Brightline (All Aboard Florida) Orlando - Miami FL FEC fka Virgin Rail

Hopefully AAF's fancy new stations can withstand the impending hurricane. It'd be a shame to top off a building then have it immediately damaged.

They have had time to prepare for this one so I think they will have their "act together". Actually the FEC will not be running any trains today or tomorrow, they have gotten all of their crews to their home terminals in Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale or Miami as the case may be.
Noel Weaver

Concrete should do well. Water won't hurt it and wind damage would (should) be insured.

Stuff that is partially completed would be at risk - 140MPH winds getting inside will mess things up more than a completed building. I assume FEC has hired a general contractor and stuff would be on them? Other than that the track structure, bridges, signal system? Are FEC's yards vulnerable to storm surge?

BandA wrote:Are FEC's yards vulnerable to storm surge?

Anything that close to the coast must be.

This is from the local paper in Martin County (Stuart). Oddly, Hutchinson Island did not lose power...after the Governor guaranteed county wide power losses. Contrast this to what you heard on TV at 8 PM Thursday evening.

No loss of life or serious injuries resulted from Hurricane Matthew, Martin County officials said Friday afternoon.
There were no reports of homes or businesses sustaining any flood damage as a result of the storm, said County Administrator Taryn Kryzda during a news briefing at the Emergency Operations Center.
“We thought for sure we were going to get nailed,” Kryzda told Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater at the conclusion of the briefing.
Kryzda, Fire Rescue Chief Bill Schobel, and state Rep. Gayle Harrell all repeatedly said they believe Martin County was fortunate to avoid major damage as a result of Matthew.
There were no emergency calls during the peak of the storm from 2 to 3 a.m., Schobel said.
Maximum wind gusts reached 80 mph and sustained winds topped out at 66 mph, said Martin County spokesman Bob Hogensen. The estimated storm surge was 3 to 4 feet and the total rainfall amounted to 3 3/4 inches.

That could have been much worse and they were literally at the fate of the winds.

Most of the FEC bascule bridges are just a few feet above sea level and within a few miles of the ocean. They are old, but have survived a lot of storms. Mainly, because the barrier islands take the brunt of the storms.

Here is a link to an incomplete database bridges. Scroll down to the "Advanced Search" section and enter the town. Jacksonville (the most famous) and Stuart works.

http://marinas.com/search/index.php?sea ... mit=Search

The images are high resolution. Tick on it to make the image larger and then draw a box around the bridge.

The elevations are in the Environmental Impact statement, for those that like track maps. A quick scan gives me a range from 8 to 35+ feet above sea level.

https://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Details/L16901

Today, Monday, October 10th, the FEC is back on operation all the way between Jacksonville and Miami.
Noel Weaver

Has anyone yet figured out why Fortress/FEC are doing this whole thing: building and running Brightline?

Do they just want the profits from the various pieces of real estate and the improved tracks for faster freight trains, and they'll shut down the passenger service and sell the cars to other US operators as soon as they can?

REAL ESTATE!! I doubt very much if they will shut it down, there are very serious about this and I think all in all they will do just fine. The big money is the property but the FEC is a very efficient organization and they would not get in to anything that did not have a good chance of success.
A huge amount of work has already happened or is in progress and a lot of money has already been committed.
Noel Weaver

I agree this is "value-added" to their real estate holdings.

Speaking of Real Estate: viewtopic.php?f=54&t=163769" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fortress may be selling the railroad. Let's leave this to the development of Brightline, and discuss the FEC sale there.

One bit of context for how good an idea both intercity rail and transit-oriented real estate are:Miami's Metro ridership is up 50% since 2002 (tied with NYC for #1) (excluding PATH, who grew from a low 9/11 suppressed base in 2002).

It underscores that Miami is really ready for car-free ways of getting around, and buildings that support that choice.

That's impressive! They must be close to break-even on an operating basis?