QuoteSome years ago Nortonville, Kentucky was merely a railroad junction. It was a small station where the Illinois Central and the Louisville and Nashville railroads crossed, and the rivalry between these two roads at that time was so intense that the Illinois Central trains left five minutes before the L&N train arrived, and passengers had to wait there for eight hours or more.
The station at Nortonville was an uninviting structure and the waiting room held about a dozen people. Scores of people were compelled to sit on the platform and use their suitcases for seats. They dare not leave their seats for they would be minus their personal property (nice neighborhood). Nortonville was a horrible place and was known and dreaded by all who were compelled to go by that route to Louisville, Cincinnati, Nashville or St. Louis.
Jacksonville has a better station then Nortonville, but it fits the requirements of the city just about as much as the depot at Nortonville met the demands of the patrons of these two railroads.
The station at Jacksonville is a disgrace to this city, and to the railroad responsible for its condition.
It gives tourists a bad impression of the city and it shows that the comforts and convenience of the patrons are disregarded.
The space allotted for the people is provided with uncomfortable seats and in the present season, it is a very common thing to see one hundred men, women and children in bad weather walking up and down the sidewalks waiting for some belated train, and with no place provided where they can rest.
Jacksonville's station met the requirements when the business was one-tenth of what it is today, but as it now stands it is a disgrace. The people can't walk-they must ride and the transportation companies seem to care not for their comfort or convenience. The rates are high, the business remarkably good but everything is run in order to make the profits greater.
From the Jacksonville Dixie Newspaper, May 25, 1912.
WOW, JUST FREAKING WOW! 99 years later and we have managed to take our city right back to these conditions all over again. Deja vu!OCKLAWAHA
History repeating itself!
But hay............the Prime Osburn makes a really good Convention Center......right? Talk about a lack of vision......stupid City! The damn thing needs to become rail again...period! What is so difficult about the concept?
QuoteBut hay............the Prime Osburn makes a really good Convention Center......right? Talk about a lack of vision......stupid City! The damn thing needs to become rail again...period! What is so difficult about the concept?
Talk about a lack of vision, in 1985/6 when the people got together to save the Terminal, it could have just as easily been bulldozed. There wouldn't even be hot air about moving the train terminal back, had the citizens did what they did back in the mid 80s to save the facility.
Quote from: mtraininjax on April 12, 2011, 05:55:35 PM
QuoteBut hay............the Prime Osburn makes a really good Convention Center......right? Talk about a lack of vision......stupid City! The damn thing needs to become rail again...period! What is so difficult about the concept?
Talk about a lack of vision, in 1985/6 when the people got together to save the Terminal, it could have just as easily been bulldozed. There wouldn't even be hot air about moving the train terminal back, had the citizens did what they did back in the mid 80s to save the facility.
By the same token, it could just as easily been converted into a Transportation Center right then and there. The concept was fairly new, but had been in use in New Orleans for years. Jacksonville likewise had the benefit of a Federal survey study of railroad stations that were convertible, and how many tracks they should have as Transportation Centers. Ours was in the study and RECOMMENDED as a transportation center before the citizens ever gathered in the building... and decided it should be a "detached" convention center. I already had a model of the station made (on the back of a "Haystack Mandarin" sign LOL) and had shown it to several city types including friends Eric Smith and Jim Wells - ironically the same design that I scribbled up for Lakelander's "planner guy" interpretation using the JTA designed elements. History again repeats itself.
Bottom line, whoever had the final say in moving the station to a single mainline in NW Jax. should serve a 1,000 year sentence in the clown wagon (caboose) behind a long train of black diamonds (coal)... At the end of that run I understand there are restaurants in Biloxi that STILL won't let you in!OCKLAWAHA
Tell em , Ock
Considering back in 1985 there was no vision to convert it back to a transportation terminal, at least they saved it for some use. Now we have have the chance to bring it back to its glory days.
yes, the very fact that it was not leveled with the rest of LaVilla is nothing short of amazing. We have the chance if we have leadership WHO WILL LISTEN to good reason and expertise (not that I am the expert, but Ock sure as heck is) :)
The old Union Station c.1910:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p1/BrSpiritus/Jax/IMG_0044424.jpg)
QuoteHistory again repeats itself.
Yeah, and we could have saved the Saratoga or JFK for use downtown. So now we are looking to spend 6-8 million to bring another Navy ship downtown, when we could have had one all along.
I know, I know, what was Jacksonville thinking.....add this to the long list.
Quote from: mtraininjax on April 13, 2011, 06:43:23 PM
QuoteHistory again repeats itself.
Yeah, and we could have saved the Saratoga or JFK for use downtown. So now we are looking to spend 6-8 million to bring another Navy ship downtown, when we could have had one all along.
I know, I know, what was Jacksonville thinking.....add this to the long list.
Amen to our dogged pursuit of pipe dreams that never seem to take hold. We are fickle and move on to our next big thing... Don't forget the ampitheater!
Pending the relocation of Amtrak to the Jacksonville Terminal, does anybody care about the condition of the existing Amtrak station off of Kings Road? Or is it okay for now?
I would not spend a dime on the Amshack on Kings. Seriously.
Thanks.
I don't have an opinion - I'm just wondering.
Quote from: Dashing Dan on April 13, 2011, 08:25:11 PM
Pending the relocation of Amtrak to the Jacksonville Terminal, does anybody care about the condition of the existing Amtrak station off of Kings Road? Or is it okay for now?
(http://www.scottsmind.com/cartoons/scottsmind/match.gif)
GOT MATCHES?OCKLAWAHA
No offense intended at all , Dan... Just think the money is better spent elsewhere IMO.
So......Timken......would it be possible to DEMOLISH the AMSHACK? I know how you love to save buildings, but would it be OK to level just this one?
QuoteDon't forget the ampitheater!
Yeah, I'm still pissed that the residents of St. Nicholas could influence Delaney so much that he stopped expansion plans at Met Park, which allowed St. Augustine to rebuild theirs and allow Ponte Vedra to offer a hall for successful musicians as well. Our arena gets used more for football games and graduations than actual concerts. Our city is backward when it comes to culture. It is seriously lacking a good music scene!
Quote from: mtraininjax on April 14, 2011, 08:19:27 AM
So......Timken......would it be possible to DEMOLISH the AMSHACK? I know how you love to save buildings, but would it be OK to level just this one?
M-train... Geez. The buildings I would see saved at least have some kind of appreciable architecture.
To answer your question..... I do not know what kind of a reuse the building could serve... As to its structural condition, I don't think its bad..
If it is like every other building in Jax that gets vacated.. the vandals will take their toll on it ( as with #4) and neglect will take it's toll (as with #4) and it will eventually get bulldozed by neglect ( As you would prefer if you had your way, with #4)
I know I am talking to a deaf man.. so Im wasting my breath, but if you are going to attack me, make it something reasonable and stop the ridiculous jabs. You have no fan club here (not that I do) and your words only impress you.
I would be willing to bet, by Vote that I FAR HAVE YOU OUTNUMBERED by people who would see the buildings I support, being somehow, saved. Nobody has ever asked you for one red cent of your money or the sweat of your labor to save anything. Okay? I hope this answers your rather ridiculous and as usual ,condescending posting. ;)
To be totally honest there is a passing track, and a couple of sidings that go into a commassary with loading docks and deep freezers. The station beyond the public eye, has locker rooms, crew and office space. There is a truck line next door, and the lot is large and paved, should be a snap to recycle to a motor carrier, or tour operator as a local terminal or operations base and HQ.
Failing that, hell I just want to burn it down! But hey, I wanted to do that before it opened!
OCKLAWAHA