By Eric Miller
Too few towns in the United States enjoy the benefit of rail passenger service today. Even fewer enjoy the benefit of having a historic railroad and the original railroad depot.
Grapevine is a notable exception.
A visitor to the
Grapevine Vintage Railroad might assume the Cotton Belt Depot has always been there. That may depend on how you define always. Built in 1901, the depot served the city as a railroad station until abandoned by the railroad. If you found a photo of the intersection from the late 1970s, you might note a strangely absent train station. It had been moved off-site.
Luckily for us, the Grapevine Heritage Foundation later purchased the land and moved the depot back. Today it serves as a home for the Grapevine Historical Museum. The museum will soon have a new home, however, when work is complete on an attractive new building across the street. The future use for the Cotton Belt Depot may be primarily a train station, where tickets as well as souvenirs can be purchased.
A new train depot for Grapevine is also in the works. That’s because new commuter trains that make it easier for visitors and residents of both Dallas and Fort Worth to get to Grapevine (and hotel guests in Grapevine to get to Dallas and Fort Worth) will be in service within the next few years. The new station will also be at the intersection of Dallas and Main Street. With that in place, Grapevine will enjoy both commuter service and the tourist-oriented train that operate today. (Keep in mind, there’s nothing to keep you from using the trains running today to get to Fort Worth!)
Of more immediate note, there are some fun events coming up on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad including a Labor Day train ride, mini-excursions during GrapeFest September 17, 18 and 19 and the Halloween Scream Train October 30th and 31st. All aboard!