Are the railroads up to something this weekend?

[jbroadglide]

I pass over the Park St viaduct everyday going home and on Wednesday and Thursday I saw a large white tent being erected behind the Prime Osborn, BETWEEN the fence and the railroad, right on top of where the old siding use to be. So today curiosity got the better of me and I swung down into the parking lot to see. The large white tent has a large covered walkway that leads right up to the tracks. Now why would somebody go to all that trouble unless there was some sort of excursion or business trip or.....? Anyone have any ideas.

If anyone can tell me how to insert an image into a message, I took two good photos that clearly show what I am talking about.

[jbroadglide]

Found out whats going on. P903-22, The United Way Charity Train will depart from that location sometime Sunday morning heading to Waycross and then return later in the day.

[jbroadglide]

   oops bad information. P903-22 left from Jax at 1700 hours today!! Heading for Waycross. I assume they'll stay overnight and then head back to Jax. Pretty impressive train though. 2 CSX Business Unit engines and 13 of its cars.  I hated to miss that..

[Lunican]

They had a similar setup for the commuter rail demo back in March of 2007.



http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2007-mar-commuter-rail-demonstration-visits-jacksonville

[reednavy]

Gotta love it when they bring in palms that are still in their growing containers.

[riverside_mail]

Are those palms even real?

[Ocklawaha]

Are those palms even real?

Here we enter another area of great interest to me. How do we define "human life"? I should think a functioning brain would be the central point, not the heart action. As we should all know, the heart can continue beating long after the brain's higher functions cease forever. In the case of gestation, the heart starts beating many weeks before the first whispers of higher brain function can exist.

... it all depends on what is going on in the brain.  (Greensboring Blog)

The question is, are those PEOPLE even real?

Note that the old station is useless for anything but monster truck, gun and fishing shows, and not worth a dime of our municipal funds at least until an event that uses rail comes into town. When the trains roll, so do the red carpets, litter patrols and palm potters. Suddenly the old station is front and center in our lives again, and Clifford Lane is forgotten, if but for brief moments. We'll fold up the carpets and pull in the plantings until the next "show," thanking FDOT, JTA and COJ that they saved our tax dollars by walking away from the soul of the city.

Until next time...

OCKLAWAHA

[riverside_mail]

Can you imagine them rolling out the red carpet at Clifford Lane? Honestly, if this isn't a "Here's Your Sign" moment, I don't know what is. If we're too ashamed to have special ceremonies out at Clifford, then get rid of the place.

[Jaxson]

Thank you riverside_mail for pointing out the fact that local officials dare not use the Amshack on Clifford Lane for their precious P.R. event. 
This issue is the elephant in the living room.  There is absolutely no local outcry to return the passenger rail station to its proper place in Jacksonville.  We have gone on 36 years with a second-class rail station and I fear that we lack the leadership to fix this problem. 

[jbroadglide]

For those interested here is the train as it passed through Boulougne Fl, Saturday evening.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2070927

Photo courtesy of Tom Imlay

[Jaxson]

I wish that I could have been on that train.  I wouldn't have minded going to Waycross.  I went to college in nearby Douglas.

[Lunican]

CSX Charity Train Ride Raises More Than $320K
June 15, 20010

More than $320,000 was raised during the 8th annual CSX Charity Train Ride. The money raised will benefit seven charities.

The train ride began by picking up paid passengers at Jacksonville's Prime Osborn Convention Center May 22. The passengers were treated to dinner and entertainment, including dancing and karaoke, as they rode to South Georgia and back.

Full Article:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=157398&catid=3