Alex Wolford
@thetexanrhino.bsky.social
Writer Covering Transportation, Cities, and Sometimes Other Stuff
Work on Substack & Medium + @dmagazine.bsky.social
Dallas, TX | Columbia, MO
https://linktr.ee/TheTexanRhino
Work on Substack & Medium + @dmagazine.bsky.social
Dallas, TX | Columbia, MO
https://linktr.ee/TheTexanRhino
Pinned
They Have The People
No Kings and Peaceful Protest
substack.com
New story about the recent No Kings protests and peaceful demonstration in our current moment.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Good piece about the very weird place Dallas's streetcars are in.
In the fall of 2017, after MUCH discussion and debate, the Dallas City Council approved a route that would have connected the Oak Cliff/Bishop Arts and Uptown/downtown streetcar lines. The work was supposed to be completed by 2023. But here we go again. Again.
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
Wilonsky: Yet again, an attempt to link the Oak Cliff and downtown Dallas streetcars
It’s been a few years since I last rode the streetcar from downtown Dallas to Bishop Arts – probably, oh, since The Dallas Morning News moved out of the Young...
www.dallasnews.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Good piece about the very weird place Dallas's streetcars are in.
Reposted by Alex Wolford
The suburban transit agencies trying to secede from Dallas's DART are basing their plans on unrealistic visions of "microtransit." Nearby Arlington, Texas already shows the limits of that. Good @dallasobserver.com piece. www.dallasobserver.com/news/dart-co...
What Will Replace DART if Cities End Their Contracts?
Two cities allowing voters to elect to leave DART in May have offered microtransit systems as an alternative. They're flawed.
www.dallasobserver.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:03 PM
The suburban transit agencies trying to secede from Dallas's DART are basing their plans on unrealistic visions of "microtransit." Nearby Arlington, Texas already shows the limits of that. Good @dallasobserver.com piece. www.dallasobserver.com/news/dart-co...
With Amtrak's FY25 ridership numbers out, we can see how the Texan routes have done this year:
Texas Eagle - 372,135 (+14.3% over FY24)
Sunset Limited - 91,493 (+18.9% over FY24)
Heartland Flyer - 80,876 (+0.6% over FY24)
Texas Eagle - 372,135 (+14.3% over FY24)
Sunset Limited - 91,493 (+18.9% over FY24)
Heartland Flyer - 80,876 (+0.6% over FY24)
November 18, 2025 at 5:32 PM
With Amtrak's FY25 ridership numbers out, we can see how the Texan routes have done this year:
Texas Eagle - 372,135 (+14.3% over FY24)
Sunset Limited - 91,493 (+18.9% over FY24)
Heartland Flyer - 80,876 (+0.6% over FY24)
Texas Eagle - 372,135 (+14.3% over FY24)
Sunset Limited - 91,493 (+18.9% over FY24)
Heartland Flyer - 80,876 (+0.6% over FY24)
Amtrak's Sunset Limited stares down a German ICE train in front of the Alamodome, summer 1993. The European trainset was toured around the country in the hopes of raising support for high-speed rail.
Photograph by Fred M. Springer.
Photograph by Fred M. Springer.
November 18, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Amtrak's Sunset Limited stares down a German ICE train in front of the Alamodome, summer 1993. The European trainset was toured around the country in the hopes of raising support for high-speed rail.
Photograph by Fred M. Springer.
Photograph by Fred M. Springer.
Reposted by Alex Wolford
“It feels like every day I look at the news and then the headline just reads, ‘Sorry, more things you’ve lost,’"
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/18/t...
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/18/t...
Texas public schools “deadname” kids under new state law
The law requires school employees to use names and pronouns that conform to students’ sex at birth.
www.texastribune.org
November 18, 2025 at 2:09 PM
“It feels like every day I look at the news and then the headline just reads, ‘Sorry, more things you’ve lost,’"
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/18/t...
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/18/t...
Really liked this story from @labreportdallas.bsky.social. Some obvious transit connections in the issues discussed here.
labreportdallas.com/p/cottonwood...
labreportdallas.com/p/cottonwood...
A New Approach for the Most Notorious Trail in Dallas
The Cottonwood Creek Trail in North Dallas has long been an unsolvable problem. City Hall’s new partners believe they know what's been missing.
labreportdallas.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Really liked this story from @labreportdallas.bsky.social. Some obvious transit connections in the issues discussed here.
labreportdallas.com/p/cottonwood...
labreportdallas.com/p/cottonwood...
Op-ed from a former Plano City Council member making the case for why Plano should leave DART.
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
DART is no longer a transit solution for Plano
Former Plano council member writes that DART hasn’t adapted to the needs of Dallas-Fort Worth.
www.dallasnews.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Op-ed from a former Plano City Council member making the case for why Plano should leave DART.
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
From the other site:
November 17, 2025 at 5:15 PM
From the other site:
The TEXRail train "Vaquero" flies over a Fort Worth and Western train at Hodge Yard. The FWWR train is led by an SD60M locomotive no. 2035, named "Butch Cassidy."
Photograph by Jason Burke.
Photograph by Jason Burke.
November 17, 2025 at 1:21 PM
The TEXRail train "Vaquero" flies over a Fort Worth and Western train at Hodge Yard. The FWWR train is led by an SD60M locomotive no. 2035, named "Butch Cassidy."
Photograph by Jason Burke.
Photograph by Jason Burke.
Just got around to it and have to say ninajirachi's new album is great. Highly recommend it.
November 17, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Just got around to it and have to say ninajirachi's new album is great. Highly recommend it.
The DART green line being constructed through Downtown Carrollton in 2008.
