Would we be better off with the Navy back at Cecil?

[stjr]

[Who made the Million dollar mistake of removing the railroad? Which city, state or "TPO", played the fool and built a new roadway down part of the railroad grade? I can see it now Jacksonville, the worlds first MASSIVE industrial center without rail. So did we get one or two new truck line terminals out of this deal? NOT! Never mind that the Cecil railroad could form the start of a Jacksonville Belt Railroad that could reach  Westlake, the Free Trade Zone, and Blount Island.

Take up the railroad track is sure the first thing I would think of when developing an industrial - "commerce" park.

Brilliant!

Just Brilliant![/color]

Ock, just to confirm, you are saying they had a railroad and pulled it up?  I just saw an ad in a site selection mag promoting "Florida's only certified industrial megasite" at Cecil.  And, it has no rail line?  If an auto, aircraft, or other large scale manufacturing plant went there, wouldn't they demand rail access?  A giant (3 to 4 million square feet) Walmart or Home Depot distribution center as once rumored?  Wouldn't it be valuable to have rail run to the runways to support an air-rail intermodal freight hub?

Interestingly, Westlake Industrial Park is being developed by Norfolk Southern, just north of I-10 and Cecil and is probably Cecil's biggest local competition with some 3,200 plus acres.  And, as you would expect, it is well served by the NS RR, a well-touted feature in their marketing.

You would never know Jax was a railroad town based on our disregard for the value of rail in our community. 

[jandar]

CSX, FEC (now part of Rail America)
As well as engineering firms such as 10East, SafeTran and Xorail.

Lots of railroad stuff here in Jax.

[Ocklawaha]

CSX, FEC (now part of Rail America)
As well as engineering firms such as 10East, SafeTran and Xorail.

Lots of railroad stuff here in Jax.

True, and you left out Norfolk Southern! However stjr is refering to our "leadership," if we can call it that. Nobody in City Hall is active in pushing rail for ANY purpose. Did you know that Bill Bishop (City Council) even thumbed his nose at sending a resolution of support for the new Amtrak FEC trains? TRUE. Why?? Because GW said rail was bad! Peyton, Gate Oil, Gate Concrete, attorneys and developers almost EVERY ONE of them. The JTA Board of Directors? DEVELOPERS. They don't care a hoot about rail, they want wild projects such as the wandering Outer Beltway to feed their property new bodies.

STJR, yep, just what they did... Cecil and NAS had their own railroad systems, complete with locomotive, engine house etc... At both locations one can still see the right of ways (when their not under asphalt). At NAS about 500 feet South of the Birmingham Gate off Roosevelt, the fence jog was once the railroad gate. There is still some old curbing from the crossing days, also on the South end of the supply warehouses the two giant concrete stopping blocks still await freight cars. There was an ACL station across from the Yorktown Gate between 17 and the CSX, one can still see where the old platforms were. That depot also served the NAS "Navy Train" Railroad and did all of the billing, car orders etc... The only other one was Green Cove, NAS Lee Field. Would you believe that Green Cove is the only former or current base that still has rail here? TRUE. But wait until we destroy that airport with our outer beltway. THAT WILL TEACH THEM!


OCKLAWAHA

[stjr]

Ock, I remember the rail crossing on Roosevelt into NAS.  Never recall seeing it used so I guess that's why they removed it during a resurfacing job or something.

By the way, the Norfolk Southern rail siding in Westlake was critical to Southeast Toyota locating its processing center on 250 acres there from what I understand.  They ship many a car out on rail apparently (a little irony there, huh?).

One thing that I believe has caused much rail to be "pulled up" is at the behest of the railroads themselves.  I am aware that if the railroad has a switch in a main line for a little used siding, they will demand exorbitant maintenance fees or increased paying rail traffic.  This may result in the siding being permanently abandoned.

[Sportmotor]

Funny the people voting, but not discussing.

funny haha?

[Ocklawaha]

One thing that I believe has caused much rail to be "pulled up" is at the behest of the railroads themselves.  I am aware that if the railroad has a switch in a main line for a little used siding, they will demand exorbitant maintenance fees or increased paying rail traffic.  This may result in the siding being permanently abandoned.

Yeah, it's called taxation by the TRACK MILE, not the ROUTE MILE, which for the sake of revenue robs us of rail, rail jobs, rail industries, rail infrastructure... But hey, we get to keep the tax bucks!

We either need to annul such taxes, or put a meter in every highway vehicle and aircraft and tax them BY THE MILE TRAVELED.

OCKLAWAHA