Amtrak doesn't park trains in Houston overnight anymore. But there's an exception to every rule.
At the end of August, a rapidly organizing low-pressure system in the Gulf formed Tropical Storm Edouard. It brought 60 mph winds and heavy rain as the storm made landfall near the Texas/Louisiana border on September 1st. That same day, Amtrak's eastbound Sunset Limited raced eastward towards Louisiana and the path of the cyclone. Amtrak opted to cancel the train at Houston, bussing passengers the rest of the way to New Orleans while not running the trainset over rails soon to see up to 2 ft of rainfall.
With the train cancelled, Amtrak parked the trainset in the normally unused house track at the Houston Amtrak Station. This cleared the main and allowed freights to run past until the trainset departed as westbound #1 the following evening.
During Amtrak's overnight stay, here's a shot of UP's Eureka Transfer overtaking the parked passenger train. UP's Houston Sub is a busy main line; no doubt a number of engineers & conductors had their curiosity piqued by the presence of an Amtrak train while they ran through the depot.
YER62 01 (Yard Job- Eureka Yard to Englewood Yard and return)
UP GP60 #1033
AMT1 02 (Westbound Sunset Limited, of the following day)
AMTK ALC-42 #363
AMTK P42DC #204
Houston TX
September 1st, 2026
