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Our article about riding the Amtrak/FEC Inspection train is now available on TrainWeb. Check the main page.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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Dated a girl from Jupiter, FL once..... well.... more than once.....more like a number of times over a couple of years! I even took the Silver Star daown to West Palm Beach to visit her over spring break one year.
Thought the photo of the St. Augustine FEC station with the tracks having been shifted away from the building was interesting too (kind of like the old Burlington passenger station in LaCrosse, WI). Is the FEC St. Augustine station being used for anything at this point?
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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The old St. Augustine station has been separated from the tracks for several years. A numbr of years ago I drove up to it and, if memory serves me well, it was in use as a drivers license office or something like that. Not sure about now. Personally I think it's a good location as it's not too far from the historic area and has easy access to US 1 and nearby State Road 16. The site where the special stopped is way out of town and doubtful, in my mind, as it's located where a siding begins which might cause safety issues. Some folks said there's a move to stop near the old FEC HQ but that's on a sweeping curve and the marsh is on one side of the tracks leaving little room for a station given the proximity of US 1. Very few old FEC stations remain. The one in Cocoa-Rockledge is still there in part as is the Titusville station. Neither is truly in suitable shape anymore. Many stops were beside stareets named Depot Street so the old stations had to have been nearby.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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SilverStar092, as you allowed me to put two and two together, I'd just like to say that I have enjoyed all you travelogues. They remain well written over the years, with plenty of interesting detail and good pictures. Keep it up.
Posts: 406 | From: La Grange, CA | Registered: Sep 2007
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P.S. I did note the horsemen, along with their rifles. I thought maybe there was a Starbucks in the complex Posts: 406 | From: La Grange, CA | Registered: Sep 2007
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quote:Originally posted by SilverStar092: Very few old FEC stations remain
Boca is a museum including a display of railroad equipment
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Jack -- I read your report -- it was interesting. I'm glad you had a chance to ride on that. It would be great if we ever get additional AMTRAK service down here in Florida, as long as they don't take away our trains through Orlando and Winter Park!
--Rich K
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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RRRICH, as long as there are Mice in central Florida, there will be Amtrak service to Orlando (I prefer the Kissimmee stop for WDW).
Posts: 48 | From: San Jose, Calif. | Registered: Sep 2006
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Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments. I don't think Orlando will lose any service other than maybe half their train going down the FEC. As to St. Augustine, word has it the favored station site is closer to downtown though the old station wasn't very far either. From what I could tell, the old stations are still standing in Boca, Ft. Pierce, Vero Bech, Cocoa-Rockledge, Titusville, and St. Augustine plus Jacksonville Terminal, of course, which was a shared facility.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: Here is the equipment on display at the former FEC station in Boca, noted by both Mr. Silver Star and myself:
That streamlined coach and obs parked at the depot look just like the strike era FEC passenger train! Just need an E-unit and you'd be good to go.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Good link by GBN! I often rode those obs cars on the Silver Meteor and Silver Star out of Miami. I hated how the diaphram was added to some of the cars for mid-train use as it rendered thm useless for end of train operation though I once saw one subbing for one of the obs cars assigned to the end of the Silver Meteor. The Meteor looked so classy with a round end obs car carrying the markers as intended with just the little rear door for emergency use. Former FEC round end obs car "Bay Biscayne" which later ran for SAL, SCL, and Amtrak is in use on a tourist train between Cordele, GA and Plains, GA. It looks like the one in the linked photo as it has the diaphram. I've ridden that car all the way between Savannah and Plains (on separate excursions).
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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The Meteor was a classic observation, although I thought the markers were a little too clunky looking (same for the CZ). My vote for best obs has to be the graceful lines of the ones on the 20th Century or B&O's National Ltd (which was former NYC).
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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I liked the observation cars on the Meteor though you are right about the marker lights. My favorite observation car was the one on the IC City of Miami with its chocolate and orange paint job and nice lines plus a clssic looking bar area inside. The Canadian's dome obs car still is my absolute favorite. The NYC cars with the oversized windows were great, too, though I saw them only once in the old days plus on the latter day AOE.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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