The ''Valley Eagle'' was a named
streamliner
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating wikt:streamline, streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "High-speed rail, bullet trai ...
passenger train of the
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...
that began in 1948. It ran from
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
's
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
to
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...
at the
Mexico–United States border
The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traver ...
and a second section to
Corpus Christi. It first carried the numbers #11 south and #12 northbound and in later years carried the number of #321 south and #322 heading north.
It made coordinated connections in Houston with trains from
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
(''
Texas Eagle
The ''Texas Eagle'' is a daily passenger train route operated by Amtrak between Chicago and San Antonio in the central and western United States. Prior to 1988, the train was known as the ''Eagle''.
Trains #21 (southbound) and 22 (northbound) ...
'' #21/22), from
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
(#201/202) and from
(''Houstonian'' #309/310). The ''Valley Eagle'' had its final run in 1962.
Night train counterpart
The Missouri Pacific Railroad also operated the ''Pioneer,'' a night train counterpart that outlasted the ''Valley Eagle.'' After the ''Pioneer'' lost its
sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car.
...
and its name, it continued to 1965 or 1966 as an unnamed night train on the route.
External link
Houston Union Station">Photo of the ''Valley Eagle'' departing Houston Union Station, 1953
Notes
{{MP named trains
Named passenger trains of the United States
Passenger rail transportation in Texas
Passenger trains of the Missouri Pacific Railroad
Railway services introduced in 1948
Railway services discontinued in 1962