The Last Hot Spot - Folkston

I haven't seen every railfanning hot spot in the country, but I've seen a lot of them.  Nowadays new ones are popping up all the time thanks to the internet and the economic impact of railfan parks.  'Back in the day' parks and platforms were unheard of and now they are all over.  Railroads and law enforcement are a lot touchier about trespassing than they used to be so having a place to sit and not be pestered just makes railfanning easy.

My personal list of railfan parks and places to visit started shrinking fast in the last few years.  I grew up with Sherman Hill and the Moffat Tunnel within easy reach so most western sights were already checked off.  A pair of trips to Altoona in 2002 probably kicked off the list reduction in fine form.  There I took advantage of Gallitzin Park, Cassandra Overlook, Cresson Platform and of course Horseshoe Curve Park.  It was just a lot more fun when you didn't have to watch the signs or look over your shoulder.  Later on other trips I checked out more park settings like Deshler, OH, Rochelle RR Park, and Kansas City Riverwalk.  A H.A.P.T. adventure to Sand Patch filled in some great spots on the old B&O.  Another H.A.P.T. trip to California in 2009 hit spots like Fullerton, Roseville, Cajon Pass, Tehachapi Loop,  Keddie Wye, and a small park at Portola.  Last year though really cleaned house.  Charles Kadyk and I hit Marion, Bellevue, Fostoria, Homewood, Rochelle, Galesburg, found more in Burlington, Keokuk and Fort Madison, IA.  We found perches throughout Nebraska including Grand Island and North Platte.  We even found a new park in Pacific, MO and a very hospitable town with street running in LaGrange, KY.  The final crowns were The Elkorn Inn in WV on the old N&W and a stop by the Virginia Transportation Museum in Roanoke. 

There simply weren't many other big name places on my personal list, except for Folkston.  Sure I'd go back to any of those on my list but this was the only personal 'biggie' left.  I'll continue to fill in new places but I feel like I've reached some sort of completion level thanks to a road trip to Florida.  It didn't hurt that I hit my 48th of the contiguous states a few miles down the road when I continued on to Florida.

The park at Folkston is suitably located south of a junction which 'funnels' nearly all north-south traffic destined for Florida by the platform.   The platform is located on the east side of the tracks and is a good viewing point for most of the day.  The intense sun began to drive me out around 6pm.    Humidity was the only real annoyance.  Ceiling fans really made a difference with the abundant shade at the platform.  Trains were abundant too.  A scanner provided a good deal of info and a track chart was posted.  You can see from the photos that the platform itself is pretty well situated and well furnished.  They even have a permanent rest room building. 

On my visit, I saw plenty of trains.  It was a Dash 8 haven mostly.  But, I saw other oddities like the GP30 slug and a rebuilt SD40-3.  The Tropicana train and Amtrak get through here too, but I didn't see them in my 6 hour stay.  The heat slowed my activity so I didn't have the drive to visit the museum across the tracks.  They had a small covered picnic table and a long porch but it was too sunny while I was there.  They would have been good perches if I'd stayed overnight.  A local fan group apparently is working on the caboose as a clubhouse.  Some guys with clipboards were chatting with them just before I left.  Might have been a permitting process tour of some kind. 

I really enjoyed the visit.  There were various local visitors and railfans from the region to chat with from time to time.  Some cloud cover made movement tolerable and those glorious ceiling fans really made the visit comfortable.  Even though I'm not much of a CSX fan, the number of trains and the SCL heritage overwhelmed that bias. 

 BC

Ocala Findings

While there isn't much to report here, because I mostly got skunked, I did find an interesting tidbit or two.  Ocala sports a nice depot at the diamond where the old ACL and Seaboard crossed each other.  The ACL line is now run by Pinsly's Florida Northern, and the Seaboard is now the "S" line of CSX and will soon be the primary CSX line to the southern part of the state.  The CSX "A" line (old ACL main) was recently sold to provide a state run passenger line. 

Amtrak remnant.  Only a bus connection now.

Bus and cab terminal on the ACL side.

Looking toward the diamond on the ACL side.

Sign at FN office in Williston.

