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

Do the Brightline stations have bicycle lock ups?

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.9574333 ... 56!6m1!1e1

From the TCPalm newspaper group.

It all comes down to this.

The Treasure Coast's last, best hope to derail All Aboard Florida/Brightline by legal means gets underway Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Attorneys for Indian River and Martin counties will attempt to show the company needs $1.75 billion of tax-exempt bonds to complete the Miami-to-Orlando passenger rail project — and that the counties have standing to object to the issuance of the bonds.

http://www.tcpalm.com/opinion/columnist ... 85321.html

It looks like design work is wrapping up on the West Palm - Orlando segment, and construction may soon commence. Meanwhile, Treasure Coast counties continue to tilt at windmills: TC Palm

All Aboard Florida already spent hundreds of millions between West Palm Beach and Orlando

All Aboard Florida already has spent approximately $787 million on its passenger railroad, including nearly $200 million on work between West Palm Beach and Orlando, according to court documents.

Design and engineering work on the northern section is "progressing apace, and is nearing the point where actual construction work can commence," according to the railroad.
...
The company is to present that information in federal court in Washington, D.C., Thursday as it attempts to prove it can proceed with Brightline rail service with or without the $1.75 billion of tax-exempt bonds it was issued in August.
...

I am astounded that in effect Fortress has been building this project using their own cash. Also, given current market conditions for bonds I think a near term issuance is very likely.

It's possible their using other lines of credit as well. Investment groups / LBO type outfits may or may not sit on cash depending on what's out there, and what they can flip. Clearly, they're expecting the dual tracks (pun intended) of the project: passenger rail, with some possible benefit for freight, and real estate, to feed off each other. Sounds like a good use of cash to me.

Agreed and now with Brexit these bonds will be one of the most attractive investments out there. U.S. Treasuries are exceptionally high priced right now due to high demand.

A friend and I took a ride on Tri-Rail and Metro-Rail to Dadeland South Station and boy was I impressed with all that I saw around Government Center and the Court House area. Construction everywhere and a good amount of the bridgework is going in with piers, bridge beams and more. There was a lot of construction activity all through this area and all easily seen from the Metro-Rail train on my way back to MIA for the transfer back to Tri-Rail for the trip home. There was a large number of workers in the area and they appear to me to be making good progress on what promises to be a big job. This has to be history making in the railroad industry. When was the last time any private railroad spent their own funds for passenger facilities? My guess is way back in maybe the 1940's when the New York Central built their new passenger station in Toledo, Ohio.
Very impressive and can be rather easily viewed from both Metro-Rail and Metro-Mover stations and trains in the area.
Great train rides on both Tri-Rail and Metro-Rail and a great meal at Shortys too.
Noel Weaver

Construction on the West Palm Beach end is moving quite nicely along too. Ties and rails for the second track have been laid in most of the Lake Worth/Lantana area. New signal gantrys with new signals have also been installed (neither the signals nor second rail are active yet). Track work has also been done on the existing mainline. The other day, I traveled across the Pine Street RRXing in Lantana, and noticed that the road rises significantly over the crossing. The crossing sits on a curve which is now heavily banked. Based off the last track maps I saw, the 2.8 degree curve was supposed to be reduced to 1.3 degrees. What was a 50 mph limit for freight trains, will now be 79 P/70 F. The extreme banking reminds me of the CSX (SX) line between Winter Haven and Sebring.

On the Treasure Coast end, I wish their local government would spend their resources on fighting the algae runoff from Lake O. This will be a much larger economic negative than AAF will ever be for the region. Of course, anyone with a basic understanding of urban planning would realize that AAF will be a net positive.

Soccer superstar David Beckham is in talks with a top executive at the private equity firm behind the All Aboard Florida passenger train project about funding for a new 25,000-seat stadium planned near the rail venture’s station in downtown Miami, the Miami Herald reported.

Wesley Edens, co-chairman of Fortess Investment Group and co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, is in talks with Miami Beckham United, the entity working on Beckham’s stadium effort, the Herald reported last week.

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/bus ... exe/nrp34/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Encouraging to see proactive efforts that could possibly produce synergy with AAF/Brightline, wrt to generating passenger revenue beyond just tourists and business travelers.

It feels strange to witness an Asian style real estate and rail deal in the US. If they can get airliner code sharing, it would mean a dramatic expansion in airliner reach.

Here are some pictures of the crossing I was talking about in my earlier post: https://imgur.com/a/rVHTW" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, some other pictures I've taken in the last month:


May 28/29 signal gantry installation - West Palm Beach
https://imgur.com/a/PvBWN" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

July 3rd - West Palm Beach Station
https://imgur.com/a/7CjCg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

July 7th - Forest Hill Signals (Just south of the Forest Hill Blvd. crossing in West Palm Beach)
https://imgur.com/a/cUsV3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

July 7th - West Palm Beach (C-51) Canal Crossing
https://imgur.com/a/vsS9k" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This may be irreveleant to the current discussion, but would it be feasible to use a cab car as opposed to a second locomotive? A single Charger is sufficient for a four coach consist plus a non-powered control car.

Brightline will be operating in grade crossing hell for much of its length. While modern cab cars are of sufficient strength to protect passengers in most crashes, always running loco-forward will provide more protection especially in the case of a collision with a truck.

Zuccaraillo wrote:This may be irreveleant to the current discussion, but would it be feasible to use a cab car as opposed to a second locomotive? A single Charger is sufficient for a four coach consist plus a non-powered control car.

If they ran with just one locomotive, they wouldn't be able to run 125 mph on the brand new tracks to Orlando. They would be limited to 110 mph with single locomotive operations.
Sources:
https://www.scribd.com/document/2054909 ... 4-Original" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens_Charger" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Per EMD, it requires 4530.5 BHP to sustain a max speed of 125 mph. The SC44 is only rated at 4400 BHP. Although the Siemens SC44 locomotive can achieve 125 MPH, but only while operating downhill.

Additionally, the alternator is rated at 4400 HP short term, 4200 HP continuous, and at the wheels it is rated at 2900 HP to 4000 HP depending upon HEP.

I would also like to suggest the routing of the Brightline corridor between Orlando and the Cape is not downhill in either direction.

FYI: I'll admit I don't have the technical expertise to agree or disagree with EMD, but I am willing to give their engineering experience some faith, although they did have some conflict of interest with an opposing locomotive.