Existing Stations on the FEC

[riffian]

From my lmited exposure to the FEC it seems there are very few stations still standing. I know from an earlier thread here that the Boca Raton station is still in existence as a museum. Are there any others? If so, what are their current uses?

Thanks for any information.......

[Noel Weaver]

There are no major passenger station buildings nor platforms at the locations where an Amtrak train would likely stop.
The Florida East Coast has not had any passenger service since about 1968.
Noel Weaver

[riffian]

I wasn't asking in the context of future Amtrak service, just which buildings are physically still standing from the old FEC.

[NellieBly]

The Delray Beach station has been moved west to the corner of Atlantic Ave. and Congress Ave., just west of the former Seaboard tracks, and is in use as a feed and farm supply store (at least for now). I've hi-railed FEC from downtown Miami to Tequesta, and there are no other structures standing except the Boca Raton station (which is shorn of its platform and canopy).

[KV1guy]

The stations in Cocoa/rockledge and Titusville are still standing.

[The Tenth Legion]

I'd bet my pension that AMTRAK service via the FEC would be a money-maker, especially if Vero Beach was one of the stops with regular service.

[Noel Weaver]

I'd bet my pension that AMTRAK service via the FEC would be a money-maker, especially if Vero Beach was one of the stops with regular service.

It is not likely that any passenger service anywhere would be a "money maker". It would be a huge improvement over the
present CSX route via Orland, much shorter, better track with the probability of higher overall speeds, much more scenic
route and serving important east coast resorts and cities. This should be the number one priority for railroad passenger
operations in the State of Florida but I don't know if it is. Unfortunately the leadership does not grasp it in so far as
railroad service is concerned in this state and the highway lobby is very strong.
Noel Weaver

[JasW]

The Homestead FEC passenger station is still standing, but was moved a few blocks to 826 N. Krome Avenue. It's now the Florida Pioneer Museum. (For that matter the Homestead SAL passenger station -- which I don't believe has seen passenger traffic since perhaps WWII -- is still standing in its original location several blocks west of downtown Homestead.) The Hallandale FEC passenger station is still standing a block south of Hallandale Beach Blvd, just west of Dixie HIghway, and is used as a residential building. (I would think it must have been moved as well because it is a block and a half west of the tracks.)

[GOLDEN-ARM]

I'd bet my pension that AMTRAK service via the FEC would be a money-maker, especially if Vero Beach was one of the stops with regular service.

vero beach? what on earth is in vero beach? makes as much sense as a port saint lucie station.....

[Noel Weaver]

I'd bet my pension that AMTRAK service via the FEC would be a money-maker, especially if Vero Beach was one of the stops with regular service.

vero beach? what on earth is in vero beach? makes as much sense as a port saint lucie station.....

I have explored a fair amount around Vero Beach and it would make a lot of sense to have passenger trains stopping there. Vero Beach is probably one of the more prosperous cities on the entire east coast of Florida.
I was on the Amtrak Inspection Train which stopped at Vero Beach and we had a very good turnout there at that time, interest is very high all up and down the FEC for passenger trains.
Noel Weaver

[JasW]

Getting back on topic, I was down in the Redlands and Homestead area over the weekend, and took some photos of the (moved) Homestead FEC passenger station and freight depot, as well as the Homestead SAL station, which is still in the same location on the infrequently used CSX tracks.



The only other remaining stations in Miami-Dade (FEC or SAL) are the Hialeah and Opa-locka SAL stations. There was a wooden SAL station at a place called Aladdin City in the Redlands that had survived, but it was apparently blown down by Hurricane Andrew.

[GOLDEN-ARM]

everyone is gonna turn out to see a new train. PAC's made sure, to generate interest, and a crowd for the event. i live up here at vero, on the line, and honestly, i dont see the need. where are they going to go to/from? orlando international airport is less than an hour away. there's no commuter base, and it's not a "destination" for leisure travel. psl would make sense (in the realm of none of this making sense) with the spring training camp for MLB being there. even with that, i see no interest. the idea of a train running the east coast, at a profit, seems like folly. a heavily subsidized train will likely run, but i'd be surprised to see it capable of operating out of the red. maybe a quick train from MIA to JAX, but still, the airlines fly commuter hops, for well under a hundred dollars. some trips are 29 bucks. amtrack cannot compete with the speed, or price of that. it would be interesting to see, but i dont understand where the ridership base will come from.

[JasW]

I just inadvertently found out that the Princeton FEC station is still standing (Princeton currently being a spot in the road on US 1 about halfway between Miami and Homestead, for those unfamiliar with the area). I took my kids to the Gold Coast RR Museum by MetroZoo this weekend. The museum store looked very "FEC-ish" and upon inquiry discovered that it was in fact the Princeton FEC station, which had been moved from Princeton to Crandon Park in Key Biscayne in the 1950s, and then to the museum in the 1980s for use as the museum store.

BTW, for anyone spending time down here, I highly recommend a trip to the museum, which sits on a lengthy spur off of the SAL Homestead extension on what used to be a naval air station. It has a nice collection of locomotives and cars -- including an FEC 4-6-2 steam that led the last train to make it to Miami from the keys after the hurricane hit in 1935 and a very well preserved Vista Dome car from the California Zephyr. I also took my kids for a ride in the cab of the GP7 they use as a workhorse. Great fun.

[Jeff Smith]

Move of historic depot from Tequesta to Jupiter will take place Sunday

TEQUESTA — After months of planning, an historic Florida East Coast Railway depot built nearly a century ago will move about 2 miles from its longtime home off Seabrook Road to a new one in Jupiter.

Once a stop on Henry Flagler's railroad from Jacksonville to Key West, the 22-by-53-foot, wooden structure will be moved Sunday by tractor-trailer from its current location to Sawfish Bay Park on Alternate A1A in Jupiter.

[JasW]

Move of historic depot from Tequesta to Jupiter will take place Sunday

TEQUESTA — After months of planning, an historic Florida East Coast Railway depot built nearly a century ago will move about 2 miles from its longtime home off Seabrook Road to a new one in Jupiter.

Once a stop on Henry Flagler's railroad from Jacksonville to Key West, the 22-by-53-foot, wooden structure will be moved Sunday by tractor-trailer from its current location to Sawfish Bay Park on Alternate A1A in Jupiter.

That's good news -- someone contacted me about this last year, when it looked like it might just be demolished. Let's hope it doesn't fall apart during the move -- the thing is in really bad shape, with a chunk of the roof missing on the back corner, as you can see in this birds-eye Bing view.

What's curious, though, is when and why it was originally moved to its "longstanding home" in Tequesta. Who would buy a wooden train station and move it for use as a home? Since it was the old Jupiter station, it was moved about two miles north (and across the river) to Tequesta from its original trackside location in Jupiter.