Amtrak OBS Gone Freight
OBS Chief
- Joined
- May 20, 2005
- Messages
- 576
A line cutting through from DeLand over to Daytona would be sublime in my book. It would certainly be a more appealing option than the Thruway connecting service currently offered from DeLand Station (which is actually nothing more than a taxi-cab).Now I don't know how the Deland-Daytona area is developing because I'm not down there much, but by looking at Google Earth, I see there's a huge plot of land north of US-92 (which is probably swamp) that would be a perfect spot to build a FEC-CSX connector. I agree, Palatka does have a nice museum, but Jacksonville actually has a lot more history and the old Union Terminal would be much more suitable for operations than today's little station.
That area of Volusia County south of State Road 40 and north of US-92 is largely undeveloped cyprus and scrub pine forests. A possible route would involve using the existing four-mile spur branching off the CSX A-line near the current Amtrak station (f.k.a. DeLand Junction), or building a new branch within a few miles north before hitting Deleon Springs. This track would continue northeast along the north side of US-92 to Daytona. Punching through to the FEC main by continuing east across I-95 could be cost-prohibitive and unpopular, so the line could instead turn north once reaching the interstate. A station could potentially be located near I-95 and US-92 (International Speedway Blvd), along Daytona's western edge.
From there, the track would follow north alongside the interstate up until the junction of I-95 and US-1. At this point, where the FEC main line crosses from the opposite side of the interstate, the tracks could merge and the connection between CSX and FEC would be complete.
Not gonna happen (at least in our lifetimes). Almost all of that land in middle Volusia County (between East Volusia and West Volusia) is protected "water aquifer recharge" land. It also contains the Tiger Bay State Forest which is a state wildlife/recreation area. Your closest chance of ever having any kind of connector line between the A-line and the FEC is down at WPB. It might be feasible to reconstruct the old FEC mainline through Hastings and Spuds over to East Palatka, but IIRC there are several locations where the old FEC right of way has been sold off and developed over up in the Hastings area. That right of way used to be the old FEC mainline until they built the cutoff and shortened it many years ago. So with those points in mind, this is most likely never going to happen. It would be far easier to establish the railroad operations to mirror the days of JUT (just by backing into the old station), but there would be some needed upgrades so as not to interfere with CSX's operations at Moncrief yard and Beaver Street. In any event, it will probably be a while if ever before service is provided at the old terminal.
OBS gone freight....
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