Photograph by Scott Dorn
Photograph by Scott Dorn
November 16, 2025 at 10:52 PM
The DART green line being constructed through Downtown Carrollton in 2008.
Photograph by Scott Dorn
Photograph by Scott Dorn
Reposted by Alex Wolford
for our "Texas Canon" series, I wrote about Halt and Catch Fire, the underrated AMC show about the '80s Dallas tech boom, and how it reminds us of why we were optimistic about tech in the first place: www.chron.com/culture/arti...
One of TV's most underrated shows gave Texas' tech past its due
Texas rarely gets the prestige treatment. One AMC drama pulled it off.
www.chron.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:15 PM
for our "Texas Canon" series, I wrote about Halt and Catch Fire, the underrated AMC show about the '80s Dallas tech boom, and how it reminds us of why we were optimistic about tech in the first place: www.chron.com/culture/arti...
Reposted by Alex Wolford
I wrote about train-surfing's rise in NYC and other American Metros in context to other global train-surfing heydays, such as Berlin years immediately after the Wall came down www.substack-bahn.net/p/train-surf...
Train-Surfing: A Global Look
An attempt at context to an act of madness
www.substack-bahn.net
November 10, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I wrote about train-surfing's rise in NYC and other American Metros in context to other global train-surfing heydays, such as Berlin years immediately after the Wall came down www.substack-bahn.net/p/train-surf...
The Fort Worth and Denver Railway's "Texas Zephyr," northbound to Denver, heading out of Fort Worth in 1950.
Photograph by Roger Plummer.
Photograph by Roger Plummer.
November 13, 2025 at 2:56 PM
The Fort Worth and Denver Railway's "Texas Zephyr," northbound to Denver, heading out of Fort Worth in 1950.
Photograph by Roger Plummer.
Photograph by Roger Plummer.
This is why, in earnest, I like the current City Hall building. If Dallas is anything, it's "strange and hard to love." I like that City Hall is challenging at first glance but beautiful with time. It reminds me of this city and why I love it.
"I am asking you to think big and save to reimagine this strange but hard to love building."
Next is Rawlins Gilliland. (Fun fact, he was a reader in my wedding and read an original piece.)
Says the new City Hall "stunned me" in 1978, showed the city wasn't as "humorless" as he thought. He also talks about how cities across the country have restored and preserved its history.
Says the new City Hall "stunned me" in 1978, showed the city wasn't as "humorless" as he thought. He also talks about how cities across the country have restored and preserved its history.
November 12, 2025 at 4:00 PM
This is why, in earnest, I like the current City Hall building. If Dallas is anything, it's "strange and hard to love." I like that City Hall is challenging at first glance but beautiful with time. It reminds me of this city and why I love it.
Looking west toward the Trinity River, Dallas City Hall under construction in the mid-1970s.
Photograph by John Rogers.
Photograph by John Rogers.
November 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Looking west toward the Trinity River, Dallas City Hall under construction in the mid-1970s.
Photograph by John Rogers.
Photograph by John Rogers.
They're brighter in the photo than they were to my eyes, but you can see the northern lights from Downtown Columbia, Missouri.
November 12, 2025 at 3:43 AM
They're brighter in the photo than they were to my eyes, but you can see the northern lights from Downtown Columbia, Missouri.
A DART Silver Line FLIRT meets with an eastbound CPKC manifest train at 12th Street Station, Plano, October 2025.
Photograph by David Hawkins.
Photograph by David Hawkins.
November 11, 2025 at 10:18 PM
A DART Silver Line FLIRT meets with an eastbound CPKC manifest train at 12th Street Station, Plano, October 2025.
Photograph by David Hawkins.
Photograph by David Hawkins.
Hope everyone is having a good boat day.
today, like every day, is a good day to remember everything Lake Superior has taken from us. the only language the Great Lakes understand is force.
RIP to the Eddie Fitz
RIP to the Eddie Fitz
November 10, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Hope everyone is having a good boat day.
Dallas man in front of the Southland Life Building, 1950s–60s.
Photograph by John Rogers.
Photograph by John Rogers.
November 10, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Dallas man in front of the Southland Life Building, 1950s–60s.
Photograph by John Rogers.
Photograph by John Rogers.
This account turns a year old today! People like to complain about this place, but given the sheer number of people I have met on here and the opportunities they have given me, I think it's been a pretty good year.
November 8, 2025 at 3:05 AM
This account turns a year old today! People like to complain about this place, but given the sheer number of people I have met on here and the opportunities they have given me, I think it's been a pretty good year.
Looking east over Elm Street, Dallas, December 1943.
November 7, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Looking east over Elm Street, Dallas, December 1943.
Reposted by Alex Wolford
my desktop computer is finally up after a month of trying to get moved into my new place so here's some shots I really liked in San Francisco from a few months ago before I was ceaselessly sick and plagued by personal crises lmao
Fujica GW690i | Kodak Portra 160
Fujica GW690i | Kodak Portra 160
November 7, 2025 at 3:20 AM
my desktop computer is finally up after a month of trying to get moved into my new place so here's some shots I really liked in San Francisco from a few months ago before I was ceaselessly sick and plagued by personal crises lmao
Fujica GW690i | Kodak Portra 160
Fujica GW690i | Kodak Portra 160
Reposted by Alex Wolford
This account also feels in line with some of what other people that have been in Broadview have shared.
Lawsuit Alleges Inhumane Conditions at Broadview ICE Facility
Federal authorities moved two plaintiffs in the suit out of state; a judge has ordered they be returned Monday.
southsideweekly.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:40 AM
This account also feels in line with some of what other people that have been in Broadview have shared.