The Florida Northern provided most of the  skunkage.  I heard them switching on the scanner but was never where I needed to be to actually see them.  A local fan told me I just missed them but I was not able to find them amongst the industries they were serving.  Osceola Street downtown also features street running which they apparently did the day before too.  This is over the diamond and a few blocks into town.  I saw a CF-7 in the yard off in the distance a few blocks the other way but it wasn't visible enough to shoot a photo.  I did get a photo of one of their signs in Williston and that is their interchange to the right of the CSX train below in Ocala. Apparently the two lines don't connect.  Williston is on a line that serves a power plant well north of Ocala and FN provides the local switching while CSX sends in unit coal trains with CSX power.  Map here.

Aside from the boo-hoo stories, I did see a northbound CSX pass through minutes after my first trip to the depot.  I had my 'throwdown' camera and was in a hurry so it's better than nothing.  The next thing was the feature of the covered platforms still in place.  They are curved on the SAL side.  Apparently the bus lines use the ACL side and Amtrak used to use the SAL side.  Other than some leftover Amtrak signs, the bus connection is the only reason the full sign still has reason to exist.

FN crosses over the CSX rails!  No cuts.

The coolest find I had seen but didn't recognize until the local fan pointed it out.  That is the FN crossing; it goes over the CSX rails.  No cuts in the CSX rails.  Look carefully.  I'd heard of these but never recognized one before.  I certainly didn't know I was looking at one the day before so I may have seen a hundred and not known it.  The wide girder structure would give it away.  Something odd about it caused me to photograph it. 


It's only some odds and ends this time.  I still have to type up a visit to the platform at Folkston, GA.  That provided a bit more action.

BC

Mass. Railfanning

Skull calls Gary to report the action.  Worcester Union Station.

The DT&I Fan and I decided that it was a good time to go to Mass. on Sept. 22nd.  It might be the last free Saturday for either of us for a while and days are still long enough to cover some ground.  Our primary mission was to cash in my Christmas gift certificate at Ken's Trains in Sudbury.  The railfanning was a given.  Unfortunately we found out that Ken's will be closing next June.

After Ken's we worked our way towards Worcester.  We were going to meet "Skull" at the old Amtrak station.  When we arrived we looked around and saw familiar cars but didn't see our friends.  So, we headed over to the main station building.  We assumed they had good reason to be over there since an intermodal was backing down into the P&W yard as we arrived.  We did see the intermodal's power return later and another set of power was on the scene (CP-45) awaiting a recrew. 

Q427 emerges from the tunnels.

A P&W autorack train emerges from the tunnel.

Sure enough Billy and Josh were over by the old NH/B&M line.  Q427 was coming down from Rigby on its way to Selkirk.  Behind it was a P&W autorack train (GRWO) traveling from the PAS interchange in Gardner and headed for the Seaview RR in Davisville, RI.  Josh was hoping they'd be in sight of each other.  They were not that close but they were only minutes apart.

The new intermodal yard in Worcester.

We began to leave a while after Q437 had apparently signaled the end of the action.  We all took shots of the construction surrounding the new intermodal yard.  The new cranes were already in place and being tested as we watched.  Another crew was welding rails together and gravel strips were being compacted. But nothing was moving on the rails.

Purple Trains!  This same set went to Providence later.  See below.

Intermodal power waits around.  Left power came from P&W.

CSX returning east.  T readying to go east as well.

A very small Q437 with plenty of power.

Boston bound "regional" using an Acela set. 

We said our goodbyes and headed over to Sharon.  The station is on the old New Haven "Shoreline" to Providence.  The latest NH station still stands, complete with old platform roofs.  We stayed around for an MBTA train in each direction and a pair of Boston bound Amtraks. 

T set headed to Providence.

The station was a good change of pace from the usual haunts nearer the city.  Rural, suburban and accessible.  The first MBTA train we saw was the exact same set we saw in Worcester a couple of hours earlier.  The odd combination of single and double level cars gave it away.  1050 on the point sealed it. 

 My last shot before we left to visit Ikea was a "Regional".  This one was led by a "toaster" and I attempted to catch it beyond the center fence.  All was well until the train arrived and I could not get the focus to work despite clear test shots earlier.  Oh well.  This one is close enough.

