Restoration of New Orleans - Mobile - Jacksonville Gulf Coast Service

Qapla said:

So, when it comes to restoring service from NO to JAX and beyond, Gainesville is out of the picture unless new tracks are built - however, the Waldo station is still standing with double tracks and a ground level platform - just closed and disused.

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Neither Waldo, nor Gainesville is in any natural alignment between NOL and JAX. There has never been any direct connection to either of those two as part of a NOL - JAX service.

The CSX main line through Waldo is a North-South oriented line, part of the Baldwin(JAX) to Lakeland/Plant City corridor which at one time hosted the Silver Palm and sections of other Silver service trains from time to time. Baldwin is wgere it meets the East-West JAX - MOB line. CSX still owns the JAX - Baldwin segment. West of Baldwin is a Short Line property now.

Yes, that is why my post included the words "and beyond" (when it comes to restoring service from NO to JAX and beyond) - as several brought up running the train to Orlando after JAX

I am well acquainted with the N/S line that runs through Waldo as I went to elementary school in Waldo and still live near this line.

jis said:

Neither Waldo, nor Gainesville is in any natural alignment between NOL and JAX. There has never been any direct connection to either of those two as part of a NOL - JAX service.

The CSX main line through Waldo is a North-South oriented line, part of the Baldwin(JAX) to Lakeland/Plant City corridor which at one time hosted the Silver Palm and sections of other Silver service trains from time to time. Baldwin is wgere it meets the East-West JAX - MOB line. CSX still owns the JAX - Baldwin segment. West of Baldwin is a Short Line property n

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jis said:

The service to Mobile will happen relatively soon. As for if/when service to Florida will happen, who knows? But the fact that it is on the radar of the Southern Rail Commission, I think, gives it a better than even chance of happening at some point in time.

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jis: Thanks for you prompt response yesterday. Since moving to Georgia in late 1998, my interest in this issue is not nearly as great as it was back when I lived in Daytona Beach--but it is still there. As I may have reported previously, my office in Daytona Beach was on the site of the old demolished Daytona Beach railroad station right on the FEC mainline. I confess that of the dozens of movements I saw out of my window daily, I wondered if I would ever see a passenger train pass my window. That, of course, never happened. I am still interested in Florida rail services.
I noticed that your location is "Space Coast Florida". I lived in Palm Bay from 1979-1982. Have not been back there since. I bet I would NOT recognize it.
Thanks again for all you posts.

Amtrak709 said:

jis: Thanks for you prompt response yesterday. Since moving to Georgia in late 1998, my interest in this issue is not nearly as great as it was back when I lived in Daytona Beach--but it is still there. As I may have reported previously, my office in Daytona Beach was on the site of the old demolished Daytona Beach railroad station right on the FEC mainline. I confess that of the dozens of movements I saw out of my window daily, I wondered if I would ever see a passenger train pass my window. That, of course, never happened. I am still interested in Florida rail services.
I noticed that your location is "Space Coast Florida". I lived in Palm Bay from 1979-1982. Have not been back there since. I bet I would NOT recognize it.
Thanks again for all you posts.

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Daytona Beach might yet see Brightline Service if they do the Cocoa - JAX segment after Tampa goes into service. They have acquired early permits and have been proactively preserving necessary easements for a potential service to JAX. But we'll see. I sometimes wonder if some day there would be a service connecting Miami-Dade with Tallahassee via JAX.

I live in West Melbourne, adjacent to Palm Bay. You are right in thinking that you will not recognize Palm Bay, or even Melbourne for that matter.

Qapla said:

Yes, that is why my post included the words "and beyond" (when it comes to restoring service from NO to JAX and beyond) - as several brought up running the train to Orlando after JAX

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Good point! The Southern Rail Commission in its various full Gulf Coast Restoration information pages clearly shows the Florida end point of the restored service as Orlando, not Jacksonville

Gulf Coast comprehensive passenger rail - Southern Rail Commission

If a short cut eliminating JAX was ever to be contemplated maybe the abandoned SOU / GS&F line Lake City to Palatka could at least be restored to intersect the SAL line from JAX - Waldo -Ocala - Lakeland. Wonder how many hours that would save? Unfortunately Abandoned line from Ocala to Orlando not viable.

Probably just a glitch but if you search by schedule, westbound, this is what comes up for the Sunset Limited. All subsequent stops to NOL are shown.

NativeSon5859 said:

Probably just a glitch but if you search by schedule, westbound, this is what comes up for the Sunset Limited. All subsequent stops to NOL are shown.

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Route contribution by dysfunctional IT department? Now only if they can conjure up funding out of thin air....

jis said:

Route contribution by dysfunctional IT department? Now only if they can conjure up funding out of thin air....

