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  • Amtrak Inspection Train on the Florida East Coast this week.

  • Discussion relating to the FEC operations, past and present. Includes Brightline. Official web site can be found here: FECRWY.COM.
Discussion relating to the FEC operations, past and present. Includes Brightline. Official web site can be found here: FECRWY.COM.

Moderator: GOLDEN-ARM

 #800669  by Noel Weaver
 
AMTRAK/FLORIDA EAST COAST INSPECTION TRAIN NORTHBOUND ON
SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2010

I have been provided with the following schedule for the northbound trip on Saturday,
May 1, 2010:

Leave Miami, Downtown Lead, NW 1st Avenue Crossing at 8:30 AM

Arrive West Palm Beach, 3rd Street Crossing at 10:45 AM, Depart at 10:50 AM

Arrive Stuart, 2nd Street Crossing at 11:35 AM, Depart at 11:50 AM

Arrive Fort Pierce, Avenue A Crossing at 12:15 PM, Depart at 12:20 PM

Arrive Vero Beach, 23rd Street Crossing at 12:40 PM, Depart at 12:45 PM

Arrive Melbourne, Hibiscus Avenue Crossing at 1:20 PM, Depart at 1:25 PM

Arrive Cocoa, Dixon Boulevard Crossing at 1:45 PM, Depart at 1:50 PM

Arrive Titusville, South Street Crossing at 2:10 PM, Depart at 2:15 PM

Arrive Daytona Beach, Second Avenue Crossing at 3:05 PM, Depart at 3:10 PM

Arrive St. Augustine, 5th Street Crossing at 4:05 PM, Depart at 4:10 PM

Arrive Jacksonville, Amtrak Station at 5:25 PM

At all of the above stops on the Florida East Coast boarding will take place on the east side of the train.

There is always the possibility that conditions may cause a variance from the above schedule but this is what is lined up at present.

The southbound schedule on Thursday, April 29, 2010 is to leave Jacksonville, Amtrak
Station at 8:00 AM and operate non stop except for operating stops. Southbound train will operate direct to the Florida East Coast Terminal at Hialeah and then to be interchanged to CSX and forwarded to the Amtrak facilities at Hialeah/Miami passenger
station.

Posted by Noel Weaver on April 24, 2010

Please read this completely before you ask questions.
Southbound the train will consist of two P-42 locomotives, Viewliner Sleeper, Dome Car and Office Car.
Northbound the above consist plus three Amfleet II Coaches.
No southbound stops except for operating reasons. No Florida East Coast power, Amtrak engines only.
Northbound departure is from Downtown Miami on the Downtown Lead at 8:30 AM, There will be congestion and probably
street closings in this area so you might want to stay a bit north if you have a camera.
As always, railfan safely, do not enter railroad property, drive carefully and enjoy the day.
Noel Weaver
 #882393  by kmillard
 
A new train on this route makes so much sense from so many differnt perspectives. 1. The line is so much straighter and more direct from J'Ville to Miami and 2. It reaches many more populous communities with older populations with $$$ who prefer to travel by train to begin with. 3. It also hits many of the popular beach resort towns where many people vacation now currently missed by the SIlver Star and Silver Meteor. The SM and SS do reach Orlando and Disney World but also pass through a lol of inland podunk towns between J'ville and Miami. Heck, even a stop in Stuart at the beautiful old station right there in the center of town would put you just a couple miles from some of the most beautiful and accessible beachfront anywhere in Florida (including nearby Juno Beach). The FEC prefers to concentrate a high % of their traffic at night along the Southern part of the line so there could be some open windows for day passenger trains in there.
 #882608  by Jeff Smith
 
Let me check the Amtrak forum; I believe there's a thread on this related to the proposal. This was a thread Mr. Weaver posted to advise FEC fans on a one-off routing; I'm sure the same thread is over in Amtrak. I too would like to see this service; too bad New Smyrna is not a proposed stop.
 #1376373  by electricron
 
I wouldn't object if one train, let's say the Silver Meteor, changed routing to the FEC while the Silver Star continued using CSX to Miami via Orlando and Tampa, with the Auto Train remaining as is terminating in Sanford. Serving more cities and towns in Florida can't be that bad considering these trains already serve different cities and towns in North and South Carolina using different routes.
 #1376620  by Noel Weaver
 
I wouldn't either but it is just not that simple. The line is in superb condition, with no track up-grading at all they could easily run at least 80 MPH but some signal changes would be necessary in certain areas. They also would have to build station facilities everywhere that a passenger train would stop at. The State of Florida has shown little or no interest in passenger trains since the present governor took over back about 2010. As you might know, I had the privilege of riding this train back in 2010 and it was probably the best train ride I ever had in Florida. The work involving "All Aboard Florida" will help quite a bit but again the stops that Amtrak would make would still need passenger stations. The ideal move would be to run 97 and 98 on the FEC between Jacksonville and Miami and 91 and 92 via Tampa on the present route via Sebring. No station would lose service and much more would benefit from service.
Noel Weaver
 #1376634  by Jeff Smith
 
With AAF/Brightline purchasing trains, I wonder if at some point they would consider service of their own account on the East Coast, and ignore Amtrak altogether. While Amtrak, the cities and towns along the line, would have to pony up for station facilities, FEC has shown itself adept at real estate development to go along with their stations. With Miami - Orlando already locked in, imagine them also having cities such as Daytona and Jacksonville. Which makes me think why haven't they run any race day specials?
 #1376853  by Noel Weaver
 
Jacksonville, some day maybe but Tampa is very unlikely. The FEC doesn't own any trackage in Tampa and has no access to Tampa either. Maybe down the road Jacksonville is a definate maybe and I think it would work quite well.
Noel Weaver
 #1376856  by Jeff Smith
 
The boost in tourism and intrastate travel could be a real boon. I'm glad for private over public, but this is something that should have been on Tallahassee's radar all along. Florida let the Silver Palm and Sunset East go by the wayside, lost the Ocala route, and missing out on the FEC all along.