Affordable Streetcar: Fort Collins, CO

[Metro Jacksonville]

Affordable Streetcar: Fort Collins, CO



The Fort Collins Municipal Railway is a 1.5 mile streetcar line that was built by volunteers at no cost to the City.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-jun-affordable-streetcar-fort-collins-co

[Keith-N-Jax]

That was a very good idea to use salavage light for tracks and some rail was donated also. A good way to get the project done and save money.

[BridgeTroll]

I absolutely love the grass lined tracks.  Every single street in Jacksonville with a center median strip is a candidate for this type of streetcar.  Lets get started Ock!  I'll bring my hammer...

[Ron Mexico]

Man, if we could get that to just run from Riverside to perhaps downtown and the sports venues, that would be great.

[brainstormer]

Yes BridgeTroll, a great idea.  With my hammer, we now have two.  Can I get a third hammer up in here?  Anyone?

[samiam]

I have great set of tools, If this can become reality in Jacksonville you can count on my help 100%. Lets grab the bull by the horns and get this done.

[samiam]

BTW I have at least 20 hammers anywhere from 13oz to 20lb

[9a is my backyard]

I'm in.  Lake and Ock, you're the leaders!

[BridgeTroll]

We will need some good old fashioned "Spike hammering songs"...

[coredumped]

Wow look at the picture of the interior:

Smoking on 2 rear seats only

That seams so weird!

[brainstormer]

Take this hammer and carry it to the captain
Tell him I'm gone, tell him I'm gone, tell him I'm gone
Take this hammer and carry it to the captain
Tell him I'm gone, tell him I'm gone, tell him I'm gone

It's called the "Spike Driver Blues."  

We've got four folks, 22 hammers and a song.  Let's git ur dun!  

[BridgeTroll]

 

[Ocklawaha]

http://www.youtube.com/v/DuzdTHOE67k&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca&border=1

http://www.youtube.com/v/e1ctZHw9YeM&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca&border=1

Here's your song. Leadbelly was right on target. I recall Linin' Track, another Ledbelly hit, being sung by the Gandy Dancers (track gang) at Yukon, when the Navy modernized it's route mostly intra-base, the old route came out the gate by Ortega Hills drive and ran alongside the ACL (Atlantic Coast Line) Mainline to the Yukon Depot, then went back onto the base where the current truck gate is at the end of the runway. Now to bring out the irony in what y'all are suggesting, from the Truck Gate across US-17 to the ACL mainline just North of the base was the railroad conneciton. This track was torn out with the Roosevelt widening project that forced most of the little railroad onto the base, and the new interchange was built off Ortega Hills Drive or the "Back Gate", with the ACL.

If we sing either of these two songs, keep in mind they were sung before right here in our city on that Navy Railroad. Oh but it doesn't end there, the Navy Mainline ran from the current Truck Gate straight east to the seawall and piers along the St. Johns River at Blacks Point, Blacks Point pre-dated Yukon and was the old State National Guard base, called Camp Johnston, then the newer "peacetime" base was Camp Foster, after the Army moved in and expanded the place. The buildings at Blacks Point were lifted and moved one by one from the little river front hamlet, to YUKON. When the Navy swapped Camp Foster for Camp Blanding it was a huge and historic venture. As we talk about rebuilding a streetcar line in private, keep in mind the leadbelly songs of the early 1900's were sung by the track workers building the connection from todays CSX through the truck gate, and right up to Blacks Point and it was originally a JACKSONVILLE TRACTION STREETCAR LINE!

So it all ties together:
Jacksonville's largest single employer US NAVY
Duval Traction Company built the trolley line to Blacks Point from the end of the Ortega Line at Ortega Village.
Same song/same artist in 2009 that they used in 1917-18.

I'm certainly in, we're already incorporated: Baltimore, Fort Smith, Tuscon, and Dallas McKinney Avenue line, are all  volunteers. They have all included the streetcar as part of the regional transit system, and most are running 7 days a week. Wonder how well this would be recevied by the COJ and JTA?

OCKLAWAHA

[Gen7]

Add to that list the Brooklyn City Streetcar Company, a nonprofit organization.  Seriously, what are you waiting for? Why do we wait for the government to do everything for us - and then complain that they're not doing it right?  The JTA already has proposed routes - as seen on this site - so obviously they're not opposed to the idea.  It comes down to the capital investment, and would public opinion support it?  For a public investment, probably not because the Skyway is viewed as a failure.  However, there have been discussions on this site of how the skyway and streetcars could be interconnected, maybe not the perfect plan, but taking an existing situation and working with it.  Just like any other private enterprise, develop a business plan, locate the funding, present the plan to JTA and the COJ and start the process.  According to this site, all good things will follow!