(The Norman Transcript posted the following story by James S. Tyree on its website on October 11.)
NORMAN, Okla. — The Amtrak train that rolls through Oklahoma is called the Heartland Flyer, but on Friday, it could have been renamed the Sooner Express.
About 30 people boarded the train in Norman at 9:30 a.m. Friday, many of them en route to Fort Worth or Dallas for the OU-Texas football game. Amtrak ran a round-trip special from various points in Oklahoma to Dallas, and it was too good for the Farnam family of Norman to pass up.
“I had the feeling we weren’t going unless we do this,” Joe Farnam said of taking the train.
He explained that his wife, Julie, normally drives the family to Dallas for the game, but it is a task she has come to dread.
“The traffic is just ridiculous, and there is all that construction,” Julie said.
So instead of tension in a cramped car, the Farnams looked forward to stress-free comfort. Erin Farnam packed compact discs and DVDs for the trip, and her sister Andrea said, “We’ll be able to walk around if we get bored.”
The Sutfin family have hybrid travel plans: W.R. will drive to Dallas while his wife, mother and daughter take the train. That way, Liz Sutfin said, the family will have a car while in Texas.
“I did this several years ago,” said Liz, W.R.?s wife. “It was easy and I could see the traffic jams from the window.”
That train only went to Fort Worth, so she looks forward to riding right into Dallas this time.
Winnie Sutfin, Liz’s mother-in-law, has ridden trains before but never to Dallas. Six-year-old Katelyn stood next to her grandmother, ready to board her first train ever.
“I look forward to watching my granddaughter and seeing how she enjoys it,” Winnie said.
OU senior Jennifer Anderson won?t be at the Cotton Bowl today, but she took the train home to Fort Worth, where she will attend an OU-Texas watch party.
She has commuted with the Heartland Flyer before because “it’s convenient and it drops me off in Fort Worth.”
Anderson, the Farnam girls and Liz Sutfin vary in age and race, but they shared two things in common — they wore Oklahoma Sooners clothing and spoke of taking part in a popular,non-football activity in Dallas.
“Go shopping, of course,” Liz Sutfin said.