New Ideas are Killing US...

[Ocklawaha]

This is posted in Downtown because it involves the Convention Center, Image and Connectivity...OCK

While we were sleeping JTA and City Hall struck again! Jacksonville Terminal had 29 tracks of which about 27 were for passenger trains. When Amtrak moved out of downtown due to high rent, we allowed the place to go to hell, nearly tearing it down! Then the bright Idea struck, since all trains are dying, and NOBODY would ever travel by rail again, we convert the old depot into something new and visionary. That great (and way too small Convention Center) required a gate to the City. So in their infinite wisdom and far-sighted planning, they tore down the old Lee Street Viaduct over the Jacksonville Terminal Railroad tracks. Based on the photos below, I would guess about 10 tracks are now blocked by a bridge. The remaining 17 tracks, have a new building and parking lot sitting on top of them. So our "TRANSPORTATION CENTER" is down to 2 tracks.

The sad fact is, by the 1980's, we knew we were in deep poop with the Oil situation. Something would have to change. Suddenly the wildcat truckers were gone, and containers came on the scene. Railroads leaped on the opportunity like a hungry Jaguar eating a marooned Buccaneer. Trucking companies, came knocking, "How do we cut our fuel costs?" was the name of the game. Suddenly those old railroads were back in charge, trains jammed the lines, Union Pacific suffered a melt-down in Texas, and CSX nearly did in the Northeast. Way TOO MUCH traffic! Now we have a new Congress. Amtrak looks like it might yet get on solid funding. Already there is talk of a DAILY Sunset Limited, maybe Jacksonville - Los Angeles. The funding will also revive the plans for the Florida East Coast passenger trains. The US DOT watching all of this did a study in the mid-80's that clearly said Jacksonville's Transportation Center SHOULD HAVE NO LESS THEN 12 TRACKS...
The State Rail plan calls for a system of Amtrak-California style State sponsored trains. Tampa, Orlando and Miami are already planning or building their own Transportation Centers. CSX has applied for a federal grant to extend the North East Corridor to JAX and MIAMI. Amtrak's president has already let slip that they are planning to extend the Corridor to Florida. So now your all up to date.  


Check out the new bridge ahead and to the Left of the DMU train. They wiped out the ability to pass under anywhere but the remaining two tracks.


This photo shows the Terminal and the bridge as it was, note how many tracks passed under the bridge.


In this image, I have added the "new" Water Street and marked the new bridge blockage in red. We could always use two through tracks and 8 dead-end or stub tracks, but railroads no longer like to work passenger trains in stub terminals.

After I took a good look at these photos I got that sick feeling one gets in a football field goal attempt,  with 24 seconds on the clock in order to pull off a win. Then suddenly, your kicker is playing from a BASEBALL FIELD! Really sucks to be in that situation. But here we are, we are recommended at 12 tracks at TC and JTA has planned for 2... yeah, TWO!
My guess is that Corridor will enter Callahan from the North on CSX's mainline, then veer right to Baldwin, and not stop until it reaches Central Florida. Once you've chopped it up, how does one glue the head back on the snake?  I bet JTA knows... they seem to live in Never-Land.  

Ocklawaha

[Matt]

how long ago was the bridge altered?

[Lunican]

Here is the solution:

[Ocklawaha]

Hey I like the old "drop a bridge on them" trick. We just need to find one that JTA designed so it will fall on command. We could just drive them out of town by standing on the side walk and chanting a four letter word... "R - A - I - L !"

Stephen, you are SO RIGHT (or left depending on your point of view LOL) but we do need to cash in the boys with highway lobby media in every mailbox. We SO NEED a REAL transit agency or a break-away City department that takes over the CBD Transit... Say out to about the traditional pre-consolidation City Limits?  

Ocklawaha