Brightline Trains Florida discussion 2024

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That would have been good but there were no signs for it, at least coming in the north side, nor did google maps know about it. I’ll have to spend some time exploring when not rushing to catch a train.
Coming from the North do not take the Terminal C road. Go further to the traffic light and make a right on the Station Loop Road. Once you are on Terminal C Road, getting to the Station Loop is a bit convoluted. It can be done but is less obvious how.
 
Coming from the North do not take the Terminal C road. Go further to the traffic light and make a right on the Station Loop Road. Once you are on Terminal C Road, getting to the Station Loop is a bit convoluted. It can be done but is less obvious how.
Thanks, once I put 'station loop road' in google, it becomes very obvious. I think I rely too much on GPS directions rather than checking out on a map where I want to go. I still don't rrecall a sign directing me that way. And it's also obvious if picking someone up from Brightline, just use the south cell phone lot - just a short distance from the station.
 
I hope so... I made certain that my voice was heard when I rode a wrapped train. It's also been part of the reason I haven't ridden the Orlando section yet... I don't want to pay that money to ride a wrapped train, would just assume take Amtrak or Red Coach.
Are the wraps coming off? The last train I saw wasn't wearing one. Maybe it was a one-off.
 
Are the wraps coming off? The last train I saw wasn't wearing one. Maybe it was a one-off.
I sure hope so. Wrap presents not trains!!!!!

From a marketing and branding perspective I feel like full-train advertising wraps cheapen the brand as well. When you make your new train that you are advertising as being "modern" and "higher-speed" look like a rolling billboard it sends a mixed message to your customers and potential customers.
 
I sure hope so. Wrap presents not trains!!!!!

From a marketing and branding perspective I feel like full-train advertising wraps cheapen the brand as well. When you make your new train that you are advertising as being "modern" and "higher-speed" look like a rolling billboard it sends a mixed message to your customers and potential customers.
I agree 100%

There is a reason that airlines don't wrap their planes for example, not even budget airlines. They understand that their own brand is more important than the brand of advertisers.
 
I agree 100%

There is a reason that airlines don't wrap their planes for example, not even budget airlines. They understand that their own brand is more important than the brand of advertisers.
There have been a few branded airplanes for Disney (maybe some others as well) but that was part of specific travel promotions. And the windows were cut out so they didn't affect the passengers.
 
And the windows were cut out so they didn't affect the passengers.
I understand that on passenger airlines it is forbidden to permanently obscure windows. This is why cabin crew will often insist you raise the shades during take-off and landing. I think it is about if there is an engine fire that the crew can see on which side.
 
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I would think that the total weight of the 'wrap' might affect aircraft performance somewhat, or at least fuel economy. Until they were forced to paint their aircraft due to composite construction, AA found that to be the case, and polished the bare aluminum, rather than paint it...
 
I understand that on passenger airlines it is forbidden to permanently obscure windows. This is why cabin crew will often insist you raise the shades during take-off and landing. I think it is about if there is an engine fire that the crew can see on which side.
Maybe we can make it a law for passenger trains too? I could actually see a reasoning too, since in an Emergency it could certainly effect rescue efforts.
 
I would think that the total weight of the 'wrap' might affect aircraft performance somewhat, or at least fuel economy. Until they were forced to paint their aircraft due to composite construction, AA found that to be the case, and polished the bare aluminum, rather than paint it...
Notwithstanding that, it is not unusual to have aircraft wrapped commemorating a special event like the Olympics and such. It is less common to do general product advertisement wraps though.
 
That would have been good but there were no signs for it, at least coming in the north side, nor did google maps know about it. I’ll have to spend some time exploring when not rushing to catch a train.
This. If you don't know where you're going, it is very easy to miss that turnoff. I had to guide a friend to it with some trial and error his first time coming in (I forget if he missed the stop or only just caught it in time).

Stuart always made the most sense IMO, given the curves there. Those can be marginally improved (and probably will with the new bridge that's being planned), but there's only so much you can do there.
 
I'm very glad for this discussion because Friday night, March 1 we arrive after 10 pm by SWA from MO and the hotel shuttle to Fairfield Inn will meet us but Saturday morning we need to leave on the 8:50 Brightline, so I called the hotel & (right while I waited) they checked by radio with their shuttle driver who reported that he's aware and even that morning had taken someone to the Brightline station. (But I wonder how soon the access will be simpler.)
 
Maybe we can make it a law for passenger trains too? I could actually see a reasoning too, since in an Emergency it could certainly effect rescue efforts.
With airlines takeoffs and landings are relatively infrequent usually one of each per trip. With trains on the other hand an emergency could happen at any time and they make multiple stops so when would you require the shades be open?
 
