CSX JAXPORT plan opens the door for Commuter Rail

[thelakelander]

It was mentioned that they expected to pay as much as $6 million in ROW costs.  Maybe its for a few properties, such as this.  A similar situation exists where the port spur meets the existing line  paralleling Main Street.

[Ocklawaha]

I wouldn't be too concerned with trains headed to Waycross. As these containers come off the port they won't be in any type of delivery sequence. The trick will be to get them to the nearest yard to break down and make up blocks of cars (trains) for distant points. As the newest and hottest railroad property in town is the Dinsmore Cut-off and the new intermodal yard west of I-295 my guess is THAT is where this stuff is headed. Besides Dinsmore some may trickle down to Baldwin or over to Moncrief. The good thing is CSX is doing something to move them out and away from downtown and the "S". The bad news is we still won't have universal access to our all important port facility. One wonders if CSX would be open to a CSX-NS-CITY-STATE partnership. It would take very little to hang a connection from the Dinsmore Cut-off to the NS mainline and their Simpson Yard intermodal facility (which was also recently expanded).

Ocklawaha

[thelakelander]

wouldn't be too concerned with trains headed to Waycross. As these containers come off the port they won't be in any type of delivery sequence. The trick will be to get them to the nearest yard to break down and make up blocks of cars (trains) for distant points. As the newest and hottest railroad property in town is the Dinsmore Cut-off and the new intermodal yard west of I-295 my guess is THAT is where this stuff is headed.

Containers will be broken down and blocked at the port's proposed rail intermodal yard.

The good thing is CSX is doing something to move them out and away from downtown and the "S". The bad news is we still won't have universal access to our all important port facility. One wonders if CSX would be open to a CSX-NS-CITY-STATE partnership.

One of CSX's reasons for doing this (the new line) is to establish a monopoly on rail based future port business.  This would go against them agreeing to give universal access to all port facilities.

[adamh0903]

The picture in Tuesdays edition of the TU, showed a proposed connection sight near Hilliard. I dont believe there was ever a railway from yulee to hilliard, so one would have to be built.

[Jason]

Find in "PURPLE" (what else) some abandoned lines that IF rebuilt, would fix Jacksonville, Lakeland, Tampa and Orlandos railroad problems. You'll recall I posted a connection from Blount Island around the Airport to the CSX about a month or two ago. Some of this is pretty basic, but FDOT has ignored this and allowed these traps to grow beyond management size.



Ocklawaha

Does CSX still own those abandoned corridors?  If so the costs of new track may not be as much as we think.

[thelakelander]

No.  CSX does not own all of these abandoned corridors.  For example, they don't own all the ROW from Wildwood to Auburndale anymore and the link from Leesburg to Orlando has developed into a suburban commercial corridor resembling Southside Blvd.

[raheem942]

well i give it 2 mounths before this idea dies .....face it....ur beatin a dead horse

[Ocklawaha]

Here's the scoop, most of the miles here are now owned as Right-of-way by the State of Florida. The only congested portion of the "Southside Blvd like" Tavares-Leesburg segment still has some 90% of the right of way intact. In fact within Leesburg, it still had rails in spots until about 10 years ago. This line didn't follow the BLVD. but went into Leesburg, swung south of the Airport and only came up to the Blvd to cross the Canal then followed the wide road past the Tavares Court House where the Florida Central tracks are today.
I've driven it several times and am confident that for the Millions they are pouring into the "deal" they could just cross that canal behind the airport somewhere and make that link. A great deal of the lines in the west and central portion are as Lake said, rural as the day Ponce De Leon hit the beach.

Ocklawaha

[adamh0903]

CSX still owns the entire right of way through callahan. We just went through a long legal process to find that out.

[Ocklawaha]

If like the TU said they are bent on moving the traffic to Waycross then the statement that some sort of Terminal Intermodal yard will sort the trains is bunk. Waycross has the multi-million dollar "Jacksonville" yard including a hump facility (which won't fly for container or well cars... Thus the little sticker on their sides that reads "DO NOT HUMP") But they could flat switch these in Waycross and bypass the hump (hill). My guess since Lake said there was an image of a line to Hilliard is they'll use 90% of the old FLRR route then just in the edge of Callahan slice NW to meet the mainline pointed toward Hilliard.


Headed to Long Beach, and YES I did ride this line on the Interurban!

The same basic area today!

Meanwhile re-re-re-reading the stuff, the door still seems open for a down the road Jax-Port buyout of the lines from I-295 and Main, southward to Springfield. CSX didn't deny 36 hours to get cars from the island to Moncrief as both the curse and the blessing of railroading is consolidation of the loads. Not enough, and they'll sit until it makes sense to move them. But that blade cuts both ways, for example, consigned to FEC or NS and maybe it will take 45 hours to get downtown! We NEED universal access and we are going to need it sooner not later. If the authority is smart and they go ahead with an intermodal make up facility, they'll own it lock-stock and barrel, and it will be designed to somehow tie into the old Trout river bridge and access for EVERY carrier. Just look what the port of Los Angeles or Long Beach did with the Alameda Corridor! (err uh, a former INTERURBAN railway for the most part).

Ocklawaha