Boston bound "toaster" at Sharon, MA.

BC

North Platte or Bust: Part 11, La Grange, KY

August 16

We deliberately stopped a bit north of Louisville in a smallish town called La Grange.  The fact that they have street trackage, and practically celebrate it, drew our attention.  It turned out to be a terrific town to spend a few hours in.  It was nearly the only railfanning we did on a "travel day".

The old L&N depot on the west end of town was the future home of some local railfan's visitor center.  We found the very European looking steamer sitting out front.

From the end of town we drove back down into the street trackage area.  A stretch of track running about two city blocks through a busy and vibrant downtown area.  There was room for curbside parking on both sides and two lanes of traffic.  However, trains pretty much used one lane when they passed.


We located a good place to sit on the east end.  There were benches on the street corners so we picked the one with the best camera angles and lighting.  These happened to be metal rockers.   I had to get Charles to pose for a shot to show the street, the rockers and our vantage point.  We call these L.A.R.F.'ing chairs.
(Lazy A-- Rail Fanning)  This time they were provided by the city of La Grange and not pulled from the car's trunk.



The city spent a lot of energy keeping the town clean and maintained.  The streets were swept.  Flowers were growing everywhere.  Businesses seemed to be doing well.  Rather than fight the trains (CSX puts up to 30 per day through town) they celebrate it.  The city logo and slogans referred to the trains.




Amazingly, when a train came along, chaos did not develop.  Locals knew the drill well.   The business people we chatted with seemed to expect train nuts to visit and they were friendly people anyway.





Once we caught a couple of northbounds we moved to the other end of the street trackage.  Here we were next to a courthouse square and more businesses.  While we were basking in the shade of the courthouse park, a local reporter came by and asked if we were from the media (Charles' camera looks like a reporter's).  We had stumbled into another sensational murder trial (locally big this time).  We looked around and saw the people in a new light.  Lots of media types, security types and lawyer types.  I crossed the street for the next train.

We ate lunch outdoors at the One Nineteen Restaurant.  They had sidewalk tables that kept us about ten feet from the tracks.  Before, during and after we saw about 3 trains from that spot.  The staff was tickled to have a couple of rail enthusiasts around.  They were as excited about the trains as we were.  Of course, they had a business that was also across from the courthouse.  The food was good and our perky waitress kept my iced tea full.  We could see the end of the street trackage from out seats.


The light had shifted in the four hours we were around.  We decided it was time to leave.  However, there was a set of signals on the north end of the street zone that told us that a train was out there.  Red told us it was a southbound and probably at the siding north of the depot.  We headed to our original perch by the "LARFing chairs".   This gave me a chance to try some more wide angle shots.




Thinking this was it for a while, we looked at the signals again to confirm.  Still lit.  Something else was around.  We had gotten the idea from someone earlier that a local we'd seen would return south.  Sure enough, it appeared fairly soon.  This time the GP30 slug was leading.

We could leave now that we saw it.










I don't recall where Eminence fit in on the map but it was an important stop on the L&N once.  The line is gone now but was cut back to here in recent times.  Apparently bourbon was one of the chief products of the town and today Eminence Speakers are produced there.  The depot was unique enough to photograph.  It turned out to be the last significant rail shot of the day.  We were traveling to our last night's stop at the Elkhorn Inn in Landgraff, West Virginia.

We were headed into the hills.  No more straight and level roads for a while.  We had to go past Frankfort and Lexington to get into the serious mountains, but it was already getting rugged outside of La Grange.  We'd see it all by the time we found the Elkhorn Inn.  It wasn't exactly off an Interstate highway on the prarie.

BC

North Platte of Bust: Part 3, Lima to Homewood

WB local Lima, OH

We began the day in the former home town of Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, OH.  We found a few trains moving about and then headed west.  We would end the day at Homewood, Il so we had plenty of road ahead.

Our first mission of the day was to go into town, recon the various diamonds and stations then move west.  Somewhere along the way we wanted to pass the vacant lot that was once the Lima Locomotive Works.  As it turned out, there were a few trains rolling through town and enough local activity to distract us.  

EB entering the city.

