East Texas Corridor Council

From left to right: Jack Hester, Mayor Pro-Tem, City of Marshall; Leslie Quinn, Community Liaison, Louisiana U.S.  Senator David Vitter; Steve Harrelson, Majority Leader, Arkansas House of Representatives; Jeff Everson, Regional Representative, Louisiana U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu; Bill Pollard, Chairman, Texas Eagle Marketing & Performance Organization; Kent Rogers, Executive Director, Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments; Griff Hubbard, Acting Executive Director, East Texas Corridor Council; David Cleveland, Executive Director, East Texas Council of Governments; David’s daughter, Future Beneficiary; Richard Anderson, Harrison County Judge & Chairman, East Texas Corridor Council Governmental Relations Committee, Christina Anderson, Director, National Association of Railroad Passengers (Region IX); Tim Vaughn, Vice-Chairman, East Texas Corridor Council; Joy Smith, Assistant Superintendent for Passenger Services, Amtrak

The East Texas Corridor Council joined with Amtrak, Harrison County, the National Association of Railroad Passengers, the Marshall Depot T&P Railway Museum, and the Texas Eagle Marketing & Performance Organization in celebrating the first annual National Train Day. National Train Day was celebrated on May 10, 2008 in Marshall, Texas at the beautifully restored circa 1912 Marshall Depot which is a proud stop along Amtrak’s Texas Eagle route.

In the spirit of the 139th anniversary of the joining together east and west of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, an historic signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding took place bringing together the East Texas and North Central Texas Council of Governments with the Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments.

This MOU is designed to build interstate support for a strengthened passenger rail service in the Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas (Ark-La-Tex) region, envisioning a future east-west connection between Marshall to Shreveport/Bossier and on to Meridian, Mississippi (as well as a connection between Little Rock and Memphis), thus creating a southern rail route to the Atlantic seaboard.  

Cake and music (Ark-La-Tex Dixieland Band) were included in the program, plus drawings for five free Amtrak trips for two to any destination along the Texas Eagle route. 

National Train Day festivities in Marshall also included the Annual Reunion of Texas & Pacific Employees honoring those who worked at the historic T&P facilities in Marshall in the years between 1873-1971. Visitors were also able to view the display of the #400, the last steam locomotive owned by the T&P, built in 1915 and nicknamed "The Mocassin." The popular Texas & Pacific Railway Museum, located at the Marshall Depot, was open for visitors.

MOU Letters of Support

National Train Day Proclamations

City of Longview, Texas