On Sunday, February 8, 1998, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published an excellent article covering the inaugural train of the Amtrak Texas Eagle/California Service. The articles was entitled: Coal train jumps track, costs Eagle 5-hour delay and was written by Mark Waller and Alyson Hoge. This article has information about the freight derailment that delayed the Texas Eagle, the ceremonial events at Little Rock, interviews with some key people, and a general description of the reasons for this new train and the key companies involved.
Unfortunately, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazetee would not grant us permission to reproduce either the article or the derailment photograph on the web. However, I'm sure that if you contacted Frank Fellone, Deputy Managing Editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette at 501-378-3485 (Fax: 501-372-3908, 121 E. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, AR 72201), he would be able to provide you with a reprint of this article. I'd recommend that you do call and obtain a copy of this article. It is very interesting reading!