With airlines takeoffs and landings are relatively infrequent usually one of each per trip. With trains on the other hand an emergency could happen at any time and they make multiple stops so when would you require the shades be open?
I wasn't referring to the shades being open or closed, I meant no wraps on the window. Actually, do any Amtrak / FRA mainline trains have shades or are they all curtains? I wonder if that has anything to do with emergencies since a curtain can't get stuck like a shade can, never thought about that.
 
Does anyone know the status of the advertising wrap on the trains? I read on another website that Brightline is removing the wrapping over the windows, and only keep the ads above and below the windows.
I rode Brightline about a month ago and the train going south in the afternoon had the windows unwrapped (YAY!). I took the late train back to Orlando the next night and that one still had the windows wrapped. I'm just glad it wasn't the other way around. I hope they get all the windows cleared soon.
 
This is a complaint about Brightline (or maybe Orlando airport). I dropped my brother off this morning and the signage for the route via Terminals A and B to Brightline station at C were terrible- almost nonexistent. We wound up at the parking garage and thanks to a couple attendants found the drop off location on one of the upper levels of the garage. It was a curiously unimpressive entrance to their very grand station.

Fortunately as we were dropping them off I could see the pedestrian bridge between C and Brightline is well along and it appears there will be a drop off location at street level without navigating the garage. Would like to learn if that what’s actually planned.
Brightline's website has pretty good instructions (https://www.gobrightline.com/train-stations/fl/) about parking (garage C, level 5) and what address to use to get to the drop off point (10705 Jeff Fuqua Blvd.). If you plug that address into google maps, it takes you right to the ground level station drop off. I drove and parked on level 5 about a month ago and walked right across the skybridge and into the station. It was a breeze.
 
I heard it on decent authority from my local hobby shop (gotta be at least as good as the internet) that when the current wrap contracts are concluded, no longer will they offer full body wraps. Future wraps will keep the windows clear. My understanding is that most of the travelers between WPB and MIA don't care because there's not much variation in the metroscape. But once you get North of WPB, there's nothing but scenery to look at all the way to Orlando.

If this is true, they may actually be listening! 😱
 
I heard it on decent authority from my local hobby shop (gotta be at least as good as the internet) that when the current wrap contracts are concluded, no longer will they offer full body wraps. Future wraps will keep the windows clear. My understanding is that most of the travelers between WPB and MIA don't care because there's not much variation in the metroscape. But once you get North of WPB, there's nothing but scenery to look at all the way to Orlando.

If this is true, they may actually be listening! 😱
Maybe also wraps present the same problem as keeping every train in a different color. It limits the ability to switch cars around between sets to suit maintenance needs.

Worse actually. If you get a hotchpotch of differently colored cars in the same set that just looks odd but does nobody any harm. But if you hotchpotch two sets of competing wraps into the same consist, the advertisers might not be amused and might be due some form of compensation.
 
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I heard it on decent authority from my local hobby shop (gotta be at least as good as the internet) that when the current wrap contracts are concluded, no longer will they offer full body wraps. Future wraps will keep the windows clear. My understanding is that most of the travelers between WPB and MIA don't care because there's not much variation in the metroscape. But once you get North of WPB, there's nothing but scenery to look at all the way to Orlando.

If this is true, they may actually be listening! 😱
I remain skeptical. Roaming Railfan's latest YouTube shows a Bahamas wrap, which I don't think was one of the original ones.
 
I remain skeptical. Roaming Railfan's latest YouTube shows a Bahamas wrap, which I don't think was one of the original ones.
I saw it on January 16 at the WPB station while I was northbound to Orlando, and I feel like I've seen it online in 2023 too. It's not in the Miles in Transit or Alan Fisher videos from the start of the Orlando service, and not in Jeb Brooks' race either.

IMG_7537.jpeg
 
I remain skeptical. Roaming Railfan's latest YouTube shows a Bahamas wrap, which I don't think was one of the original ones.
It's usually the Roaming Railfan who supplies this hobby shop with their intel - he used to work for them (TRF Trains & MnT Hobbies in Melbourne - an excellent hobby store, just saying....)
 
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Notwithstanding that, it is not unusual to have aircraft wrapped commemorating a special event like the Olympics and such. It is less common to do general product advertisement wraps though.
This would seem to indicate that the usage of advertising wraps is not prevented by safety, aerodynamic or weight-restriction reasons, but is purely a matter of policy.
 
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