Elements of Urbanism: Sanford
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Metro Jacksonville visits the downtown of a Central Florida city that once served as the southern anchor of the St. Johns River steamship industry: Sanford
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-dec-elements-of-urbanism-sanford
Nice article. Like to hear how they will be using the river and rail.
On an interesting note, I came across information in the Jacksonville's Historic Preservation office that our Ford plant's wharf was constructed for possible shipment of Model Ts & As to Sanford via the St. Johns River. At Sanford, the vehicles would have been distributed to growing Central Florida cities. However, the plant closed shortly after it opened, due to the Great Depression, so I'm not sure this method of shipping was ever done.
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Regarding rail, Sanford's Sunrail station, its nothing special. Its a simple suburban station with a 300-space park & ride lot two miles west of downtown. I assume, they'll make that connection with a bus or PCT serving as a shuttle between the station, downtown, and Seminole Town Center.
^ I believe your assumption is accurate. Note also that the Operations Center, Service and Inspections Facility, and vehicle storage will all be located in Sanford at Rand Yard which is located behind the zoo.
QuoteRailroads could transport faster and could handle heavier loads than the steamships. As settlement of the state continued, the rivers became insufficient in handling the amount of commerce and traffic across the state to the major ports on the coast so, by the 1920s, the steamships had all been replaced by a network of rail lines.
NOT QUITE, TODAY OR YESTERDAY...
A semi trailer has a maximum carrying capacity of approximately 26 tons, called a dry van, it can carry roughly 910 bushels of corn, or 52,000 pounds.
Meanwhile
A 125-ton freight car can carry 125 tons, or about 4,450 bushels, which equals about 250,000 pounds.
And
A standard-size barge on the St. Johns can have a cargo capacity of 1,500 tons, or 52,500 bushels, which works out to a colossal 3 million pounds. While the barge carries as much as 15 jumbo hopper cars, floods or periods of low water may limit when or where it can operate.
So with a 9 foot draft on the barge or 'riverboat' and a river channel of 11 feet, the barge wins hands down.
HOWEVER, they cannot sell dispatch, and for rapid delivery to market the rails or highway beat the socks off of them.
SANFORD, Palatka, Green Cove Springs, and Enterprise are all still river ports and all but Enterprise are active.
OCKLAWAHA
Sanford is the southern terminus for most boaters cruising the St Johns River destination.The navigational charts end at Sanford.
The St Johns River- to points south,Sanford is a cruising destination,drawing worldwide cruising audience.