Pearl St. Diamond

Lima once played host to several railroads.  The B and O seems to be the most active today.  We enjoyed looking over all the former B and O color position signals guarding the various junction points in the city.  The signals here guard Pearl St. where the PRR once crossed.  An old restored depot sits where the connecting track joins in.  We drove around an found remnants of the DTandI too.  Not much worthy of photos but plenty of leftover infrastructure around.

Lima Locomotive Works

We were watching some passing freights, using some active steel mills as a backdrop when we got our chance to eye the old locomotive works.  The lot is pretty much vacant with piles of old concrete and masonry heaped up and vegetation running rampant.  We spotted some switching in the neighboring yard too.  We drove around to the other side so Charles could go up to the bridge for some video.  I stayed with the car and watched some strikers across the street watch me.  The break gave me a chance to look over the maps.





We eventually found our way out of town.  Lima is full of small neighborhoods with their own grid of streets.  The way west was a small route directly west which would eventually lead to Lafayette, IN.  We passed through countless small rural towns and began to see drying corn fields.  Corn actually looked better in Maine this year.  We kept the SPV atlas handy and our "short range sensors" (Magellan GPS) showed various rail lines crossing our route.  In Gas City, IN we stopped at some crossing gates and encountered this lone TPandW unit crossing our path. 

Getting to Lafayette:  We would have been fine except for detours and a few minor errors.  No harm done but we drove many a mile across the grid road network of rural Indiana trying to go west.  Detour signs led us astray and into Kokomo, IN.  What a dump.  NS was in the process of removing a branch in the vicinity and we kept crossing the branch in various states of dismantling.   We went miles north and into town when the signs seemed to run out and we decided to go back and "play the grid" and make our own detour.   This took us back toward Lafayette finally.  Rural roads are in square grids to we just went one square south and paralleled our original route until we passed the expected detour.  Country roads are pretty solitary but out there they were straight and well maintained.  Some were gravel and some were paved.  Unfortunately, not all are wide enough to pass when you encounter farm machinery. Eventually we arrived at Lafayette.  The "short range sensors" got us to the Amtrak station.

Lafayette, IN is an interesting place.  It's the home of Purdue University so it has that college atmosphere downtown.  The depot area is now a fairly busy downtown transportation hub with some pedestrian infrastructure to tie it in with the riverfront.  The station is raised above track level with plenty of bridge and platform area for watching trains.  We caught a WB autorack and an EB roadrailer while we sat around.

Apparently the depot area once hosted the Wabash and the Monon.  Just out of sight behind some trees and bridgwork was a line now owned by the Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern.  We saw all we needed by the time we left.  Not much sight or sound of CSX so we didn't hunt much farther.  Apparently there was some street trackage around.  But, it was that or getting to Homewood. 

The Homewood Railroad Park was worth everything it took to get there.  We started on the west side of the tracks at the Amtrak and Metra station to get our bearings.   Here we found the display unit and the station buildings.  It also had some nice parking.  We began our stay by photographing the frequent electric Metra commuter trains.  We also saw some EJandE units kicking around the yard and a passing CN southbound featured a pair of blue LMS/IC units.  It was just after 5pm so trains were about 7-10 minutes apart.  Eventually we relocated to the east side of the tracks to where the railfan platform was located.  The sun was on the wrong side but it wasn't that bad.

The Homewood platform is a great location to watch trains.  We caught and EJandE local, a couple of CN southbounds and later a pair of Amtraks met at their platform.  The location is relatively clean and safe.  Plenty of traffic and police.  A handy Starbucks is across the street.  Metra has some parking and a bus pull out there next to a pedestrian underpass for the train station.  We were the only ones using the plush platform.  A scanner was squawking constantly, which was helpful.  We couldn't make out much of the meaning but it sounded like there was plenty of car kicking in Markham Yard nearby.   We did get some good clues about approaching freights and Amtrak through the clutter.  For Amtrak, the 800 number was useful too.

The remaining shots are from the area.  I took dozens of shots of the electrics trying to get something worthy or showing off.  The few I have here are from those experimental angles.    The signal bridge shots were tough because the trains flew by and timing was critical.  I tried a few that included the Metra station too but many were badly timed.  Luckily, there were many trains for trial and error.

BC