If it’s on schedule, each night at 11:31 p.m. Amtrak’s northbound Texas Eagle makes a quick stop in Little Rock, Arkansas. Most nights there is a small line of people waiting to board, while a few get off. On February 4, 2012, as part of a project for a photography class I was taking at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, I decided to capture that night’s stop. I took my tripod so that I could shoot without a flash, using long exposure times. I got a few good images, including some with the conductor and engine crew.
Amtrak’s Texas Eagle pulling into Little Rock’s Union Station. Photographs by Michael Hibblen.
The conductor in radio communication with the engine crew or dispatchers as the train pulls to a stop.
The conductor opened the door after the train came to a halt.
The conductor then began checking tickets for passengers lined up to board the northbound train.
Pulling their luggage, passengers make their way down the platform to their cars.
With the train preparing to depart, one of the crew members climbs aboard the locomotive.
The conductor looking toward the back of the train, then over to the parking lot, perhaps waiting on any additional passengers.
The conductor looking toward the train station while waiting to depart.
A member of the engine crew climbs down the locomotive to talk with the conductor, with Amtrak’s Little Rock in the foreground.
After consulting with the engine crew, the conductor walks back down toward the train.
As a southbound Union Pacific freight train passes on an adjacent track, a worker walks ahead of the Amtrak train.
One final shot as before the Texas Eagle departs Little Rock.
Finally the northbound Texas Eagle begins moving.
The train moves onto Union Pacific’s double track main line, about to cross over the Arkansas River on the Baring Cross Bridge.
The end of the train moves by in a blur as it picks up speed.
The Amtrak ticket office and waiting room looking pretty desolate after the train’s departure.
Amtrak’s Little Rock station is only open a few hours each day ahead of the arrival of the two trains that pass through here daily, one heading north, the other heading south, scheduled for 3:02 a.m. Unfortunately both stops by Amtrak here are in the middle of the night. But occasionally a train will be running so late that there is the rare opportunity to see a train in daylight at the station.
