JAXPORT purchases land for Railroad Yard

[Charles Hunter]

I think the TPO/JaxPort study is looking for the "best" alternative rail link between Dames Pt/Blount Island and the intermodal yards off of I-295 and Pritchard, and to cut down on the future frequency of trains going through the area north of downtown and Springfield.

And to Ock - while eliminating at grade crossing would eliminate train horns, wouldn't going up the grades increase train noise?  All those overpasses would significantly increase costs.

[Ocklawaha]

I think the TPO/JaxPort study is looking for the "best" alternative rail link between Dames Pt/Blount Island and the intermodal yards off of I-295 and Pritchard, and to cut down on the future frequency of trains going through the area north of downtown and Springfield.

And to Ock - while eliminating at grade crossing would eliminate train horns, wouldn't going up the grades increase train noise?  All those overpasses would significantly increase costs.

Yes Charles, it would increase the cost, there are 5 overpasses for the 2 lane roads, and 2 overpasses for the railroad figured into this. The 1% grade that I calculated it on would only have a minimal effect on the train noise, the noisiest segment would fortunately be at the recharge farm just as the train leaves Main Street westbound.  There would be a 1% grade and a curve which multiplies the effort the engines must make to surmount the grade.

The 'BEST ROUTE' concept is all well and good, but to build it around to a connection at the Prichard Road is to simply solidify the CSX death grip on our port.  The JAXPORT RAILROAD (and it should be an independent terminal road) needs to reach the Norfolk Southern's Simpson Yard Intermodal Terminal, where Florida East Coast is a frequent visitor.

For those that don't know what the hell we're discussing:

This is the massive modern yard CSX operates out at Prichard Road.


This is Norfolk Southern's Simpson Yard Intermodal Facility.


One of the few EXCLUSIVELY JACKSONVILLE perks we can offer is being the ONLY seaport served by Triple Crown.

[Charles Hunter]

I was being geographically lazy, and including NS as it isn't that far from the I-295/Pritchard interchange, just in the other direction.  I agree, there should be open access to the port by rail.