Grapevine Vintage Railroad

It’s Labor Day weekend, and we needed some way to entertain Troy for the extended days. We tried to arrange a play date with some of his friends, but everyone was either leaving town or had some excuse as to why they couldn’t get together. Besides that, the weather was forecasting thunderstorms all weekend, which meant we needed an inside activity. So, we came up with something we’d never done before. We took a ride on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad.

The trip we took, the Cotton Belt Route, took us from Grapevine to Fort Worth. We opted for the Touring Class car, which had floor-to-ceiling, picturesque windows and air conditioning. Even though the storms had brought weather in the upper seventies/lower eighties, it’s still August in Texas, so air conditioning was a must! The train cars were the original, one hundred-year old cars, restored to look like they might have looked in the 1800s. We had two reversible, bench seats with maroon faux leather on them, which offered enough leg room to comfortably sit across from each other. The train car was about half full, which meant that we weren’t too crowded, so people moved around and tried out different views during the journey. They served refreshments in our car, for a price of course, of sodas, water, Gatorade, cookies, nuts, and popcorn. There was also a bar somewhere on the train, as several people opted for alcohol instead.

The trip to Fort Worth was a nice, slow ambling ride. We had to stop several times for other trains to pass, so it took over two hours to get there. The train itself was cool, creaking and rattling as it swayed and rocked along the tracks. The view on the way wasn’t much to look at, though, as the tracks passed by warehouses, neighborhoods, schools, parks, and industrial yards. The attendant in our car tried to liven things up a bit by giving us information about trains and the history of the route we were taking, but still it was kind of blah. The provided a skit show for entertainment, where actors in period dress reenacted a train robbery by randomly showing up in the car for a short time before disappearing off into the train again. It was fun, but it would have been better had they interacted with the patrons more, especially the kids.

For Troy, the thrill of the train ride wore off about ten minutes after we left the station. After that, he was fidgety and bored. In hindsight, I probably should have taken him walking along the train, so he could have explored the other cars, but I was enjoying the train ride. Instead, I had to put up with him complaining the entire time, while my wife took a nap.

The train took us right in to the Fort Worth Stockyards. We then had two hours to explore before we had to reboard. The stockyards were packed with people from different cultures, colors, and countries. Most were dressed up like city cowboys and cowgirls with cowboy hats and boots too clean to be used for any practical purpose. I guess everyone thinks that you should look the part when going to a place like this, and there were plenty of shops willing to sell you everything you needed to pull it off.

Besides the shopping, there was also a mechanical bull that you could ride, a cow chute maze, a petting zoo, horse-drawn wagon rides, and photo ops with longhorns. Troy wanted to go straight to the petting zoo, which consisted of a pen of goats, sheep, pigs, and a highland cow. We bought a cup of food pellets, and Troy spent his time walking around making sure that every single animal got an equal share of the food. He told me later that he was a little disappointed that he could only feed the animals through the bars of the pen, instead of being in their space with them. I think I he was remembering our trip to Arkansas, where you could get into the pen with the goats and pet them.

I didn’t mind, though. I actually had a great time at the petting zoo. I didn’t want to take Troy’s limited food supply, so I walked around picking up discarded food pellets off the ground. I was able to get enough to feed just about everyone more than once. It was fun to have the goats and sheep snuffle the food out of your open palm. I didn’t try that with the pig. I told her to open her mouth, which surprisingly she did, and I dropped the pellets straight in. There were a few greedy goats that were shoving the others out of the way, so I made them give me a goat high five (Troy called it the high hoof, because they don’t have five fingers) or climb up to the top of the fence to get their reward. If they were going to be mean, then they’d have to work for it. But my absolute favorite part was this one large black goat that didn’t want the food I offered her. She just wanted to be pet. So, I obliged. I stroked her cheeks, the spot between her horns, her neck and shoulders, along her back, and down her sides. And when I was done, I did it all again, over and over. She stood there, completely calm, with her eyes closed just enjoying the love. When I finally stopped, she slowly opened her eyes and snuffled my hand, so I gave her a few pellets of food, which she calmly accepted.

As I was trying to wrangle Troy out of the pen, I saw something truly beautiful. He was standing with a little girl, maybe eighteen to twenty-four months old, assuring her that the goats wouldn’t hurt her. He then gave her some of his food pellets (her parents opted not to buy a food cup) and showed her how to feed the animals. It was so very sweet, and she laughed when the goats tickled her hands with their lips. Troy just calmly handed her pellet after pellet, so she could keep enjoying the experience. Sometimes my son is a selfish brat, and then sometimes he’s like this…unexpectedly tender and sweet. He never ceases to amaze me. We had to go, so he gave the little girl his food cup, which was about half full still, so she could continue to interact with the animals. But he showed her one more time how to hold the food in her hands, so she didn’t get bitten. As we walked away, I heard her mother say, “Okay, let’s do what he said. Open your hand up and put the food in your palm. Now, hold your hand out and let them eat it.”

We hurried out of the petting zoo, so we could line up along the street for the iconic passing of the Fort Worth Herd, which consists of 17 enormous longhorn steers with horns that curl and twist out to an astounding ten feet from tip to tip. They drive the cattle down the main street twice a day, and hundreds of people line up to watch them. The longhorns were truly an awesome site in dappled shades of brown, red, black, and white. Moments after they passed by, the sky finally opened up, and rain started to pour down. So, everyone scampered for cover, cramming into the large covered space around the railroad depot.

We made our way to the opposite end for the gunfight that was supposed to be taking place. It consisted of a sheriff and his deputy taking on two prison escapees. There were some humorous moments in the skit, but it was a little too drawn out especially when you’re crammed into a hot, humid place with fifty other people. Troy actually got bored halfway through, and he wasn’t the only one. Some people started to drift off, while others started up conversations in the middle of it. It became distracting and hard to hear. All in all, probably not something we’d do again.

Our train was supposed to be boarding soon after the gunfight, so we made our way to the boarding platform and waited…and waited…and waited…and waited. Finally, someone from the railroad came by and told us that the train was delayed for repairs. Apparently, the electrical system had gone out and they had no air conditioning, fans, or working toilets. So, we waited some more, which was miserable because the heat and humidity had risen, and there was zero breeze blowing through the crowded depot. My wife was about to die. She was sweating profusely, and she actually started to break out into a heat rash.

When the train finally arrived, we were informed that they were unable to get the electricity working. So, we were directed to an alternate car that had windows that could open to let in some breeze. It’s a small help when the air blowing in is hot and humid. It’s an even a smaller help when the window next to you won’t open (which is what happened to me), and you get no air at all. I could have changed seats to sit next to my family, since both of the windows next to them were open, but my wife was stretched out snoozing, and I didn’t want to disturb her. With the breeze blowing on her face, she was finally returning to the correct color. Troy didn’t complain once on the entire return trip. Of course, I had to give up my phone, so he could play games on it to keep him distracted. The staff tried to make light of the inconvenience by describing it like actual railroad travel back in the 1800s, but that did little to ease the migraine coursing through my head. They did give us complimentary drinks as a sort of appeasement. They also played out the rest of the train robbery skit, but I think most people were too hot to care.

Despite the air conditioning mishap, it was still an enjoyable adventure. I’d definitely recommend it. It was nice to be able to explore the stockyards without having to fight the traffic or find a place to park. And it might be more pleasant at a different time of the year. Troy did ask to go back to the stockyards again, but he asked if this time we could take the car!