FEC Going Down The Guilford Path?

After reading some posts on Trainorders, you would think that FEC has track that is worse than Guilfords!

Is there any truth to this rumor?

lakeshoredave wrote:After reading some posts on Trainorders, you would think that FEC has track that is worse than Guilfords!

Is there any truth to this rumor?

I don't think there is. I see the FEC on a daily basis and it still runs trains
on a schedule, they still have good track and their speeds show it and
there locomotives are still very clean.
From what I have heard, Rail America wants the Florida East Coast to be
their "flagship" railroad. I think they are in it for the long term.
Noel Weaver

lakeshoredave wrote:After reading some posts on Trainorders, you would think that FEC has track that is worse than Guilfords!

Is there any truth to this rumor?

FEC is a very nice railroad. I read an article a couple years ago that talked about how smooth the track was.

On this past Sunday evening, I observed Florida East Coast train 101
passing through Oakland Park (Fort Lauderdale) at about 9:30 PM. This
train is due to arrive at Hialeah at 11:45 PM on Sundays. This train leaves
Bowden (Jacksonville) at 2:30 PM on Sundays. I do not think a trip of
this length in the time that it consumed would be at all possible if the track
was not well built and very well maintained as well as good power too.
The train probably arrived in the Hialeah facility well over an hour ahead
of time. This operation sets a very high standard for the railroad industry.
Noel Weaver

My advice would be to watch your dental fillings, Fortress' track record to date is not very impressive (e.g. CORP, NECR track conditions).

SnoozerZ49 wrote:My advice would be to watch your dental fillings, Fortress' track record to date is not very impressive (e.g. CORP, NECR track conditions).

New England Central has done their share to increase the business on
that raillroad. Maybe the track is not quite as good as it once was but it
is not exactly falling apart either. They are not in the same league as the
Florida East Coast.
I will stick to my opinion that the Florida East Coast will continue to do
very well. They are a huge player in South Florida.
For those who are not aware, the FEC all of the intermodal traffic, all of
the automobiles, and the lion's share of other freight traffic in and out of
south east Florida. They are still operating around ten round trips in the
Fort Lauderdale area including 5 trains in and out of Hialeah, 3 rock trains
out of Medley (down from 5 because of a decline in business) and 2 trains
out of Fort Lauderdale. They have three local/yard jobs in Fort Lauderdale
as well so we have a fair amount of activity here.
In contrast, CSX has one or two round trips north out of Miami, a local job
in Fort Lauderdale and a number of jobs in Hialeah but I do not know just
how many.
There is a reasonable amount of local business on both lines.
CSX locomotives tend to be gruby and dirty as a rule while Florida East
Coast locomotives tend to be very clean and appear to be very well
maintained as well. I had a tour of their New Symrna Beach shop a few
months ago and it was clean, well equipped and well organized. They can
do very heavy work on their fleet of EMD locomotives (100 per cent EMD).
The Florida East Coast main line is very well maintained, single track with
CTC, ATC, cab signals, concrete ties and heavy rail. Track speed for all
trains is generally 60 MPH. They have controlled sidings fully signaled
about every 10 miles and a few stretches of double track as well. They
are well equipped to handle the business that they have been handling
over the past several years. The railroad is well equipped to handle a lot
of hot and sensitive traffic such as UPS and other hot cars on a daily basis.
All trains run on a schedule and are most likely on time. Train 107 just
went by here (Fort Lauderdale a few minutes ago, I heard the dispatcher
with him on the radio and he will make it on time into Hialeah where he
is scheduled to arrive at 3:00 AM. It is really neat to go to a location with
a schedule and not usually have to wait long for the train in question to
show up although sometimes they run ahead of time.
Noel Weaver

lakeshoredave wrote:After reading some posts on Trainorders, you would think that FEC has track that is worse than Guilfords!

Is there any truth to this rumor?

Well, that's what you get, for visiting that site. Just a bunch of B.S........ As Noel said, and as posted in the FEC Form here, at RR.Net, the FEC has all concrete ties, all welded rail, all CTC, and a very well maintained physical plant. Power is maintained, and the employees seem to take pride, in getting the job done. Reading "trainorders". Geez!!!!

I agree with Noel, and saw 101 at 9:42 PM thru Hollywood Blvd (Hollywood, FL) on January 6th. Like he said, FEC is run well maintained and on a sharp schedule and is one of the arteries of intermodal freight in South Florida. I doubt that the track would be poor; on the contrary the track is excellent and promises a speed of a rapid 60 mph. Plus there have been fewer derailments on the FEC.

I agree that FEC has the vast majority of South FL business, but doesn't CSXT handle GM's down that way: Palm City or Bay something??

roberttosh wrote:I agree that FEC has the vast majority of South FL business, but doesn't CSXT handle GM's down that way: Palm City or Bay something??

CSX does not even go through Palm Bay or Palm City both of wich are
close to the Florida East Coast and are on the east coast of Florida.
CSX only handles sand, rock, box car, hopper car and gondola type freight here in south Florida. All CSX intermodal traffic for this area is
turned over to the Florida East Coast at Jacksonville and the former CSX
van site in Hialeah is a vacant area of ruin, no tracks and no facilities.
In this area, CSX runs one or two through freight trains each way a day
while the Florida East Coast is presently running ten thorugh freight trains
each way a day during the week with modified schedules on weekends.
Florida East Coast handles all of the automobiles in this area too with a
facility at Titusville and at Hialeah. They handle a lot of them too.
Noel Weaver

Noel,

Go on Google Earth and look about 1 mile East of the Rt 711 & Rt 710 intersection at Indiantown, FL, which is just Northwest of Palm Beach. You will see a large auto unloading facility that is exclusively CSXT served and handles all GM products for South Florida. I agree with you that FEC dominates South Florida, just wanted to point out that they do not have a monoploy on Autos as CSXT has had the GM account for well over 10 year now.

roberttosh wrote:Noel,

Go on Google Earth and look about 1 mile East of the Rt 711 & Rt 710 intersection at Indiantown, FL, which is just Northwest of Palm Beach. You will see a large auto unloading facility that is exclusively CSXT served and handles all GM products for South Florida. I agree with you that FEC dominates South Florida, just wanted to point out that they do not have a monoploy on Autos as CSXT has had the GM account for well over 10 year now.

I do not have a current CSX timetable for this area but the material that I
have shows a facility in Palm Center which is about 20 miles north of West
Palm Beach. This may very well be true but they do not handle that kind
of traffic in Miami, Hialeah or Fort Lauderdale. As for what kind of
automobiles ride on the Florida East Coast, I do not know, there trains
pass at track speed and you can't see inside the auto racks.
Noel Weaver

Noel,

I think we pretty much agree on all counts, I was merely pointing out that the FEC does not have a stranglehold on Autos going into the Miami market, as CSXT serves the whole Southern end of the state through the Palm Center terminal.