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Even though I miss certain things about having lived in Daytona Beach in the 1970's 1980's and until 1998 before moving to Georgia, I am sure glad I don't have to spend my entire existence worrying about the potential of Florida panhandle service as I did until the Sunset started in 1993. I will depend on jis and all the rest of you knowledgeable posters to speculate.

I thought some of you would like to see the new signs and platforms going up in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula. I took these pics today. Sone are completely finished, some are almost finished.

It’s very exciting for me personally to see the Amtrak logo proudly displayed once again after 17 years in these communities.

Pascagoula still has an old Amtrak sign circa 1993 but I’m sure that’ll be gone soon.

Continued…

Nice to see that! Thanks for posting those pictures - real, concrete progress!

Wow, I had no idea this was happening so quickly! Thanks for the pictures. Exciting!

Looks like the Biloxi station has moved from the location of the original station used by the L&N. Perhaps because the station building was now in private hands.


(These were taken back in 1972 not long after the demise of the L&N passenger trains that were not taken over by Amtrak)

Metra Electric Rider said:

real, concrete progress!

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Well said - especially in the case of the last two pictures. Seriously though, it proves Amtrak was going ahead with this despite whatever obstacles were encountered rather than waiting for negotiations, etc., to complete before putting a shovel in the ground. Along with new equipment orders, this is right up there with positive signs for the future.

jiml said:

Well said - especially in the case of the last two pictures. Seriously though, it proves Amtrak was going ahead with this despite whatever obstacles were encountered rather than waiting for negotiations, etc., to complete before putting a shovel in the ground. Along with new equipment orders, this is right up there with positive signs for the future.

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I was sort of thinking the same thing along those lines - they got construction going pretty quickly (although isn't some of this the local municipalities as well?) after the negotiations.

Do you think a Thruway bus connection between Mobile and Jacksonville (stopping in, say, Pensacola and Tallahassee) would be useful since train service east of Mobile is unlikely? Or do you think it’s not worth the effort?

NativeSon5859 said:

Do you think a Thruway bus connection between Mobile and Jacksonville (stopping in, say, Pensacola and Tallahassee) would be useful since train service east of Mobile is unlikely? Or do you think it’s not worth the effort?

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It is one of the alternatives in the analysis that Amtrak did for the Southern Rail Commission. It will be a long bus ride.

jis said:

It is one of the alternatives in the analysis that Amtrak did for the Southern Rail Commission. It will be a ling bus ride.

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Yeah, definitely.

The selling of the Pensacola-Baldwin segment to the short line RR has really hindered the chances for that segment to come back, but who knows? Money talks.

Thruway bus to Tallahassee and train from there to JAX would be better

Qapla said:

Thruway bus to Tallahassee and train from there to JAX would be better

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The option in the Southern Rail Commission Plan is either train all the way from NOL to ORL or Thruway Bus from MOB to JAX.

jis said:

It is one of the alternatives in the analysis that Amtrak did for the Southern Rail Commission. It will be a long bus ride.

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According to Google Maps, it's about 400 miles via I-10 and takes 5:34 in a car. So I would imagine 6-6 1/2 hours in a bus. I guess it could be speeded up if they had the intermediate stops at travel plazas right off the interstate. Everybody drives everywhere anyway, so a stop by the highway might be just as convenient as having a stop in the downtowns, which slows the ride because the bus has to get off the highway and drive in local traffic at slow speeds with traffic lights in order to get to the downtown.

By the way, the existing bus service takes 19 hours, going via Montgomery, Atlanta, and Savannah, requiring changes of bus. There's also another route that takes 18 hours that goes via Pensacola, Panama City, Tallahassee, Ocala, Orlando, and then back up to Jacksonville. Requires a bus change in Orlando. The ride from Mobile to Orlando is a single seat ride, but takes 12 hours.

The Amtrak Thruway bus still goes through Gainesville and then Ocala - I see it sometimes. It apparently uses the Rosa Parks Transfer station - a large buss facility the city built for city busses that is also used by Red Coach and MegaBus. However, there is no longer an operating Greyhound station in Gainesville. The Greyhound busses still use the building for their depot instead of the one everyone else uses but the station is no longer manned.

It just seems odd that a city with one of the State's major universities has such little service and public transportation options.

There would have to be major track building for Amtrak to return to Gainesville with a train

Just for reference the report on which Southern Rail Commission's activities are based is this one (large PDF):

http://static1.squarespace.com/stat...0139160/Gulf+Coast+Initiative+Report+2015.pdf
It covers NOL - MOB - JAX - ORL, and does not appear to say anything about the Baton Rouge - NOL part of Southern Rail Commission's remit.

Why go to JAX? Seems that it is not a great destination for passengers on the Gulf coast. It would be expensive but a divert at Lake City onto an abandonent route ( SOU RR ) to connect to CSX Wildwood track north of Waldo. How much time would that save? IMO this routing really serve central and Tampa south. There might a little effort to get to the west coast of Florida from St. Augustine to north of Palm Beach.