Why / when was the BVY abandoned? I read it was sold by FEC to a developer and is being turned into condos. Looking at old photos it didn't seem that big, but there was a roundhouse. Was it mainly for passenger cars or something?
The whole railroad was re-structured at the time of the strike which begun in early 1963. When this occurred they dropped
all of the passenger service which was intended to be temporary but the strike carried on for a long time and during that
time Amtrak came into being and the Florida East Coast did not get back into the passenger market on a big time basis.
As a result of a court order obtained by the city of Miami they did run a six day a week local passenger train from North
Miami to Jacksonville and return. It was a daytime trip in both directions and it terminated on the south end at North Miami
and the equipment went on to Hialeah for the overnight layover. The yard downtown was no longer needed after the
strike began and was closed at that time or soon after.
So far as the line downtown is concerned it was simply a case where the business closed up or moved elsewhere or maybe a
combination of both. I think the FEC is holding on to this property and line as it may have potential uses either for the port
or for a passenger right of way which exists all the way to a point close to the site of the old FEC passenger station which is close to the heart of downtown Miami. This makes sense to me even though they are paying taxes on that property.
Noel Weaver