FEC Florida East Coast Miami Station

Does anyone know the address of the old FEC Miami station? Looking at a map of where I will be staying in Miami it seems like it was near there, somewhere. Are there any remnants left of it?

Bobby S wrote:Does anyone know the address of the old FEC Miami station? Looking at a map of where I will be staying in Miami it seems like it was near there, somewhere. Are there any remnants left of it?

If you look at old pictures of the Florida East Coast passenger station in
Miami, you will see that the courthouse was very close. The courthouse is
still there. To find the location, take the Metro-Rail system to Government
Center Station and the courthouse is at that location. Walk a bit to the
north and you will find some remains of old track in the pavement at
various locations. A little bit farther north and you will come to a piece of
existing trackage leading to the port of Miami which is accessed by a
drawbridge. The last I knew, this track was still sort of active in that it
still has crossing protection and the gate houses still had pilot lights lit on
them. The track itself is very badly rusted and it has not had a movement
for quite some time. I suspect this portion of the line is being kept at
least in a servicable status just in case.
As for the station, itself, there is basically not a trace remaining. It is now
mostly a parking area.
It is possible that the FEC is holding onto this property just in case someone in government decides that this could be a vital part of a
commuter line into downtown Miami.
Miami Avenue and Flagler Street is the crossroads of downtown Miami, the
old station site is a couple of blocks north of Flagler and a block west of
North Miami Avenue.
Hope this will help you find the spot. Enjoy your explorations.
Noel Weaver

Did Amtrak ever use it?

John

AmtrakFan wrote:Did Amtrak ever use it?

no, the FEC gave up passenger service well before amtrash...

Interesting FEC passenger related site - have your audio enabled.

www.getcruising.com

To check property ownership in Dade County, go to:

http://gisims2.miamidade.gov/myhome/propmap.asp

For the address (of the courthouse), enter:
73
W
flagler
street

for the dropdowns to search by address.

Then, just pan (with the hand), zoom in and out (+ and - in magnifying glasses), and click on a property to view its ownership details.

There's actually a second GIS map that doesn't give ownership details, but lets you drill down and hide/reveal all kinds of details, including railroad ROW.

Go HERE -- http://www.miamidade.gov/GIS/web_applic ... asp#e_Maps

and click "start" for "e-maps online"

WARNING: you can burn many, MANY hours playing with this

In early 2006 I hi-railed north from downtown Miami on the "Port spur", as FEC calls it, to the junction with the main line at Little River, and thence all the way north to Jupiter.

The land where the station and tracks used to be is still owned by FEC, and currently used as parking lots. THe Port Spur comes across from the Port of Miami, and then around a long curve that skirts some sort of sports arena and joins the existing ROW about two blocks north of where the station stood.

The ROW is intact, and mostly wide enough for at least two tracks, all the way to Little River. Buenavista Yard, which used to be the passenger car yard for FEC, has been sold and is being redeveloped. However, the wye at Little River is still intact.

So if South Florida RTA was interested in running commuter trains to downtown Miami, it could be done either over the existing FEC main or by building a connection at "Iris" between CSX and FEC, and restoring the south leg of the wye at Little River. I'm sure FEC would be happy to sell land for such a project.

The FEC downtown station was located on NW 3rd Street and 1st Avenue. It was razed in 1964.

Be sure to note that the non-descript wooden station structure was separate from the Dade County Courthouse;

In Seth Bramson's book "Speedway to Sunshine" there are pictures of this old building. I believe the picture here is of its
early days.
Noel Weaver

Mr. Weaver, I dug out Bramson op cit and after reviewing the several photos of such therein, I think the photo posted above reflects the structure's design throughout its life.

This photo certainly reflects how at train time, the place could be "a mite busy"; since there was no overhead passenger access to the tracks, trains had to be parted until shortly before their departure. Longer trains surely had to be "doubled'.



Even at "the end', or otherwise on the eve of "the strike", the facility remained in place.



However, Henry's propagandists were quite adept in leading the uninformed to believe that the Dade County Court House was the FEC station.



Finally, this website, which i have linked to other postings in the past, shows the volume of passenger trains handled by the FEC during 1957 - and remember, there was "the other guy' as well; that "Johnny Come Lately' that dared to invade Henry's realm - and otherwise kept the Gators company on its route through South Fla.

To moderator Mr. Golden Arm: if posting images is contrary to your established protocol at this forum, I will respect your decision if you edit such to URL links.

I'm told by an operating employee that the Miami downtown lead is excepted track these days. Even the RBBX circus train bypassed it this year, heading to Hialeah Yard instead. They used to have the train mere blocks from the show site when they took it downtown. This track is in the Hialeah Yard limits and thus under control of the yard master.

I was wondering about this after reading some old posts. Was the old Downtown Miami Station a "THROUGH" station at one time or was it a Terminal with Y-ing? Did Henry Flaglers route to Key West go straight through Miami Station or did the train have to do a turn?

The old FEC Miami Station was at NW 3rd St and 1st Ave.(next to the Court House) N 25.77615 W 80.19605
It was razed in 1964. Currently there is a MiamiDade Metro station there.
It was definitely a straight run-through station, trains on to Key West, until the 'Great Storm'.

Was just down in the Keys a few weeks ago. 'Tis a shame the RR no longer runs... There are some really amazing bridges STILL down there.

I assume the ROW south from where the station was is probably gone too. I have been down to the Keys. Awesome bridges still standing. Too bad they couldn't rebuild from the Keys to just onto the Mainland. Would be a helluva scenic trip! Not practical but SCENIC!