of Flatonia built just for us "train nuts". 

The pavilion is nice and comfortable but without toilet facilities.  It was very windy, but we stayed for an hour before hitting the DQ in town.  After, we went back and soon a 5 loco UP consist flew by with what appeared to mostly loaded cars of all types.  Later on, a 3 unit UP came be heading east but appeared to have a lot of emptys, as the boxcar doors were all open and the train was going very fast for only 3 locos and so many cars.

We went back to DQ (Blizzards) and then to the switch tower, caboose, and old time jail for pictures.  And after another hour at the pavilion, we decided it was time to go and drive north through the edge of the hill country.  While the wildflowers are only about 50 percent, they are a sight to behold!  We made a big circle, and came back to Spring from the north, avoiding the majority of rush hour traffic.

Sadly we didn't get to see the variety of trains I had hoped for (luck of the draw), but the pavilion was nice, and it was certainly worth the trip.  But to be honest, I could probably see more trains at the UP line/yard next to Old Town Spring, only about 4 miles from home.

ENJOY,

Mobilman44